Sill-TerHar Motors in Broomfield, Colo., carries six brands, each of them a current or former Ford Motor Co. marque. One of them, Jaguar, has ranked No. 1 on the J.D. Power and Associates Sales Satisfaction Index for three years running.

Personalized service is what sets Jaguar dealerships apart, said store owner Jack TerHar Jr. “I don't think there's a more dedicated group of dealers.”

TerHar's finance director, Fred White, said the different departments within the Jaguar franchise work together to achieve success in F&I. For instance, the salespeople review products like extended service contracts with customers before they are steered to the F&I manager.

After the sale, the dealership's service writers also pitch service contracts to customers who didn't buy one earlier, he said. Salespeople and service writers are compensated for F&I efforts that result in a sale. 

White was interviewed by Special Correspondent Jim Henry.

How can hiring the right salesperson help in F&I?

An important part of it is good communications between the finance person and the salesperson. The salesperson should be talking about all those (F&I) products and they've got to be knowledgeable so they're not promising something we can't deliver.

So the salesperson is pitching F&I products? 

When the customer is handed off (to the finance manager), there are no surprises and the customer is sort of pre-sold. The finance person is also required to go out (into the showroom) and talk to the customer before they get to that (handoff) point. So that when the time comes, the finance manager is not someone they've never met; where they're stuck in this little office and they're sitting in front of a computer screen, and somebody's trying to hammer them into tinted windows or service contracts.

You mean service contracts and similar products? 

A lot of times, that has been discussed ahead of time. We sell a lot of service contacts. It's presented in a way that says to the customer: “You have choices.” It's done in a menu format. There's a comfort level for the customer in that.

We've written several stories this year about extended service contracts being offered in the service department, but not really about the salespeople pre-selling them. Do your salespeople get compensated for doing that? 

Yes, we do that. The salesperson is compensated. ... The salespeople roll dice, and they get $5 per point.

What about selling service contracts to service customers? 

We do that, too. Quite often we sell them after the fact.

How do you compensate the service writers? 

We pay them 75 bucks for their trouble and effort. Customers who buy service contracts are more loyal to us than those who don't.

I once spent a day with a service writer at a Ford dealership. You can see the storm clouds gather in the customer's face when they go over how much work was done. But as soon as they say, “It's covered,” the sun breaks out and the customer is happy again. 

If you've got a Ford pickup and you've got to replace your $4,000 transmission, you're never going to buy another Ford, no matter what we do. If all you have to pay is your $100 deductible, you may be a little dinged, but that's a whole different story.

Who is your vendor for Jaguar-branded service contracts? 

It's APCO (Automobile Protection Corp. of Norcross, Ga., which does business as EasyCare). It's less hassle for the customer when we tell them it's the Jaguar name. We do the same thing for Volvo.

Jaguar dealers have done better than other brands in sales satisfaction for years, even back when Jaguar quality was terrible. Why is that? 

You don't lose a customer when you're selling a car. It's a happy occasion; everybody's happy. Where you lose customers is after the fact, when you don't call them back or when they contact you with a question and you try to pass them off on somebody else. That doesn't go over well.

Are the customers just so loyal they stick around no matter what?

If they're buying a Jaguar, they have the means of acquiring another luxury brand. They can easily afford to go somewhere else, so they (employees) know the importance of good customer treatment.