Assurant, Inc., a global business services company that supports, protects, and connects major consumer purchases like automobiles, as well as commercial equipment, announced a comprehensive new finance and insurance (F&I) sales training, the Commercial Truck F&I Professionals Class, from the Automotive Training Academy by Assurant. Building on more than 35 years of automotive F&I sales training from Assurant, this new course addresses the specific skills needed to optimize every type of transaction in commercial truck sales.

This intensive one-week program debuted in December 2023 at Assurant’s training center in The Woodlands, Texas. Topics include training on Vehicle Service Contracts, Physical Damage Insurance, Non-Trucking Liability, and Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) for truck classes 3 through 8 and trailers.

Upon successful completion of the course, commercial truck sales professionals will be able to:

• Establish needs awareness and build value in protective products
• Effectively explain the factory warranty and disclose a customer option plan
• Optimize F&I as a profit center
• Increase sales and F&I product attachment rates
• Effectively address customer objections with modern techniques
• Market the F&I department as a customer resource
• Follow an ethical and compliant pattern of practice
• Display their Automotive Compliance Education (ACE) certification

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) recently released new projections showing overall truck tonnage will grow from an estimated 11.3 billion tons in 2023 to 14.2 billion tons by the year 2034, noting that the country will “rely on trucking to move the vast majority of freight.”

“While commercial trucks are literally built for the long haul, keeping them on the road will only grow in importance as they remain the dominant mover of goods for the foreseeable future,” said Dennis Alexander, Vice President, Commercial Equipment, Assurant. “F&I products designed expressly for those vehicles and sold by knowledgeable sales professionals will go a long way towards keeping these critical vehicles on the highways as they carry our nation’s freight. Importantly, that also protects the interests of fleet owners and owner-operators.”

The Automotive Training Academy by Assurant provides comprehensive training for automotive and commercial truck professionals in all areas of the dealership. Through a combination of flexible training options that include in-dealership, in-classroom, and virtual learning platforms, professionals will gain the knowledge and tools needed to succeed in today’s consumer and commercial vehicle markets. A team of experienced retail trainers delivers hands-on, realistic training that leads to mastery of the course material so that new techniques and processes can be immediately implemented upon return to the dealership.