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Every season is alive with possibilities. Yes, even in 2020. Strategizing with the turning of the tides can make the difference for your bottom line. What should you do during the summer of an already dramatic year? The same thing you do every summer, my friend. Focus on what you know, and take one step at a time. So, what do we know?

We know public transportation is declining, making personal vehicles a necessity. We know road trips are beckoning the nation like a Siren's song. We know COVID online shopping has surpassed last year's holiday sales.

We also know Vehicle Personalization is a multi-billion dollar industry. The need for a car mixed with the need for a vacation, topped off with chronic *adds to cart*, should serve you well. This is an aftermarket summer like you've never seen it.

As dealers across the nation adjust to selling vehicles online, it’s imperative that we don’t skip vehicle personalization. The easiest way to ensure customers and salespeople have a fair shot at a perfectly adorned vehicle is to make your accessory link easy to find. Trip and fall over it easy. “There it is again” easy. “I didn’t find the link, the link found me” kind of easy. When you strategically place your personalization link, you make your salesperson’s life easier, and your customer more likely to buy. 

Margin compression matters now more than ever. As dealers adapt to selling cars digitally, or with skeleton crews, monthly sales volumes are on a slippery slope. Though our present industry reality is less than ideal, we aren’t without hope. We have the tools to make every car sale count, to the extent of tipping this month’s scale back into balance, precarious as it may be.

St. Patrick’s Day has got us all toting rabbit’s feet. Donning green from head to toe, decorating our cubicles with four leaf clovers, and holding out hope for uncommon luck--all while being largely unsure of what we’re observing on this obscure holiday.

Is there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Is the rainbow literal, or figurative? Do leprechauns really eat marshmallow cereal? Don’t take this same level of confusion into your Vehicle Personalization program. Follow me into the magic of the metaphor, and sell more accessories this March 17th.

Do girls really run the world? One thing is for sure—they definitely run the Insignia Data Department. Meet the dynamic team of women responsible for the information you rely on to sell accessories. This group of girls keeps the world of digital catalogue in motion, and it’s high time we make them known.

Once upon a time, Vehicle Personalization met football and fell in love. The two were married in a dealership overlooking a college stadium and began their lives together. Soon, they welcomed a baby, named Tailgating, and it would change the world.

When it comes to selecting an accessory champion for your dealership, there are about three good ways to skin a cat. Dealers should examine their process and store volume to determine who to lean on as their expert in vehicle personalization.

Whether you go the route of a dedicated accessory manager, utilize an emerging leader from your sales team, or mix the two methods together, the key to your success is a well-laid process.

When it comes to deciding how to stock your electronic accessory catalog, the name of the game is “both/and”. Yes, OE and aftermarket accessories are the new Ying and Yang, existing in perfect harmony within your parts department. As a best practice tip, strategically lay out your physical and on-screen display with OE’s most likely to succeed, and fill in the gaps with wisely sourced aftermarket.

In a fictional study never performed, 100% of dealers admitted their preloading program was one of their biggest factors hindering them from selling accessories in the showroom.

Jokes aside, this really is a common theme that dealers are often getting snagged on.  We all know that vehicle personalization is a multi-billion dollar industry, but with popular vehicles preloaded on the lot and showroom floor, dealers shy away from bringing up additional add-ons to their customer. The result? The customer just buys what they need somewhere else.

It’s hard to imagine it now, but there were once dim days in the world of configurable assets. Dedicated salesmen and women persevered, selling accessories at the point of sale with little more than a digital catalog at their fingertips. Customers closed their eyes and tried hard to imagine roof racks on their new car or truck.

Taking a leap of faith, customers added said roof racks to their cart and gazed out into the sunset over a looming stack of paper we-owes, just imagining. A tumbleweed rolled by as coffee was delivered via cart and donkey. Yes, they were desolate days.