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.
Blog
Attacking Margin Compression During A Pandemic
Topics: Accessories System, Sales Best Practices, Increase Profits, Dealership, Vehicle Personalization, accessories, Showroom, staff, sales team, sales, success, relationships, Accessories sales, tips, increase sales, dealer, Margin Compression, COVID-19
You Don't Have To Be Lucky To Sell Accessories
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.
Topics: Accessories System, Sales Best Practices, Customer Retention, Increase Profits, Dealership, Vehicle Personalization, accessories, Showroom, accessory program, Best Practice, Accessories sales, tips, increase sales, profit, cash
Ahh, Valentine's Day. Love is in the air—$18.2 billion worth. America is love sick, and it’s time the automotive industry snatched that love out of the air and put it on the road. Love is blind but car buyers are not, and there are plenty of personalization options to shower those new car purchases with TLC. Implement these tips this Valentine’s Day to make your buyer feel special and show your staff some love.
Topics: Vehicle Personalization, Showroom, sales team, accessory program, holiday, Best Practice, creative, increase sales, dealer, Gross profit, profit
3 Ways Your Management Team Can Set Up Your Dealership's Success
The inception of a new program in your dealership can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. The shock factor, followed by fear and trembling and all-out anarchy can be easily avoided when management is a united front. Save the drama and your GSM’s spike in blood pressure by rolling out your accessory program from the top down.
Topics: Showroom, accessory program, customers, Best Practice, Accessories sales, tips, increase sales, dealer, guided, profit
3 Ways To Give The Gift Of Accessories This Holiday Season
The magic of Christmas is in the air, glimmering off your perfectly waxed showroom vehicles. Everyone knows that the holiday season is a beautiful time to be in the car business. The potential to boost your bottom line this month is something even Walter Hobbs can smile about, and smiling is our favorite. Tell your sales staff to buckle up and make work their favorite, because Santa’s got a brand new bag this December (and it’s full of extra commission).
Topics: Showroom, staff, sales, Best Practice, Accessories sales, tips, increase sales, dealer, profit, customer experience
3 Ways To Maximize Your Accessory Sales This Black Friday
[Updated 11/12/2020]
The stampede is coming, and they’re ready to break the internet. The Black Friday crowd has gone virtual. If 2020 has already set records in e-commerce, imagine the impact of the biggest shopping day of the year. With all the online activity, the day after Thanksgiving is basically just the warm up for Cyber Monday.
Yes, the opportunists are charging their laptops on Black Friday eve, ready to kick this thing off with new car smells. Make this car-shopping season spark joy with mega-profit potential, stellar CSI scores, and repeat business. I hope you upgraded your internet package.
In all the activity, don’t let Vehicle Personalization get lost. You cut your legs out from under yourself when you bypass accessories. This high volume day is the ideal environment for accessory sales, and can even be used to temper the flow online and in store.
Here’s three things Vehicle Personalization can do in the hustle and bustle.
Topics: Sales Best Practices, Increase Profits, Dealership, Vehicle Personalization, accessories, sales, accessories installations, success, Accessories sales, creative, increase sales, profit, consulting, cash, customer experience
2 Ways to Choose an Accessory Champion to Set Up Your Success
The task of selecting an accessory champion for your dealership can be harrowing. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach and without a compass, dealers may find their accessory program suffering. To begin, management should examine both process and store volume to determine who to lean on as the personalization expert.
Topics: Sales Best Practices, Improve CSI, Process Training, Dealership, Vehicle Personalization, accessories, Showroom, staff, sales team, sales, customers, Best Practice, Accessories sales, tips, increase sales, salesman, profit, consulting, customer experience
You know what’s terrifying? The amount of high fructose corn syrup America will eat today.
There’s something more horrifying. Dealerships that are still focusing all their efforts on adding profit and neglecting the customer experience.
This Halloween, lavish every customer that darkens your doors with sweet goodness--even the witchy ones.
Topics: Customer Retention, Presentation Tools, Improve CSI, Customer Success, Dealership, Vehicle Personalization, accessories, Showroom, sales, accessory program, seasonal, customers, creative, increase sales, dealer, profit
3 Ways Your Dealership Can Compete With Amazon
Amazon. The Colossus of Clout, the 6th love language, and the number one competitor to your dealership’s accessory program. Amazon Prime is over a hundred million users strong, and commonly raking in over a billion dollars on Prime day alone. How could your locally-owned dealership compete with Mother Earth? The same way you eat an elephant. One bite at a time.
Topics: Dealership, Vehicle Personalization, accessories, Showroom, millennials, accessories installations, eCommerce, Best Practice, relationships, Accessories sales, creative, increase sales, content, profit
Get Game Day Ready With A Seasonal Accessory Shake Up
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.
Topics: Accessories System, Dealership, Vehicle Personalization, accessories, Showroom, seasonal, customers, tips, creative, increase sales, preload, Aftermarket, building, dealer, Gross profit, profit, cash