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The art of accessory sales presents one golden opportunity. There are other opportunities along the way, yet only one is golden. While the accessory sale is a multi-step process, the actual presentation begins with a lead-in product. 

You’ve started at the trade, gotten to know your customer’s lifestyle, mentally filed away the best personalization options to suggest and then closed the car deal. In this blissful moment, you tarry your customer with a Coke and a smile, knowing the dreaded F&I wait time has been subdued by Vehicle Personalization.  

The golden opportunity has arrived, and we call it utilizing a lead-in product.

Salespeople are learning how to sell cars again after a long period of being order takers. Having empty lots and vehicles on backorder got us all out of practice. As inventory and prices stabilize, there’s inevitably going to be a relearning process. 

Retraining car salespeople after the industry upheaval means addressing changes in customer behavior, understanding industry trends, and adopting more efficient ways to meet goals. Wise management should take advantage of the potential in training by integrating accessory sales into the process. 

Here are some strategies to consider.

Eighteen-year-old Samantha Dorton is fresh out of high school. With a spirit of optimism, she initiated plans to leave the nest. Her first stop on the road to independence was a local dealership. Samantha’s mother, Khrystal Dorton, Insignia Group’s Customer Care Coordinator, asked her daughter to be self-sufficient before she flew on her own.

“That meant getting her vehicle fixed, or purchasing one that ran,” Khrystal said. “She decided to buy a good one and leave her 2001 Nissan Pathfinder behind.” Armed with her approval specs from the bank and a good idea of what she was looking for, Samantha was ready to face the car-buying process head-on.

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. 

Isolating and overcoming objections is a key component of any sales process. The process of presenting and selling accessories at the point of sale is no different. Although we strive to make Vehicle Personalization a relaxed shopping experience, we know as the sales professional that your ultimate goal is to make a sale.

That’s why you need the plan to overcome objections from the customer who is unengaged or opposed to spending another dime. We believe that accessories, when handled correctly, can almost sell themselves.

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.