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When Miguel Vasquez moved from downtown Dallas to the suburbs, he quickly realized he’d closed the books on his walking and public transportation days. 

After weighing his options, he decided it was time to start his car-buying journey. 

Miguel was in the market for a used car and determined to adhere to his budget. Like many people, Miguel was buying a car out of necessity and needed to do some online research to determine what kind of car would fit his needs. 

“Online window shopping helped me compare multiple vehicles at the same time. I wanted to see if anything caught my eye, plus easily view features, specs, and prices. I did some perusing at the dealership, too,” Vasquez says. 

Your service writers are in the ideal position to boost your accessory profit. 

When customers come in for service or routine maintenance, there are things they’ve been thinking about that they didn’t buy when they purchased the car. Though customers are less likely to make a major upgrade on the spot, like upgrading audio or installing retractable side steps, they’re highly likely to add lower-cost everyday accessories.

A service writer’s selling stance is one of convenience. Boiling down your offering to a handful of accessories that appeal to the masses will simplify the process and produce a higher sales volume. 

Think of accessories like mud flaps, body side molding, cross bars, and all-weather mats that are affordable and helpful for most vehicles, plus remote starts for older models. 

These are low-pressure accessories that service writers can easily incorporate into their upsell to create happy, loyal customers and generate additional revenue in fixed ops. 

Here are three reasons why your service writer is the man (or woman) for the job. 

1. A pre-established relationship with the customer

The most difficult (and expensive) segment to sell to is a brand-new customer, whereas the easiest sell is the customer who already agreed to do business with you. A pre-established relationship translates into a soft sale that’s far removed from the initial battle of wits that is often the car sale. Still, most dealers continue to focus nearly all selling efforts on the front of the house. Often, your service writers have built relationships with their “regular” customers, and as a result, trust has developed between the two. This lowers a buyer’s natural resistance to being presented with items for sale.

2. They’re already in a position to upsell 

Service writers are in a natural upselling position. When a customer brings their vehicle to the service lane, technicians will check its functions and systems and present any problems or potential problems to the customer. It’s expected. At the same time, service writers can suggest accessories that will protect the vehicle or enhance the driver’s experience without it coming off as a sales pitch. Providing good training and an easy way to present the accessories to their customers is a good start.

3. The program benefits them, so it’s easy to get on board 

Most service writers are paid on gross, so there isn’t much reluctance to roll out an accessory-selling program. By implementing this program, you're not only increasing their earning potential but also making their job more fulfilling. This, in turn, increases retention rates and creates loyal customers. By offering this program, you're showing them that their role is crucial in the sales process, and they should be able to buy into the program enthusiastically. 

When your customers can create the vehicle that they have dreamt of, your retention rate will increase. They will know that they can count on you to provide the right product and the right price, installed correctly. Customizing is fun, and fun is a good experience for your customers to have when they visit your dealership.

Insignia Group Can Help

For more than twenty years, Insignia Group has been the leading provider of digital accessory-selling systems in dealerships nationwide. Our sleek interface allows dealerships to create profitable accessory programs at the point of sale, in the service lane, and online! Dealers using the Insignia Group accessories selling system can easily present accessories anywhere in a user-friendly way. Our cutting-edge visualization connects your customer to their purchase and makes for a seamless order process. 

Schedule a demo to see how our system can help you sell more accessories in the service lane!

Does the thought of selling accessories get you bent out of shape? When it comes to presenting personalization at the point of sale, there’s a process you can follow to the letter to snap you back.

Even dealerships that throw accessories at the wall to see what sticks make money. While a haphazard approach isn’t sustainable and surely not the best way to do things, accessories just hold their own. 

Your customers are hard-wired to personalize. That’s the facts—so if you opt not to offer accessories out of fear of losing the sale or confusion on how to do it, your customer will head to the aftermarket vendor down the street. 

Keep your money in-house. Ensure your customer is getting OE accessories (under warranty) installed by factory-certified technicians. And then reap the benefits! 

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.