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When Carl Moyer of Karl Chevrolet decided to take on the tire store across the street, he and his team planned for success. But, they could have never predicted they would have made GM history by being the first dealership to sell $ 1 million dollars worth of tires in one year. Their success continued in the following years as they increased their tire sales from $1 million in 2009 to $3 million in 2011.  Not only does Karl Chevrolet present their customers with tire options, but they also offer tire and wheel accessories.  The dealership displays about 50 ready-to-sell accessorized vehicles and uses Insignia’s accessories system for selling accessories. 

A popular quote often attributed to George M. Cohan (and others) is “I don't care what the newspapers say about me, as long as they spell my name right.”  It’s an interesting perspective but it is definitely not my advice, especially in this information age.  What is said about you in the global forum of the Internet is very critical to your success.

A study by Cone Trend Tracker (Aug. ’11) found that “80% of consumers have changed their minds about purchasing a recommended product or service based solely on negative information they found online.”  This figure is a significant increase from the prior year’s 67%.

It is becoming increasingly easy to find online reviews, comments, complaints (and praise), and blog entries about most products and services, and the companies that deliver them.  That is why you need to do all you can to make sure that your happy customers have opportunities and encouragement to praise your great products and services.

Women are even more likely than men to turn to online sources to reaffirm their purchase decisions before they make them.   And they’re also quite likely to turn to the web and other sources to offer their opinion of their buying experience after the experience, so make it great.

Your job is to incorporate feedback opportunities into your interactions with your customers, and to make that feedback available to prospective customers.  Your website should have be a forum for customers to comment, hopefully positively.  (If you get negative feedback then address it immediately.  An unhappy customer has many places to complain online other than your website or Facebook page.)

Don’t plant glowing feedback to counter that of unhappy customers.  If it is uncovered, the repercussions can be more trouble than the complaint.

Do what you can to let customers both on and offline know that you are doing wonderful things to keep them coming back.  That’s the WomenCertified® Way!

Courtesy of Insignia guest blogger Delia Passi, CEO of WomenCertified Inc., home to the Women’s Choice Award.To learn more about how you can get women to recommend your dealership, email Delia at dpassi@medelia.com.

Are you familiar with the book “If you give a moose a muffin?”

“Look back over the past with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can see the future”- Marcus Aurelius

Every great warrior and leader knows that the key to success in the future lies in having an understanding of the past. So with that said what sense does it make to set up a dealership accessories sales program and never keep an accurate detailed record of activity?  In it lies your plan for victory. A lack of record keeping could be a plan for failure. Here are three keep points you should track and analyze throughout the history of your accessory selling program.

Record Keeping #1 - Customer Access

When a customer agrees to view accessories they should always create a unique log in ID and password. A good accessories selling system will be able to track where they logged in from, what they looked at, etc. Plus, the customer may be associated to the sales consultant for future sales credit.

Example: Analyzing your customer’s activity will help you understand what accessories are most viewed in your catalog. You should know the year, make, model and sub-model. It’s an easy way to advise your sales team on hot items to present to future customers.

In short…your sales consultants should take the time to register all customers.

Looking for a complete guide for selling accessories in your dealership? Get a free copy of the Accessories Profit Playbook

Record Keeping #2 - Sales Consultant Log-ins

All sales consultants should have their own login credentials. Not only does it give them commission credit for their sales it gives management an idea of who’s doing what? And let’s not forget about Customer Access discussed above!

Example: The dealership may use the individual performance reports to inspire “spiff” based activity contests. Spiffs based upon the most number of registered customers. Perhaps spiffs for the greatest penetration. Tracking at the sales consultant level allows you to manage, plan and reward for success.

In short…reviewing your sales consultants activity allows for success planning.

Record Keeping #3 – Pricing

This is essential to remaining competitive. You do not want to spend time and resources promoting a great program however pricing yourself out of the market? This is also very important if you’re stocking high volume items…price them to sell!

Example:  You’ve seen it on every news program, read about it on every website, and even seen your customers with it, the IPOD. So you decide that the Personal Audio Link will be a hit in the accessories catalog. You get about one purchase out of a hundred views…while this is a hot item based upon views, nobody buys.  Be sure to compare your pricing.

It’s most likely priced too high. There are several mark-up options available. Based on your observations pricing it correctly will make it sell.

With all the content that’s out there it’s hard to keep customers engaged. This is not to mention the hundreds of websites you are competing with. As a dealership you have to stand out online as well. Here are four tips to keep your customers engaged and prevent them leaving your website without becoming a customer.

1.       Videos:

Since the release of the popular film “The Fast and the Furious”, car accessorizing has shifted from being a secret of car gear enthusiasts to a mainstream phenomenon. It even factors into customer retention for service conversions. Two sequels later and the aftermarket accessory market continues to average 8% growth annually. Car dealerships would be wise to keep up. The demand for car accessories is high. And, just like fashion accessories, there are hundreds of options. And, trends change rapidly. Here are four reasons why people love to personalize their vehicles.

Purchasing a car is the second largest investment most people will make. And, unfortunately, many compare the experience to a visit with the dentist. John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America CEO stated “Americans would rather go to the dentist than visit a car dealer.”  So many things can go wrong from the time a prospect sets foot on the lot to the time they roll off in their new car. Many deals fall apart during one fatal stage, the uncomfortable transition to F&I.  During this time period many prospects are likely to change their mind.