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.

[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.

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. 

Vehicle Personalization can be a profitable endeavor for every department.  Getting your sales team excited about your Vehicle Personalization program requires a consistent commission structure. How can your dealership decide what’s right for your team? Consider one of our proven structures to get everybody motivated. 

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.

Harry Brown’s Family Automotive in Faribault, Minnesota skipped crawling, felt no need to walk, and went directly from rolling over to sprinting as an infant client. This Guided Development customer is the new child prodigy as they make leaps and bounds in record time. Vehicle Personalization Expert, Kurt Daughtery, is the proud father and is already predicting this kid puts himself through college as we all stand in awe of the remarkable progress they’ve made in their first full month using the program.

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.

As an Insignia VPE, I do a lot of training during my guided visits.  I emphasize the same lesson when training associates with proven success and those who have never presented Vehicle Personalization before: consistency of presentation.  To be victorious you have to show up first.

I don’t care what kind of experience you’ve had with the customer. Make a Vehicle Personalization presentation! According to industry statistics, 9/10 of your customers WILL personalize their vehicle within 90 days of purchasing it with anything from fuzzy dice to a truck cap. Why not offer them all the opportunity to integrate it into their purchase?