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We could all use a boost to our bottom line right now. 

We could probably use a week off social media, a tropical vacation, and some yoga too, but I digress. With summer ablaze, car dealers have more than a day at the beach on their minds. In the midst of a global pandemic inciting mayhem in our industry, we must soak up every cent of seasonal summer accessories. Say that five times fast.

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.

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.

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.

It’s the most common New Year’s resolution year after year: lose the weight. Shed that which is unwanted and not serving you. Lean out, get stronger, increase longevity. This annual commitment resounds all over the world and it’s no surprise that the diet and fitness industry is well into the billions.

Your dealership might not be on Keto, but you can still make wait loss your goal this year. Vehicle Personalization, after all, rivals diet culture as a lean, mean, multi-billion dollar industry. You can be proactive about replacing the dreaded wait time with a successful shopping experience.

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.

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?

Our “have it your way” society is hungry for more monogram stickers, a broader array of window tint options, engines that purr in another language, and decoupage. Dealer principals all over America are behind closed doors pouring over staggering statistics about vehicle personalization. Some laugh with delight, others cry at the seemingly insurmountable behemoth.

Whether you find joy or sorrow in the multi-billion dollar “uniquely mine” industry, one thing remains true: this consumer trend isn’t going away. So how can a dealer effectively keep climbing a mountain that’s still growing? Stay active, grasshopper.

When it comes to marketing your accessories business online, content is king. Whether you have an off-road or performance shop looking to grow your local accessories business, or a dealership trying to increase new car buyer accessories sales, content is key to your marketing goals.

In this article, we want to share some successful content marketing strategies that are designed to boost visits to your website via organic search. However, the content described below will also help you market your business on social media, and give you some great info to share in an email newsletter.