Utilizing A Lead-In Product For Accessory Sales

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.

The Value In Your Lead Product

At this opportune moment, the best practice of deploying a lead product can make or break your personalization profit. Whether you just sold a limited edition SUV or the most basic sedan in history, you must intrigue your customer with a solid lead-in product.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: the best lead-in product is inarguably valuable. 

This beginning stage of the accessory shopping experience is not the time for the presenter’s opinion on what would add value to the customer’s vehicle. Now is the time for your shining star, the perfect lead-in product, to speak for itself.

The initial lead-in product should generally fit all vehicles in your inventory, be highly functional, cost-effective, and offer clear value. This is a product that:

• Sells almost every time because of its proven benefit
• Transcends individual taste because the usefulness shows no bias
• Fits a wide range of budgets because it’s affordable (not cheap), with the option to roll into F&I
• Demonstrates clear value through its functionality

The beauty of the lead-in product is that it sets the stage. This product beckons your customer to say “yes” and lays a foundation of trust. The goal is to make your customer comfortable with the product and its value without a lengthy explanation.

How To Choose A Lead Product

Think of items that protect the life of the vehicle, enhance the driving experience, or keep the customer safe. Lead-in products can vary by location, brand, and even the season.

A sunny South Carolina dealer might lead their presentation with window tint. Not only is tint sleek and visually enhancing—it also protects the car’s interior and passengers from harmful UV rays affordably. Oh, and it helps prevent scalding burns from leather seats when July rolls in with a vengeance (South Carolinian's nod in agreement). 

What challenges do your customers face? Is your state red dirt rich or sitting on sandy beaches? Offer all-weather mats. 

And here’s a universal one: help your customers protect their expensive investment with door edge guards or body side molding. Everybody wants longevity. 

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. Dealers using the Insignia Group accessories selling system can bundle accessories into custom packages feature hot-selling accessories, process orders, and more. In addition, our integration with major digital retailers covers all your bases and allows for a seamless transition when customers decide to come into the store. 

Schedule a demo with us to see how our system can help you sell more accessories at the point of sale.