Smart Motors: Myth-buster and Master of Vehicle Personalization

Posted by Insignia Group on Mar 24, 2016 12:00:00 PM

All of Insignia's success stories begin with a challenge to the conventional objections to vehicle personalization. We often talk to stores who claim, "Selling accessories for our store will not work because we sell mostly cars." Smart Motors, in Madison, WI, quickly puts this objection to rest.

All of Insignia's success stories begin with a challenge to the conventional objections to vehicle personalization. We often talk to stores who claim, "Selling accessories for our store will not work because we sell mostly cars." Smart Motors, in Madison, WI, quickly puts this objection to rest.
 
smart-motors-insignia.png"We sell mostly cars here," says Paul Cooley, accessories manager for Smart Motors.  Smart Motors is a perennial Toyota President's Award winner and number 1 volume store in Wisconsin. "We sell a lot of Priuses--a lot."
 
And they sell a lot of accessories. For the past six years, Smart Motors has averaged more than $1.1 million per year. This July, Smart Motors expects to exceed $6.6 million in sales using the Insignia system.
 
Here's another conventional myth-buster: Smart Motors salespeople present accessories throughout the car-buying process, and vehicle personalization options are closed in the business office. "Very rarely do we ever have a customer who tries to negotiate with the accessories in the deal," says Cooley. "Our sales staff knows that, in most cases, it is the accessories that will pay them more than the car deal, so they don't want to lose that income."
 
Smart pays 10 percent commission on accessories across the board. This means they paid more than $110,000 in commissions in 2015. Their top accessories-selling sales assosmart-motors-insignia-showroom.pngciate took home over $10,000 in additional income.
 
Throughout the dealership, sales associates have computer stations where they take customers to see what they can add to customize their new purchase. "This happens anytime during the car sale," says Cooley, who has held the accessories manager position for six years. "Our folks are really good about making this part of the experience and the reason to purchase the car here." 
 
Many of the accessories and protection offerings are installed in-house, and Smart has a cavern-like indoor delivery area. Here the staff reviews the features and items added to each customer's new car. Smart even bakes into the process the possibility of a one-day rental for accessories that need a little more installation time. "We are bringing more and more of the installation in-house," says Cooley. "This helps us continue to find new profitability for our dealership." 
 
smart-motors-insignia-accessories.pngSmart Motors is one of the oldest dealerships in the country, having begun in 1908. Vehicle personalization has always been part of the dealership's mentality, sometimes to the extreme. In 1946, company patriarch O.D. Smart sold the first post-war vehicle in Madison. Smart called it the "universal peace jeep." The vehicle was actually a Willys utility vehicle, made by Willys-Overland Motors.
 
Modern day Dealer-Owner J.R. Smart is a big believer in vehicle personalization, according to Cooley. "He stresses to the entire staff how important this is to the dealership's continued success and customer satisfaction," says Cooley.
 
When asked the biggest benefit of Insignia's system, Cooley said that the system is accurate and easy for the salespeople to use, and it provides him with reports that he needs to manage the vehicle personalization process on a daily basis.
 
Insignia is pleased to present its challenge coin to Paul Cooley for the patronage of Smart Motors. Paul is one of our best customers. He provides us with feedback and ideas to make our services better. We are proud of his success and the success of Smart Motors, and we're honored to be a part of the team.


By: Insignia Group
 
 
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Topics: Accessory News, Toyota, Challenge Coin