Your customer relies on you for many things: your expertise, flexibility, free coffee, and detective skills.

It’s not up to the person walking in the dealership to know all the personalization options available that make their car driving experience safer, more fun, more fancy, more attractive, or more social media post-worthy. As a sales person, changing your mindset from pitching another product to educating the customer on their options will make a world of difference.

Truly, you’ll do your customer a disservice by not presenting them with useful and exciting accessories for the second largest purchase OF THEIR LIFE. No pressure--but how might one know what to suggest?

Ask qualifying questions | Whether you’re dealing with a trade-in or someone buying their third “just for fun” car, it’s important to start at the beginning with qualifying questions. Good ones. Get to know this person as you would someone you meet in a social atmosphere. So taking this thought full circle, please hire sales staff with social skills.

Every customer you meet will qualify for Vehicle Personalization in one fashion or another, so focus on determining which accessories qualify as the perfect fit for the individual. Get acquainted, and find out what qualifies as a “need that” for their individual interests.

Confirm dominant buying motives | Once you know which accessories will dazzle your client, find out what's going to drive them to purchase. Some customers will buy something because it's shiny (judgement free zone), but many customers have a deeper reasoning.

If your customer is interested in enhancing safety features, is there someone they're trying to protect? If your customer is interested in heated leather seats, do they possibly have a need beyond luxury for added comfort (like a bad back)? Maybe they're just a diva and that's fine - but find that out. Dig deeper by asking good questions to uncover what makes the customer say yes.

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