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.

Want to see the rest or get more accessory selling tips? Visit our blog

Successful dealerships do not sell vehicle personalization.

No, dealers with millions in added front-end gross are not made up of smooth-talking accessory managers. High volume personalization profit centers aren't giving anything away, using gimmick advertising, or bulldozing weary car buyers. Dealerships climbing the ladder in the accessory business are simply educating every customer on the options available to enhance, protect, and prolong their vehicle, all with an affordable monthly payment.

Educating the customer, rather than pitching another product, is an irreplaceable part of the process. Insignia’s National Account and Consulting Sales Lead, Shawn Skalski, stresses this crucial tone change as a best practice tip in every training.

“‘No one likes to be sold, but everyone likes to buy’” is a quote that has been used for many years, and vehicle personalization is no exception,” Shawn says. “I see it a lot in dealerships--the breakdown with vehicle customization is the simple fact that the customer is not educated on two basic principles. First, the majority of the time a customer does not know these options are available to them, and second they do not realize they can be purchased at the dealership.”

Educating the customer can turn your typical sales pitch into a valuable lesson that everyone can benefit from. When it comes to launching an accessory program, adding another step to the sales process is a frequent reservation among dealer management.

It makes sense, doesn't it? After all, you’ve just sold a car--you'd hate to bombard that customer with another sales pitch while they’re waiting to go into F&I. Isn't F&I going to sell their products, too? Are we trying to run the customer out of the showroom, clinging to their wallet for dear life? You may be thinking “give the customer break”--and we would agree.

Accessories are a multi (multi, multi) billion dollar industry. As long as consumers are driving cars, they’re buying accessories. Knowing that, the pressure is off. Please do give your customer a break after the vehicle purchase. Comfortable seating in a relaxed environment, a cold drink, and a zero-pressure browsing experience to fill the wait time.

Pull up your customer’s new vehicle--the one he’s excited about that came in his desired cherry red--and turn your computer screen over to him. Now the salesperson is just the expert, here to educate--not to sell.

Sales is free to slip out and refresh themselves while the customer breathes easy, clicking through the array of options that fit every budget and background. Checking back in on the customer, the educator explains the benefit of the most popular add-ons, and can answer any questions.

The customer is relaxed, refreshed, and making their own decision about what will enhance the driving experience, based off the experience provided by the personalization expert.

There's no need to sell vehicle personalization. All you need to do is offer the experience and educate your customer at the point of sale: vehicle personalization will sell itself.

Want to educate your dealership? Get started here. 

Whether you’re a high-end luxury dealer or a used car guy with a gold necklace--there’s one thing everyone can agree on: your lead-in product better be dy-no-mite.

When it comes to the art of accessories, you’ve got one golden opportunity. There may be other opportunities, but only one is golden. The accessory sale is a process, but 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 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 the beauty of vehicle personalization.  The golden opportunity has arrived.

It’s at this opportune moment that Insignia’s best practice numero uno will make or break your personalization profit. Whether you just sold a Jaguar or a Geo Metro, you’ve got to 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 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 (but not cheap), with the option to roll into F&I
• demonstrates a clear value through its functionality.

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

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

One of sunny South Carolina’s Hyundai dealers leads their presentation with window tint. A sleek, visually enhancing addition, window tint also protects the car’s interior and protects passengers from harmful UV-rays, affordably.

One of Insignia’s Northeastern Toyota dealer leads into this winter’s personalization presentation with remote starts. Nobody in Massachusetts is arguing that it is cold. Like ridiculously frozen. And a warm car sounds enchanting. *Add to cart*.

Put this best practice tip to work and make sure the value of your lead-in product is undeniable.

For more of our showroom tips check out our blog at http://www.insigniagroup.com/blog or sign up for our best practices.

Automotive industry professionals all over the country can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The myth has been debunked--millennials’ supposed disdain for cars isn’t shutting down the industry as we know it.

Entering the workforce in a down economy put purchases such as a new car on hold. For many, it was a hold that spanned more than a few years. So-called rite-of-passage purchases such as a first house and car dissipated for a time. With the economy on rocky ground, educated and qualified individuals were forced to pick up shifts at the mall and spend countless hours on Career Builder. I attest to it! As a 2009 graduate, I did my time dressing mannequins despite the Bachelor of Arts I’d just earned. You see, millennials never took a stand against buying a car. They opted for evolving modes of public transportation for the interim.

While there’s still plenty of content circulating about the generation struggling vocationally, the automotive industry can let that roll off its back. Automotive News reports the following statement:

Millennials make up the fastest-growing segment among vehicle buyers and likely will represent about forty percent of the U.S. new-vehicle market by 2020.

Marketers and design engineers alike are interested in this one. Millennials are buying cars and have unique hot buttons unlike any of the dealerships’ other clientele. This is the digital era, after all. In a world of self-driving cars and Siri® reminding you to pick up K-cup® pods, dealerships are constantly under pressure to remain cutting-edge enough for their twenty-something shoppers. But how do you balance a customer whose budget reflects an entry-level career, but whose taste reflects the digital culture in which they’ve grown up?

You personalize. The consumers who are the “fastest-growing segment among vehicle buyers” weren’t only raised on technology; they were also raised on “have-it-your-way” marketing. Vehicle Personalization, a multi-billion dollar industry, is the key to creating satisfied customers, profitably. Sell your customer the reliable, affordable vehicle that he or she has already researched half to death online.

Your millennial customer will spend money to get the technology that he has grown accustomed to. The only question is: will the customer spend it with you or on Amazon?

When you sell your customer a solid vehicle that he or she can afford, and then offer to add SiriusXM and navigation with low monthly payments rolled in with F&I, you’ve done a great thing. Offer them value in protection packages like all-weather mats, paint protection film, and body side moldings. You have helped the customer keep the value of the new purchase. You’ve made a customer happy.  And a happy customer writes positive reviews on Facebook, delivers winning CSI scores, refers her friends, and returns to your dealership, all while adding front-end gross.

No, millennials aren’t sick of cars. Millennials are a rapidly growing force in the automotive industry that may just shape the future of car buying and accessories.

Is your dealership equipped to cater to forty percent of the new car market? Find more helpful tips at our blog http://www.insigniagroup.com/blog

Pumpkin spice is in the air. With the changing of the seasons comes differing needs to protect and prolong your customer’s vehicle. As we float into winter, weather should be on the dealership’s mind.

The month of January is the perfect time to switch your lead-in product.  Summer’s favorite window tint gives way to accessories made to ease the transition to dropping temperatures.

Dealers from Jacksonville to Juno (and everywhere in between) can take a tip from these popular winter weather lead-in products to maximize accessory sales in the fall.

Remote start | If having a remote start is wrong, we don’t want to be right. Nobody wants to shiver from the door to the car, only to hop into an icebox with a frozen steering wheel. This product sells itself in northern states and we see it finally catching on in the southern “smile” states (what took you so long?).  Parts department should stock this part as a fast mover and put an extra bonus on high volumes sales in the showroom.

Heated Seats | Turn that base model into a luxury ride by adding heated seats either with or without the remote start. This 1 - 2 combo can put as much as $200 in gross on the hood and warm up sales pockets while making customers feel like Kings and Queens. The best part it will add less that $10 per month to any credit worthy buyer.  

Engine block heater | Some accessories are born out of necessity, which makes it an easy pitch. Depending on your location, it could be suggested that this product is truly a must-have to prolong the life of the engine and reduce the frustration of a car that won’t start. Any dealer that’s shoveling snow in the winter months should be presenting engine block heaters to every customers as both preventative and convenience.

All weather mats | All weather floor mats never go out of style, but the promise of leaves crunching under your feet and impending slush and snow heightens the draw. Mats are a popular accessory across all brands, and a non-intimidating way to lead into the personalization presentation.

Tires | While some of us enjoy mild winters, many parts of the country have to be prepared for more extreme conditions. Make sure you’re not missing an opportunity to equip your customer with top of the line tires providing the traction needed for a safe commute.

Bonus Round: Service packages | Many stores have success starting the personalization presentation with a service coupon or freebie. Offer free or discounted service for your customer to come back and winterize their vehicle within the first 30 to 60 days of purchase. Once the customer accepts the promotion, move right into your personalization presentation.

Utilize the knowledge of your customer base to determine which lead in products and custom packages to showcase this fall. If all else fails, offer to sprinkle the entire exterior with pumpkin spice. Everybody’s doing it.

Click here to download more of our best practices! Or check out our blog for more!

If you ask a General Sales Manager what their biggest fear is, you won’t hear clowns or spiders. No, a GSM’s biggest fear: lot rot.

Dealerships of every size and brand know the tension of moving metal in a timely manner to stay profitable and hit manufacturer sales requirements. The reality of lot time is a constant source of inner dialogue for management; so you can imagine a sales manager’s hesitation to take a risk with their turn rate.

Lance Burris, Vehicle Personalization Expert for Insignia, encourages his customers to strategically preload their new vehicles and backs up his sage advice with hard evidence. Lance admits this recommendation is initially received with pushback. After all, many dealerships believe adding accessories to a vehicle will only increase the amount of time on the lot. The critical element to ordering vehicles with port installed accessories or preloading vehicles on arrival is choosing the right accessories.

One major OE produced a report comparing the amount of time popular vehicles with port installed accessories spent on the dealership lot, versus non-accessorized vehicles. This research showed adding visually enhancing accessories to the vehicle reduced lot time 76% of the time nationally for a popular selling sedan.

The report revealed preloading combinations on a high demand sedan, cut lot time down to less than a fourth of the national average for the same vehicle without accessories.

This combination of floor and trunk mats with protection items like a door edge guard and rear bumper applique visually enhance the vehicle, making it appealing to potential buyers.

Protection items also preserve the life of the vehicle, making it a wise investment for the customer rather than a customization item that varies by taste. Popular trucks of the same OE flew off the lot the same day of arrival with a wide variety of customization items such as tube steps, spray in bedliners, and center consoles.

Lance, who works with all different brands, says it’s changing the look of the vehicle on the lot that proves to be successful regardless of OE.

“Mudguards on most vehicles and cross bars on SUV’s change the look of the vehicle at a low cost to the customer,” Lance explains. “The correct accessories speed up the rate to sell. GSM’s have been convinced that preloading slows down the process. But I show them the amount of days at the dealership compared to similar, non-accessorized vehicles.”

Lance also petitions that properly accessorizing vehicles gives the advantage back to the sales team by providing an opportunity to increase gross profits. Just as base model pricing brings prospects in for a test drive, customers gravitate towards the more appealing, accessorized edition of the same vehicle.

“Sales will always show the accessorized vehicle first. More often than not, the customer falls in love with the accessorized car and doesn’t want to settle for the base model, therefore adding front end gross to the showroom,” Lance says.

Don’t let lot rot scare you. Tap into the multi-billion dollar vehicle personalization industry and ask your consultant how to strategically accessorize on your lot. 

Need more help selling accessories? Start increasing your accessory profits  .