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.

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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  .

You don’t have to be a gearhead to get hired at Insignia, though birds of a feather do flock together. Whether an employee comes in the door an auto enthusiast or just starts drinking the kool-aid over time, the team at Insignia is comprised of like-minded, motor lovin’, tinted, lifted, and hitched aftermarket die-hards.

When the behemoth of trade shows comes around, there’s not an Insignian from data to technical support that isn’t vying for the opportunity to attend. We’re talking SEMA. Mac daddy. Colossus. You can’t even eat lunch with David unless you’ve been. (Kidding. Actually no one wants to eat lunch with David.)

This year the management team at Insignia Group nominated deserving employees to attend the show. Nominees submitted their most compelling explanation of why they should be chosen to represent Insignia at SEMA. Of the many submissions, two were so good the management team had to send both.

Data Specialist, Sarah Patterson has been dreaming of SEMA since childhood. “As a little girl growing up, I picked Hot Wheels over cute, frilly dolls” Sarah begins. “Each year growing older the fascination only grew--playing playstation games like Need for Speed, looking over the SEMA magazines my father would bring home from work, and building my own vehicles on OE sites.”

If Sarah hadn’t earned the vote at childhood dream, she surely sealed it at the thought of her 8 year old self building OE’s. “When I was told I was chosen to attend the SEMA show I literally cried!” Sarah said. “Pure tears of excitement and joy. You have no idea what the words, "You are going to SEMA." meant to me.”

Sarah describes her experience as exceeding her expectations by a long shot. The unimaginable vastness and the jaw-dropping opportunity to ride along with professional drifters was captivating. But the best part of the experience? Meeting John Kosmoski, creator of House of Kolor paint. Familiar with his beautifully crafted projects for many years, Sarah’s cubicle back in Rock Hill, South Carolina displays her prized House of Kolor poster with Kosmoski’s autograph. “My father was able to meet [John] before. Getting to  meet him was an honor to me.”

Sarah’s travel companion was Customer Care Expert, Khrystal “Khrys” Dorton. While Sarah went for the heart strings, Khrys got right down to business. “My dealers ask about aftermarket and I wanted to be better informed on what that meant--I just had no idea how big the answer was going to be.”

People, this girl just wants to better serve her customers--and needed a little trip to the Bellagio to do it. When Khrys was chosen for the trip, she says she was quietly excited while doing a happy dance in her head--maintaining  professionalism, of course. Khrys described finally putting a face with clients she’s talked to over the phone for months from companies like AutoNation, Auto Additions, DualLiner and Katzkin.

“It was great to meet them in person. I feel like we have a better understanding of the needs and expectations of our mutual dealers.” When asked about her aftermarket learning experience, Khrys says the whole shebang was breathtaking. “I expected to see aftermarket products that we have activated in the Insignia system, but I don’t think I was quite ready for the quantity of other options. It was overwhelming at first.”

Both ladies said if they got the opportunity to go again, they’d try to see every booth from front to back. A lofty goal, but they’re up for the challenge. So what was SEMA 2017 in one word? AHH-MAZING.

Find out more about Insignia and our team at www.insigniagroup.com

Vehicle personalization enthusiasts from every corner of the world went to bed on December 31st dreaming about accessorizing their flying car. As we ring in a new year, we can’t help but wonder when George and Jane Jetson’s idealistic utopian future might come to fruition for the automotive world. Though it may be 2062 before your accessory catalog features space rails, there is productive and innovative focus for 2018 to take your dealership to the next level. We believe what’s going to be the most cutting edge in the personalization game this year isn’t a product, but a person--your accessory manager.

As an industry, we learned the hard way about stacking our sales team with warm bodies. Turn-over rates soared and your bottom line took a hit. In recent years, dealers have gotten serious about sourcing valuable talent. It’s time to take that same approach and apply it to the multi-billion dollar vehicle personalization industry that’s taken up residence in your showroom. There’s an attainable, profitable, trainable method to this madness and it comes in the form of your new dedicated accessory manager.

So how can you find the right candidate? You can start with these tips.

Dedicated | Don’t make your best sales person into an octopus. The most successful dealerships in the personalization game hire a dedicated professional specifically for this role. The accessory manager should work with your customer after the completion of the car sale during F&I wait time. This person will have their own office or secluded work space and individual pay structure.

Accessory | Accessory managers also acts as a guest coordinator, giving tours and building a relationship with the customer . The important thing to remember is that your accessory manager is the expert--on accessories. All too often dealers take advantage of the person in this position by depending on him or her to coordinate details that should be handled by parts and service. Too maximize your success in accessory sales, let your accessory manager live and breathe in their wheelhouse.

Manager | You wouldn’t haphazardly throw someone into your sales or general management position. Sourcing and hiring an accessory manager is no different. The accessory manager should display management qualities including professionalism, dedication to the team, trainability, and drive. The person you put in this position could make or break your front end gross--period.

What’s your 2018 goals for your showroom personalization profit center? What’s your biggest challenge in filling the accessory manager position with the right person? Talk to us. We’re here to help. Learn more best practices at http://www.insigniagroup.com/blog