Part & Accessories sales are not just transactions meant for repairs.  So few customers though are educated on what is offered online at the time of their purchase or service. Whether that is floor-mats, accessories, or aftermarket parts. 

When is the last time your sales consultants offered accessories to your customer using your store online?

Here are the top reasons to start educating the customer on parts and accessories 

Welcome Email 

How many of you have an email or thank you letter that is sent to the customer after they have purchased a vehicle? If you do - great! But do you have a click-through to your parts/accessories store? If not, you are missing out! 

Dealers who have a click-through to their parts store in the welcome email -  which should be getting a healthy open rate - usually have seen an increase in parts sales! If your OEM is offering a special sale (which they typically are), you can include that offer in the email. 

Besides, the customer might click on that call to action versus the scheduling of their first oil change. As nothing has changed since they were in two days ago purchasing the vehicle. Offering that they were not sure what day for the oil change worked best for them given that it was 3-6 months out. 

Website - where is it?? 

If your parts store is tucked away somewhere in the service menu - then forget it. Customers (especially those on mobile) want the information readily available. All without having to sift through your website.That said, it does not hurt (depending on your real estate options) to have a menu option for “Parts & Accessories.” 

The customer who is purchasing parts might not have serviced or purchased their vehicle at your store. However, if they are able to get the part or accessory inexpensively, it lends the opportunity to gather his/her information. In turn, allowing you to market to a new and potential customer. 

Take it one step further, you can always send them an oil change coupon as a 'thank you' for their parts or accessories purchase if they haven’t serviced their vehicle with you before.  Limiting the offer, perhaps, to OEM vehicles only. As this can assist with retention efforts in place with the OEM. 

Not Tracking Parts Sale Customer Info? 

I was a bit shocked, honestly, that while the parts sales are tracked - the customer data (unless a corp account) is mostly not tracked! This is a huge mistake. Why wouldn’t you want to track all of the customer data for parts & accessories? 

The only time the data (if you are not currently tracking it) would be tracked is if their purchase required installation from service. In which case, there would be an RO for the labor costs. Keep in mind, gathering their data would also lend the ability to email them their receipt. Not to mention - as discussed above - it confers the ability to market to the customer in the future. Primarily if the customer has not already purchased or serviced a vehicle from you. 

Time of Sale 

The customer may not have gotten every option they dreamt of - however, that does not mean that they cannot afford to splurge on a few accessories, which will only cost them (depending on the accessory) a few more dollars a month! 

When is the last time you tried to upsell winterized floor mats? The worst thing the customer can say is “no.” But for everyone that says no will be the customer who wants to protect their new purchase, and will gladly spend the money to protect their new vehicle. 

Bottom Line: 

There has to be a focus on selling parts and accessories! In doing so, it will not only add/increase the bottom line, but it most importantly offers new opportunities to both sell and service the customer's vehicle. 

Do you promote the parts department? If so, have you seen an increase in sales? Do you track all of their customer data?