News

27 January 2010 Fine-tuning your dealership

With sales targets to hit, it can sometimes be difficult for dealers to take time out to look at how improvements can be made to the sales process and actually finding time to implement the new measures.

Maximising add-on opportunities at point of sale is key to retaining customers - particularly warranty customers - who come back for servicing, ultimately giving dealers the chance to sell the customer their next car.

In an ever-evolving market, reviewing operations and sales processes on a regular basis can help dealers be more reactive to the performance of their sales teams, in order to tweak the way in which added value products such as warranty and GAP are sold.

Double checking that add-on products are fully integrated into the sales pitch - and are introduced at an early stage of the process - can be beneficial to helping the customer understand the 'bigger picture' of protecting their new purchase.

There may be a range of products which have historically been on offer, but reviewing whether these products are still the most effective, and whether they suit the business, and continue to provide the best level of service customers is crucial. This can help dealers to maximise revenue and keep customer satisfaction levels high, but it may also be worth thinking about whether there are enough added value products being offered that are tailored for the customer, and provide them with the option to choose.

Being able to offer products, such as warranty, that provide a high level of cover and efficient customer service on claims can be a winner in itself, but are the products' key benefits being explained in enough detail to the customer, demonstrating their full value? Taking another look at details such as these are simple steps but can make for a more profitable and responsive business approach.

With dealer teams already incentivised by commission it may be difficult to encourage even higher sales, but having regular reviews of commission structures or even providing additional incentives on a monthly or quarterly basis, may just provide the team with that added enthusiasm for selling additional products.

Making improvements to the way a dealership works isn't just about introducing drastic measures, progress can be made by taking another look and fine-tuning certain aspects of the business, and Car Care Plan can work with dealers to help tweak these details to maximise profit and raise the bar on customer service.

By Tim Heavisides, Group Chief Executive at Car Care Plan

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