What are the competitive advantages new vehicle dealers have in selling vehicle accessories? They say that smart business is about identifying opportunities. If you had an opportunity to tap into a 43 billion-dollar (and growing) industry - without affecting your current car dealership - would you take it? Without a doubt.
The aftermarket vehicle accessories sales market can increase your profits with no risk, while it also increases customer loyalty because people have a reason to return to your store. A value-added service, which is what aftermarket vehicle accessories sales are, will also distinguish your dealership from your competitors.
What Advantages Do New Vehicle Dealers Have In Selling Vehicle Accessories?
1. First Crack At The Customer
You can’t sell vehicle accessories without a vehicle. At least, not with much impact. The customer’s first stop in this process is purchasing their vehicle with you. You can develop that rapport and give the customer the opportunity to purchase dealer-approved aftermarket vehicle accessories. This means you have no competitors - you’re the customer’s only point of contact in terms of purchasing vehicle accessories. Statistics support the claim that you’re more likely to make an upsell on a vehicle sale than to create a whole new sale, separately, as other accessory sellers would have to: 90% of car accessory sales take place within 3 months of new auto purchases. People want to accessorize their new vehicles!
2. On-Site Financing
With credit card rates sitting at 17.27%, cash is king. The next best alternative for a customer is to add his or her vehicle accessories in the vehicle’s financing. As the dealer, you are able to add a few thousand dollars to the financing to cover any extras with the initial purchase. This makes the sale easy. Not to mention a tremendous savings versus financing it at 17%.
3. A Database of Customers
As an auto dealer, you have a database of past clients. You have a record of each vehicle ever sold. This is a potential gold mine - you can run a few remarketing campaigns to target your past customers and let them know when you have new and trendy vehicle accessories. Reach out to your database via emails, messages, and phone calls. These outreach tools can generate a fully-fledged secondary revenue stream with minimal effort. Do other accessory companies online or in your market have this competitive edge? Absolutely not.
4. Service Drive Traffic
Along with building rapport and establishing yourself as a trusted dealership, take advantage of return visits. When clients return to have their vehicle serviced or maintained, pay attention to their lifestyles. Is there a new baby? Are there minor scratches to the vehicle or perhaps road rash on the wheels? Make suggestions that will solve the small lifestyle challenges you have observed. For example, drivers with small children might benefit from a rear-seat DVD display. You have the unique opportunity to continue your upsell process - not only at the initial time of purchase but also on every subsequent visit.
5. Service Expertise
Your certified technicians are experts at the vehicles you sell. They know each vehicle’s potential quirks and they’re capable of upselling a client on a remedy for it. They’re also better qualified at pairing the best parts with the customer’s vehicle. Being the dealer has already established your business as a trusted service provider. Leverage that to establish an additional revenue source.
6. Professional Sales and Service People
You already have dedicated teams in sales that turn your customers’ dreams into reality. Adding vehicle accessories into their existing sales process is something that is both simple and easy - not to mention incredibly profitable. There’s no risk to you, either. As for the service, you have professionals to take care of customer issues and sell services and parts every day. Once again, adding accessory sales to the service drive is straightforward, effective, and very easy.
7. State of the Art Facilities
New vehicle facilities are also something that is often taken for granted by people who get to work in them every day. But if you ever compare the showroom, indoor service aisle, customer waiting area, even the bathrooms are significantly more professional than that of any local accessory shop. These facilities allow you to attract higher-caliber employees and provide a much better location to facilitate accessory sales.
So, there you have it. Seven real advantages Auto Dealers have when it comes to selling accessories. When you step back and realize how many advantages you have versus the competition it makes it an even easier decision to attack the $40+ Billion-dollar opportunity.
Vogue Tyre can help by providing a custom solution for your dealership to help you grow your profits and increase customer retention with automotive aftermarket accessories.