THIRTY SECONDS TO SIGNIFICANT SALES

As a detail shop owner or manager, if you and/or your employees are not effective in the subtle ways of upselling detail services chances are you are either offending your customers by being to pushy, or you are leaving money on the table that the customer would willingly spend with you.

Either situation will cost you money, in the long run.

In the consulting and training that I do with detail shop owners; carwash operators and even auto dealers who want to sell detailing to their service customers, I find that not enough attention is paid to methods of upselling.

Upselling in my mind refers to helping the customer to purchase not a "carpet shampoo" or a "wax," but what the vehicle needs in the way of cosmetic car care. A key part of our training is to get the detail sales person to understand that they should attempt to show the customer the key areas of the vehicle. These are:

• The exterior, primarily the paint finish
• The interior
• The trunk
• The engine

If you do not take the time to show these areas to the customer how will they, or you know if they need detailing?

Additionally, as you are reviewing these areas with the customer you can also be looking for needed cosmetic car care services. For example:

• Paint Touchup
• Pinstriping Repair or Addition
• Windshield Chip Repair
• Vinyl/Leather/Velour Repair
• Carpet Enhancement/Recolor/Dyeing
• Paintless Dent Repair

You don't even have to offer these services, you can use an outside contractor who will come to your shop to perform the service when the vehicle is in for the detail. You markup his price to you and make a tidy profit for brokering the service (s),

Why Upselling is so Profitable.

For example, a customer pays $25,000 for a vehicle and comes in ready to spend between $100 to $200 for detail. With the kind of investment made in a motor vehicle and the customer's awareness of the need for cosmetic car care, there shouldn't be any resistence on their part to take your suggestion and have one of the other services performed.

And for you, this is easy money. You have the car in the shop and are making a good profit on the detail, or you should be. By adding a windshield chip repair at $35.00 adds literally that much profit to the bottomline of the ticket. Or, if you perform a paint touchup or paintless dent repair your profit could mushroom an additional $50.00 to $150.00, depending on the repair to be made.

Some detailers are simply reluctant to make the effort needed for upselling extra services. My idea is that it might take from 30 to 60 seconds to make that extra revenue. In fact, upselling is one of the best uses of time a detail shop owner or his employees can make.

Upselling Should be Easy

As mentioned, the best part of upselling is that it requires very little effort. Since it is done after the customer has more or less decided to purchase the detail service, the hard part of the sales conversation has been done. You have already established rapport, identified needs, summarized, presented benefits, asked for the order and handled objections. Upselling is just presenting the information in a "oh, by the way" manner.

The "3" Biggest Mistakes in Upselling There may be more mistakes to avoid, but these are major:

1. No attempt is made to upsell
2. The salesperson is too pushy
3. The upsell is not made in a knowledgeable and convincing manner

Effective Upselling Strategies

Assumption is the key. You have got to assume that the customer will naturally want to purchase if you only present the need. Begin the upsell with need and benefit. Then, if possible add something unique about the particular service you are selling. In order to not come across as "pushy" especially if the upsell requires some elaborate explanation, ask for the customer's permission to describe what it is you are suggesting they consider purchasing in addition to the detail.

Here is an example of the wrong way to upsell. Say you are having dinner at a nice resturant and you have just finished a big meal. The waiter then asks: "would you care to see the dessert tray?" If you say yes, you might give the impression of being a glutton. So, many customers refuse out of embarrassment. The result: NO SALE.

The smart waiter does not ask if the customer wants dessert. The professional waiter simply assumes that when people go out to dinner they are treating themselves to a night out. So there is no question in the waiter's mind that they would want dessert. So at the appropriate time they bring out the dessert tray and says, "to finish off your meal with a little something sweet ( a benefit) I have brought the dessert tray over for you to look at. May I tell you about each one of these delicious looking treats, make right here in by our chef?"

When the diner agrees to hear about the desserts the waiter does not just list them, they describe the benefits. So rather than saying, "this is chocolate mousse," he might say, "if you like chocolate you will love this, it is personally one of my favorites."

What you must do is focus on the perceived needs the customer has and then the actual needs of the vehicle, not yours. Don't try to sell the customer something you wouldn't buy if you were in their shoes. It is totally irrelevant whether or not this purchase suits your needs; what is relevant is whether it suits the customer's needs. That perspective empowers you to upsell with integrity and confidence.

If possible, give the customer some type of hands-on demonstration or example. A before and after of a paint touchup; paintless dent repair; windshield repair; carpet recolor or dye, etc. This is one of the most effective methods of getting the customer to purchase, that is, to see the benefit.

You may even have an opportunity to sell more than one service, depending on the particular vehicle. This will allow you to offer a total package price including the detail and whatever additional services the vehicle might need.

Bottomline: Every detail shop owner should look at whether they or their employees could improve the way they upsell. For most, alittle training can make a huge difference.