In this month’s issue of Motor Trader, AutoProtect were asked to comment on their Special Focus: Paint Protection.
Alex Youngs, National Sales Manager Paint Protection, has provided his response below.
What steps can dealership management and sales employees do to boost sales of paint protection products and services? What systems and procedures would you recommend to put in place?
Success is about creating and sustaining a consistent sales approach tailored around the needs of the dealer and more importantly, the needs of the customer. With consistency underpinning the approach, dealers increase their success by adopting a three-stage strategy:
- A product that dealers can believe in and which offers tangible customer value
- Top level dealer support to ensure that paint protection is a measurable performance item for the sales team
- High quality support in promotion/merchandising and sales training, supported by ongoing reviews
When put together the three can make it easy for customers to lock-in that showroom finish for the long term.
What training do you have in place in work and online to help staff understand and sell paint protection?
Training is supplied to help dealers to promote the products in the showroom and online in an ethical and transparent manner and on how to ensure the products are applied correctly. We see these products as part of a long-term CRM strategy and dealer feedback supports that this strategy works.
What more can dealers do to sell paint protection online and through digital channels? Are you helping dealers in any way in this respect? A dedicated website? Video?
In today’s increasingly digital marketplace, customers often take time to research even low value purchases. Video provides an engaging and transparent way for customers to discover the features and benefits of the Williams paint protection options offered by AutoProtect.
We have produced a high quality video experience that dealers can add to their website. Before the customer even enters the showroom, the video can ensure that they are aware of the benefits of paint protection. The key benefit for dealers is the credibility offered by having the Williams branding on the product.
In addition, we can provide web copy to support dealers’ online promotional activity and have developed a very neat email approach that can be adopted into a dealer’s wider CRM activities.
The feedback from dealers is that these approaches are working both in creating pre-purchase interest and in facilitating post-sale resolicitation activity.
Can you please outline any new trends or developments in the paint protection market, which you believe, are of importance to dealers?
I think the key area centres upon quality. Customers will buy products that match their performance claims, where sufficient value has been created in them. This is as true for paint protection as any other product.
The issue with paint protection is that there is a wide range of products and there is no one consumer-facing brand that customers can rely upon. It is why we chose to link up with Williams, a brand that is all about performance in the F1 world and which is known to consumers, it immediately carries with it credibility.
In the weeks ahead we are going to be taking this familiarity theme to an entirely new level to ensure customers know they are buying a performance brand they really can believe in. News on this development will be announced very soon!
The FCA is imposing new rules on dealers when selling finance with their Treating Customers Fairly approach and rules on transparency. Can paint protection learn from this?
Absolutely, The FCA is currently consulting on the General Insurance Add-ons Market Study, which is ostensibly focusing upon GAP/RTI insurance, however the remit for this consultation talks about insurance products which consumers are not “contractually obliged” to purchase, which could include other options such as paint protection and other add value insurance products.
We are absolutely committed to ensuring our dealers know that with the Williams ceramic paint protection portfolio they know they have a great well-supported product and the right training to ensure it is promoted ethically around the needs of the consumer.
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