9:22 am, December 1, 2016
OVER the last 12 months, Autoguard Warranties has seen a surge in demand for longer extended warranties.
With consumer demand for warranty and GAP products growing, dealers have a great opportunity to increase sales and improve their profit opportunities. However, according to Autoguard Warranties, many dealers are inconsistent in the way they sell warranties and often fail to effectively merchandise the products.
Robert Dockerill, CEO of Autoguard Warranties, comments: ‘Dealers need to become more sophisticated in the way they upsell warranties, using merchandising, training, video and their websites.
‘Some dealers are very successful at selling extended warranty products, achieving 50 per cent to 60 per cent penetration of all vehicles sold. Their secret is a multi-channel approach to sales with a big focus on the showroom.
‘Their staff are trained to briefly mention warranties early on in the sales cycle. Obviously salespeople are there to sell cars, but by mentioning the quality warranty product early, sows the seeds in the mind of the customer.
‘Successful dealers also use point-of-sale effectively as it is very powerful – posters, leaflets and a product video can help the sales team.
‘Dealers need to explain to the customer the complexities of modern vehicles, without being patronising.
‘It is certainly worth dealers reviewing how they sell warranties, as they can account for 10 to 20 per cent of the profit in a vehicle sale.’
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