Automotive detailers play an important role helping their clients’ vehicles get back in tip-top shape. If you’re considering enrolling in detailing training, you’ll soon learn that many customers don’t know the full scope of services available for their cars. That’s where you come in! You can help your future clients by suggesting and upselling valuable services that they might not have been aware of. The practice of upselling involves suggesting additional services that will benefit your customer and help you bring in more revenue to your shop.
Depending on the shop you work at or if you own your own detailing business, you may or may not directly interact with customers. Either way, it’s great to have these skills under your belt.
Read on for three upselling strategies you can use.
1. Conduct a Full Walk Around During Any Professional Automotive Detailing Consultation
Many of your future clients will come into your professional automotive detailing shop knowing exactly which services they need. They may want their entire car detailed, just the carpets cleaned, or a stain removed from a seat. While you should definitely make sure your customers get the specific services they are looking for, it’s important to make sure that you aren’t missing an opportunity.
A great way to ensure that your customer’s vehicle is getting the attention it needs is to make a checklist. The checklist would list all the sections of the vehicle, their condition, and whether they need detailing work. During the consultation, you can do a full walk around with the client and take note of any areas that need work.
It’s important to note that when you’re conducting a walk around, you need to be honest about what needs work. If you’re exaggerating, the customer will know and they may lose their trust in your professional opinion. Only suggest detailing services that the car actually needs. If the client declines additional services at that time, you can give them the checklist sheet with your contact information in case they have a change of heart after returning home.
2. Pay Attention to Your Customer’s Professional Automotive Detailing Needs
A common upselling mistake is to forget to listen to what the customer is actually saying. The key to great upselling is adding value. You can do this by suggesting services that the customer actually needs and wants, which they just haven’t realized yet.
By listening closely to what the customer has to say, you can uncover hints about what services they may benefit from. For example, after completing your auto detailing training, a client may come to you because their pet tracked in mud all over a seat cushion and the stain needs to be removed. If your client has a pet that’s allowed in the vehicle, it’s likely that the vehicle is covered in pet hair. After realizing this, you could suggest a stain removal service and offer an interior cleaning service that will get rid of all the pet hair. If you really want to incentivize, you can offer a small discount off the interior cleaning service.
The key to this approach is that you’re not blindly upselling what you want to sell the customer, you’re upselling something that is relevant to them. Successful upselling should create a win-win scenario for both you and the client.
3. Strategically Bundle Your Professional Automotive Detailing Services to Encourage Upselling
Bundling services is a great strategy for bringing in bigger profits. However, finding the right balance can be tricky. You don’t want to cheaply bundle together too many services, but you also don’t want your customers to feel ripped off because they are paying for additional services they feel should be included.
A great way to improve upselling is to create a range of bundles such as “basic,” “premium,” and “deluxe.” Each bundle should have several additional services that entice customers to upgrade to the next, more expensive package. In addition to bundling, you can also offer other services a la carte, allowing customers to add on an additional service without upgrading to the next bundle.
As always with upselling, it can’t be done effectively if the customers don’t know their options. The best piece of advice for successful upselling? Be an information resource for your clients. Explain their options to them not from a sales point of view, but from a problem solving point of view. This will help you build a trusting relationship with your clients and sell your professional automotive detailing services.
Are you interested in enrolling in an auto detailing course in Toronto?
Contact Automotive Training Centres today!
