Read Part 1 of Increasing Parts Revenue Through Upselling & Cross Selling.

Upselling can be an effective way to increase the sales in your parts department. Upselling is selling a product to a customer that is a little more expensive, but a better value in terms of what they receive for their money.

Cross selling can be another solid strategy. While upselling is helping a customer understand the value in a more expensive product, cross selling is selling a complementary product to a customer that relates to what they are already buying.

For example, if you bought a value meal at a McDonald’s, the employee who is taking your order would, and should, try to sell you on the idea of getting one of those delicious little pies or some cookies. They understand that most people will say “no,” but if you ask 100 people to buy a pie and only 25% say “yes,” you just sold 25% more pies than you would have sold had you not asked.

To do cross selling, you have to think about what the customer is buying and what else they might buy that would improve their experience. Again, your goal is to increase your sales, and not at the customer’s expense, but in a way that both you and the customer win. Your goal is to have the customer leave your parts department feeling like they have been presented with options and were given the opportunity to decide whether or not they wanted to make the purchase. You may even save them a return trip to the buy something they needed.

I think you will find that it is not difficult to cross sell if it is part of your conversation with the customer. McDonald’s keeps it simple, “Would you like a pie with your meal?” It doesn’t have to be any more difficult than that in your dealership. It just a matter of figuring out what your “pie” will be.

Create a High Performance Dealership with Bob Clements is a new series brought to you by Yanmar.

More from Bob Clements

Yanmar — Don’t settle for less when you can have more. For example, Yanmar makes all its compact tractors’ major drivetrain components – the Yanmar engine, transmission, and axles — in-house. Because they’re made to work perfectly together, you and your customers get a hardworking machine with more usable horsepower, less power loss, and a smoother, more comfortable ride. Yanmar’s tractors are designed to work as hard as you do for a lifetime. Strengthen your dealership with Yanmar today: AgMarketing@yanmar.com or call 770-877-9894.

Let’s use the example of oil. A customer comes up to your parts counter to buy oil filters and you ask if they need any oil to go with their oil filters. If they say, “Yes, I should probably pick up a quart,” then you have effectively cross-sold the customer. On the other hand, they may say no. They might use oil they get on sale at an auto parts store or a mass merchandiser. Now you have the opportunity to talk to the customer about the importance of using the brand from their equipment manufacturer to make sure they get the best possible performance and life from the product. There are some big differences in oil, and your job as a part sales person is to know the difference and then be able to share those differences with your customers.

Any time you can help a customer properly care for their equipment by using the right parts in the correct way, you have created a customer that will continue to do business with your dealership year after year.

Belts are the same thing. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have seen a belt with a big chunk out of it. When you ask what happened and they say, “I don’t know,” consider making a suggestion as to what is ruining this belt. You might respond, “Well, maybe the pulley is bad,” and then talk to your customer about what the problem could be. If they agree the pulley might be the problem; you can suggest going ahead and purchasing it to see if that will fix it. If they end up not needing it, tell them they can bring it back and easily return it.

Again, sometimes they will take it and sometimes they won’t. Be sure to make it easy for them to bring it back. What I have noticed is that if someone buys something with the intention of bringing it back, seldom do they actually bring it back.

I have the same problem. I can’t tell you how many times I have bought something with the intention of taking it back if it didn’t work out. Then, I went ahead and put the new part on even though my equipment may or may not have needed it. From my perspective, if I already have the old part off, even if it’s not bad, why not put the new one on and then not have to worry about it again.

Another easy way to upsell is with your tune-up kits. When someone wants a spark plug, talk to them about a tune-up kit for the equipment. They get the plug along with the filters and oil to make the service easy. You moved a sale from a $4.00 plug to a $16 tune-up kit and now they have everything right there to do the tune-up correctly. It is a relatively easy way to cross sell and add additional dollars to that all-important bottom line.

Remember, customers today need help in getting the right parts and advice on the best way to maintain the equipment they invested in. By upselling and cross selling, you are creating opportunities for your customers to maximize the life and experience they have with their equipment. Plus, you are growing your parts department into a strong and profitable part of your dealership.

Create a High Performance Dealership with Bob Clements is a new series brought to you by Yanmar.

More from Bob Clements

Yanmar — Don’t settle for less when you can have more. For example, Yanmar makes all its compact tractors’ major drivetrain components – the Yanmar engine, transmission, and axles — in-house. Because they’re made to work perfectly together, you and your customers get a hardworking machine with more usable horsepower, less power loss, and a smoother, more comfortable ride. Yanmar’s tractors are designed to work as hard as you do for a lifetime. Strengthen your dealership with Yanmar today: AgMarketing@yanmar.com or call 770-877-9894.