Traditionally, in most dealerships, service plans are treated as a poor relation to other key performance indicators such as GAP, warranty and paint protection – not least because they don’t fit easily into the process a salesperson takes each customer through in closing a new or used car sale.

This is something that The Warranty Group has been tackling for the last 18 months in the shape of its service plan ‘champions’. The concept is designed to help retailers successfully make service plans part of their standard sales processes by creating service plan specialists. In fact, we made the decision to switch to The Warranty Group from our previous service plan provider because of the service plan champion concept.

New approach
What having a champion does is change the whole approach. It makes an individual in each franchise responsible for service plans, separates this added value service from the rest of the sales process and gives them the tools to explain the advantages of the service to customers.

In Derby, we now have five champions in place, one for each of our franchises on the site (Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, Fiat, Mazda, Nissan and Renault).

From almost no service plan sales, we have now secured more than £100,000 of future service work – as well as created the means to maintain future contact with the customer and, eventually, the opportunity to sell them another vehicle.

Like extended warranties, this is a product that can help to retain customers over many years and build loyalty.

And best of all, sales increases of 400% are common in many dealerships.

Your action plan
• Appoint the correct service plan champion
• Ensure they are properly trained
• Require them to maintain a weekly log
• Give them the right promotional tools
• Ensure they have management support
• Set them a target – and incentivise them

by Frank Worboys, general manager for The Co-Operative Motor Group’s five Derby franchises
 

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