Selling preventative maintenance

Selling preventative maintenance can, in some ways, be more challenging, than selling repairs or other service work. Unlike when a vehicle is making a funny noise, a light comes on, or the customer requires a tow truck, when discussing preventative maintenance, there’s nothing wrong! In short, the customer is not in the first stage of the buying process – need recognition.

This is where you come in. Helping the customer to understand why they need to spend money on need recognition and what they are trying to avoid by doing so is your primary mission. With each customer being so different – having different priorities, different spending habits, and different time constraints, how you present your case will vary.

Identifying what a customer might value is a key to successfully creating need recognition. If they value their time more than anything, you can play on that. If they value safety, convenience, or cost of ownership you can leverage those concepts to show need recognition. Entering into the conversation with “are you familiar with the types of concerns the manufacturer is trying to avoid by suggesting this maintenance item at this mileage?” can open the door to a better discussion.

No matter what is important to the customer, it will be important to fully utilize the selling resources you have at your disposal. Knowing how to quickly and efficiently gain access to Virtual Vehicle, maintenance menus, and visual resources will make the customer feel more confident and secure in your suggestions. Having failed parts close at hand can help describe to a customer what they are trying to avoid by spending some money now. Even having a failed part in the waiting room just to peak a customers’ curiosity can lead to higher levels of need recognition when it comes to preventative maintenance.

When selling preventative maintenance your mission is to create need recognition with the customer before moving on in your sales process!

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