Donnie Wetsel believes that aggressively promoting tire and wheel companies boosts income and prevents prospects from drifting away to unbiased outlets, not just for new tires and alignments, but additionally for the oil adjustments and different upkeep and restore companies that his technicians needs to be doing.
When Wetsel, 36, took over as service director at Onion Creek Volkswagen in Austin, Texas, in January, he made it a precedence to straighten out the shop’s gross sales of alignments and substitute tires.
The dealership invested round $75,000 in three Hunter Fast Examine machines that learn alignment specs because the buyer drives into the service lane.
The outcomes are posted immediately on a display the shopper can see and on a printed coloration handout displaying wheel alignment in a red-yellow-green format.
However the service advisers at Onion Creek Volkswagen weren’t placing a precedence on explaining the outcomes to their prospects. So to repair that, Wetsel devised gross sales competitions that fattened paychecks, paid bonuses and supplied different spiffs, equivalent to dinners out at upscale eating places.
“We’ve got a pleasant competitors, and each single day I let everyone know precisely the place their numbers are for the month,” he mentioned. “That makes for a aggressive surroundings.”
When wheels are usually not aligned, tires put on prematurely and the car tends to tug to the left or proper. All it takes to upset an alignment is for a wheel to smash right into a curb or impression a big pothole. Performing an alignment will not be difficult. Often, no components are even wanted, simply changes of threaded suspension parts. Some estimates say six out of each 10 automobiles want an alignment.
Wetsel consulted the shop’s proprietor, Carl Barnett, and CJ Barnett, vice chairman of the dealership, and collectively they formulated a plan: Carl Barnett urged the shop rent a technician whose solely job could be to carry out alignments — a process that normally takes round 35 minutes per car, Wetsel mentioned. The shop would additionally rent an additional porter to help the alignment technician.
The Barnetts agreed to extend the funds for provides as effectively. As a result of the Hunter machines print in coloration, ink and paper prices would rise by not less than round $2,400 a yr.
Getting his group of 5 service advisers onboard additionally took a bit of planning, Wetsel mentioned. The service director established the method for promoting alignments, then not solely obtained his group to purchase in, however to observe it constantly.
Upselling could be a sensitive topic amongst service advisers. In some shops, advisers are sometimes pressured to push companies that aren’t actually wanted, which might erode belief and drive prospects away.
Wetsel’s technique had two parts. The primary was communication.
“I defined to my advisers in regards to the funding of the alignment,” he mentioned. “If the alignment is out and, particularly if the shopper is shopping for new tires, it’s within the buyer’s greatest curiosity to get the alignment.”
One key characteristic of the Hunter gear is that if a report comes again inexperienced, that means the automobile would not want an alignment, the advisers can convey that to the shopper, which helps give that buyer confidence the shop is not attempting to needlessly inflate the invoice, Wetsel mentioned.
“That is a type of issues that they did not must be ashamed of,” he mentioned. “You aren’t promoting something the automobile would not want. It is an trustworthy service. Prospects care about their tires.”
The second a part of the plan includes motivating the group. “The one factor with service advisers that you just at all times must do is present them the way it impacts their pay plan,” Wetsel mentioned. Now, the shop repeatedly holds competitions for alignment gross sales, paying a fee for every. Some advisers, Wetsel mentioned, have seen their paychecks improve as a lot as $500 a month on alignment gross sales.
The outcomes have paid off in a number of methods. 12 months-over-year via September, Onion Creek Volkswagen’s alignment gross sales are up round 110 %, going from 450 jobs to 1,000, with tire gross sales additionally on a roll, up about 60 % over final yr, Wetsel mentioned.
The dealership makes use of Cleveland-based Vendor Tire to ship substitute tires on to the shop.
Due to the corporate’s nationwide community of warehouses and its ultrafast supply, sellers needn’t inventory tons of of tires to be aggressive on worth and repair occasions with unbiased tire shops.
“Vendor Tire is available in and trains our advisers,” Wetsel mentioned. “It is crucial to verify your advisers know what the present promotions are.” These embody “purchase three, get one free” plugs, present playing cards and rebates. Vendor Tire additionally supplies advertising and marketing materials within the service drive.
Onion Creek Volkswagen prices $129.95 for an alignment. The shop web site provides a $25 coupon.
Wetsel mentioned he’s aiming to develop gross sales of alignments to between 200 and 300 per 30 days. “We have been rising each month,” he mentioned. “We simply have to stick with it.”