I want to first welcome everyone back from both the International Window Film Conference and Tint-Off™ and SEMA. These were two great events to network, learn and explore ways to build your business. Both had people who expressed a strong cry for help, particularly how to increase their sales. The question takes a bit of time to answer, so let’s take a journey down sales 101 and see if we can shed some light on selling paint protection film (PPF).
The Basics
Let’s start with the basics. PPF is considered a product for new cars. Your chances of getting a consumer to buy it after it’s been driven off the lot go downhill every day they don’t get it added to the car. Some shops use it as an upsell and some even use it as their main product/service they offer, while others are using it to attract that type of clientele in so they can sell them their other products and services. With all these reasons to carry PPF, it takes knowledge of the customers and why they want the product in the first place.
Time to Educate
Not enough consumers even know about PPF so that’s where the sales process starts. You’ll have to educate them on what the product is and what it can and can’t do. I love the phrase, “it’s paint protection, not paint perfection.” I don’t know who I first heard it from, but it’s stuck with me ever since. What that means is: Don’t over-sell what the product is. The more you talk about it, the more aware consumers will be of PPF and eventually it becomes something they know of, at least. It’s like a baseball player’s batting average. The more at bats you get, the more opportunities to get on base occur.
Why PPF?
The next thing to think about is why someone would even want to get PPF on his or her car. In its simplest explanation, PPF retains the value of the product for the secondary market. A good example is the electronics industry where most consumers are aware of screen protectors. We add them on the phone to protect the screen so when your upgrade is due in 2 years, you’re able trade it in at its highest value so you can roll that into your next phone. The same concept applies to the automotive industry. How your paint looks is a direct indicator of your cosmetic damage. Also, the value of your car, whether it be high-end or not, drops in value if the OEM has been damaged or repainted.
If you weren’t before, at least now you’re armed with some basics of sales hooks for PPF. It’s not the easiest product to sell, let alone install. The best advice I can give you is talk to your sales representative. They should be able to provide you with some help. If not, you can always reach out to me by leaving a comment below we’ll discuss some ways you can get the sales closure rate on the upward swing. Exceed expectations every day!
