Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/114021
FEATURE STORY By Catherine Lukas Ter-Horst O ur economy continues to change, and more consumers are adjusting with fewer equipment purchases. When you consider the combination of smaller household budgets and lower disposable income, plus the slow economic growth, more and more consumers are opting to prolong the life of their equipment as one way to keep expenses in check. Helping fuel that trend is the fact that today's equipment is built better, so it lasts longer. The good news for you: Consumers are becoming more and more proactive in the care and maintenance of their equipment. That translates into more opportunities for you to sell parts, accessories and full service. Historically, these areas generate higher profits. With this in mind, you should position your business to capture this changing market of service-oriented customers. Last year, during my visits to dealerships, many of the dealers I met with shared with me their plans to focus on and invest in their service departments 18 — installing new lighting, adding more technicians, making their service departments more visible — to meet the growing consumer interest and demand for high-quality service. As service becomes a bigger piece of your dealership's business, you'll need to discover new and different ways to sell your service. Here are a few areas that you should consider implementing in support of those efforts: • Turn your service into a product. Challenge yourself to really think about the service that you want to specialize in and provide. Identify the key types of service you regularly provide, and promote them like you promote equipment. Just like you have pre-season and end-ofseason specials on equipment, package your service to include end-of-season and pre-season maintenance. For example, in the fall, you could package storage and winterization along with winter equipment preparation; and in the spring, do the same, promoting both as seasonal transition service. Rather than your OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT Be sure that your dealership is included on websites like Google+Local, Superpages, and Yahoo Local. And, don't forget about marketing your service department with traditional media like your local newspaper, radio and billboards. www.outdoorpowerequipment.com TOP: Illustration ©istockphoto.com/frender. BOTTOM: Advertising icons ©istockphoto.com/appleuzr . Finding smart ways to market your service customers thinking about all the things they have to do with their equipment, they'll remember one thing: the convenience and cost-savings associated with you providing a seasonal change-over service and storage package. • Time is money. Unlike selling a new piece of equipment that's already packaged, and to some extent already priced, service includes multiple components — parts, labor and time. Start tracking the time it takes your technicians to service standard pieces of equipment, assign a dollar value to that time, and market that service as a package deal — like a parts and service combo. Offer a percentage off installation when a customer buys a new belt. Be sure to also include equipment packages. An example might be to include two free blade sharpenings with the purchase of a lawn mower. And, don't forget to build in the amount of time it takes to sharpen lawnmower blades or install a belt. • Create different service packages based on customers' needs. It's important to create packages that meet different types of customers' needs such as tune-up packages or repairs. For example, if you perform small-engine repairs, you could combine it with free pickup and delivery. The price of your service is offset not only by the "free" offer, but