Many Businesses, One Roof

EASy Brings Clarity to Accessories Sales Process at Tom O'Brien Chrysler Jeep of Indianapolis

The Collaboration Challenge

"Confusing" isn't how automotive dealerships want to describe their accessories sales process. But for most, selling accessories to new vehicle buyers is far from straight-forward. Several separate businesses—including Parts, Service, Sales, and F&I—need to collaborate to give quick, consistent answers for customers. That can make it diffi cult to grow the accessories business.

According to Dan Hutton, Parts and Service Director at Tom O'Brien Chrysler Jeep, that caused real challenges at his dealership. "Service, Parts, and Sales all work as different businesses under the same roof," says Hutton. "They don't keep the same hours. Customers don't understand that. Nor should they have to."

Because these departments could not share critical information, most customers' options were limited. "Our Sales people had to leave the customer to get a price at Parts, and then to get another price at Service," says Hutton. "Then those answers might be inconsistent over time. One month, the sales person, and by extension the customer, might hear it will take two hours to install running boards, but the next month it will only take half an hour."

Dan says that he's made a number of attempts to boost accessories sales in his 24 years at O'Brien. These typically required intensive, time-consuming effort and relied on infrequently updated information. But collaboration remained key: "For us to sell more accessories, the biggest thing is finding a way to make the departments work together more efficiently."

The EASy Solution

Today, things are looking good for the accessories business at Tom O'Brien's. Hutton implemented EASy, the Electronic Accessory System, in October 2007. Since October, new unit sales have increased by a third—while accessory sales have nearly doubled. Tom O'Brien's average monthly accessory sales have jumped from $7,713 to $12,726.

"EASy keeps us updated with one keystroke once a month. And above all, for us, it's free. With the funds available in the Mopar 1 account, covering the subscription is a no-brainer."

EASy motivated Hutton's staff to think about accessories in new ways, as a single team. "EASy helped us get together to provide the options that our sales team and customers want."

Using EASy sparked a previously impossible level of collaboration between departments. "Implementing the tool started conversations with Sales about accessories. I found out from my Sales manager that he was selling aftermarket grilles for the 300 that I didn't even know about. When we first put EASy in, we agreed to inventory the additional parts he wanted to sell, so that EASy was a tool with all the accessories and all the pricing for his team. Over time, his team started seeing the value of Mopar authentic grilles, and selling them was simple. Today, our customers are buying only Mopar grilles, even though they have more options."

Having the ability to set retail pricing and to give sales teams commissions has driven accessories sales. "And we're not spending time keeping our data updated," Hutton adds. "EASy keeps us updated with one keystroke once a month. And above all, for us, it's free. With the funds available in the Mopar 1 account, covering the subscription is a no-brainer."

"It's a real long-term trend"

Hutton knows accessories are here to stay. "Vehicle personalization is more than a fad. It's a real long-term trend, and our customers want their vehicles to say something about their personality."

So how is Hutton thinking about selling accessories in the future? "I would love to have a separate building, an entire accessories center with a showroom. It would have three bays, customized vehicles, detailing. I think we could do 100-120 vehicle personlizations a month." Hutton has ideas for the short term, too. "I'm thinking of putting EASy up on a 42 inch display kiosk. It would give customers something they could do to get involved in accessories."

His advice for dealerships looking to boost accessory sales? "For it to work in any dealership, you need to have someone who can stick with it, and get everybody to use the solution. It's worked well for us with EASy."