Incentive plans for dealerships?

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imported_dfazekas

New member
Do any of you have any sort of incentive plans for dealerships?



I've been thinking about going to the nicer dealerships in my area, doing a demonstration, and discussing a deal in which I would give the sales person a certain percentage of all new work that's referred to me. (ie: you go in to buy a porsche, the salesman says "i know a guy that does high quality work," you come to get your car done by me, and the salesman gets "x" dollars from that job.)



Essentially, it would be a deal where they could make a little extra money just for mentioning my name.



If any of you do this sort of thing, I was hoping you could give me an example of the sales pitch and or kind of paperwork you've used when you've approached dealerships.



If you have any other ideas, or if you think this would be a waste of time, I'd like to hear your opinion on that too.



Thanks guys
 
Insurance is gonna be your main paperwork. You should be covered in general liability 500,000$ in general liability and 1,000,000 in garage keepers insurance. If your not mobile. Also dealer work sucks because its cheaper generally speaking in most cases. Its solid work that will help keep you a float. I would not waste your time like Fermanass :nana: said, Just go directly to the manager and offer your packages. Remeber when doing this work in most cases your NOT getting paid for perfection your getting paid for turnover.
 
Most dealerships already have their own detailing (aka hack and swirl) department so referring business outside the dealership would probably get the salesmen in trouble.



One thing I do when I detail a car for a private owner who plans on selling it, I slip a business card into the owner's manual.
 
It's good to talk to the dealership service department, drop off some business cards, and let them know you do "REAL" detailing. If any of their customers are looking for a really high quality job, they should fear not sending you a referral, and you WILL take excellent care of their customers. Maybe drop off a few pizzas or something for the dealers that send you a lot of work.





John
 
We do a lot of paint rectification for the local Aston/Lambo/Bently dealership but they still don't tend to recommend us to their customers for detail work because they do a pretty good quality job for their customers inhouse and they do it for free. It's part of the ongoing service they provide their good customers. It's pretty hard to top that to be fair.

However I've got a couple of customers with those sorts of vehicles that have now gone back to the dealership and pointed out that they could have recommended us... it will be interesting to see what becomes of it.



I've looked at this a bit and the best idea that I've come up with is to approach the sales managers with a special offer that they can put to their database on your/our/my behalf worded in such a way as to be seen as a JV offer from the 2 companies. They get an opportunity to look like thay've negotiated a good deal for quality work on their customers behalf as well as the knowledge that any trade in vehicles will be in great condition and you get to use a database that they would never give you access to.

If there is enough percieved value they'd almost certianly go for it.

Still need to do it though.
 
My hesitation with 'incentives' is thay are often percieved as backhanders or they might not be allowed under company policy. One of my Ford customers isn't even allowed to accept a bottle of wine at Chrismas although it doesn't prevent him from sneaking it into his drive car on the sly.

It's also pretty difficult to track an incentive program. How does the dealer know that the refferals did or didn't result in work for you. Does he rely on your honesty? or what if the referral doesn't bother letting you know where the recommendation came from? there's a few hurdles...

I'd be keen to know if anyone has ever used one that has worked really well.
 
Thanks for the input guys



Dave - I thought about doing that sort of thing when I first started, but I've since decided I really don't want to get into high volume work. There's already a ton of people in my area that hack up fleets of cars for less money than is worth getting out of bed for.



What I'm trying to do right now is establish a good reputation with the nicer dealerships/body shops in the area. My aim isn't to try to be the guy that beats out dealerhack prices, its to be the guy whose work picks up where they left off (fixing their work, deep-cleaning and disinfecting, minor paint touch-up, etc).



I was just kind of throwing out the incentives idea because I know that in a lot of places (in my area at least) the service managers/sales men get a cut of the work thats done in house.



I'm trying to figure out what the best way to approach the situation would be.



Should I show up with a sales pitch and a folder with all my info?
 
Donald - The chances are you will not be greeted with open arms, but one never knows unless one tries.



I'd get a friends black car, tape the hood in the middle and polish 1 side to perfection. Drive over to the stealership and after talking to the manager as suggested above, ask him kindly to look at the hood. That should explain what it is you do. jm2c



In any case, good luck!
 
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