What's Up?: The Art of Upselling Greenville NC

Your profits are...if you learn to upsell!

By Bob Leone
11/1/2000

We look at upselling as frosting on the cake," says Dick Strom, owner of Modern Collision Rebuild in Bainbridge Island, Wash.

And Strom's not the only one. Shop owners across the country have found that upselling is a smart way to make money - especially since this money comes out of the pockets of consumers, not insurers. It's an opportunity to make extra money repairing scratches, dings and other non-accident-related mishaps while vehicles are in your shop for insurance work.

Upselling is also a smart option for customers. Even though they spend money out of their own pocket, they save money at the same time. How? Because paint matching and mixing will have already been specified for the insurance-related repair. For example, a vehicle in your shop may have a light front end hit that requires painting the left front door. But look more closely. The door may have a parking lot ding or two. Why not upsell the customer so you can remove the dings and then re-paint the door?

Kevin Caldwell, owner of AutoBody by Caldwell in Laguna Hills, Calif., preaches upselling a job to its maximum. Caldwell says the opportunity to upsell exists in every job that comes through the door, but many shop owners fail to take advantage of the opportunity. "The real reason [most shop owners] don't upsell is they're scared to take the initiative," says Caldwell. "They're intimidated by the customer, the insurance company o...