Sound FX, West Warwick, RI, sells up to 2,000 remote starts a season and used to call January “hell month.”
But it’s learned some lessons about keeping both profitability and sanity levels high during remote start season that might be helpful to others.
The store has 11 employees and does over $1 million a year in car audio plus about $0.8 million more in home theater.
Rhode Island, it should be noted, has been hit hard by the recession and has the second highest unemployment in the nation. The store has shifted away from custom high end installs. It learned how to be profitable installing $200 decks and $200 speakers.
This year Sound FX started selling remote starts in packages so the sale starts at the high price and can work down. “We tried simplifying the process…including the bypass in the price of remote start. It’s helped out tremendously. It’s hard to sell up, you can’t climb out of the hole, but you can always start higher and go down,” said VP Operations Mark D’Elia. So it now sells packages at $269 for all parts included with no key loss. (On the phone it quotes remote start-only pricing plus any parts needed; in the store customers are quoted the all-inclusive price first).
When it comes to installation, it manages customers’ expectations differently, asking them from the outset to drop off the car for the entire day. That way customers are happily surprised if the car is done early rather than disappointed if the car takes longer than a few hours.
Check-in sheets for all installations are finalized the night before, so in the morning, ten customers can be quickly checked in and on their way.
Remote starts are prepped starting in September to save time during the busy season.
Also, the store hired a rookie installer who, during remote start season, handles taking apart the dash, putting it together, driving the cars up, and simpler tasks that free up the veteran installers. Then after the season, the rookie is trained for more intensive work.
This season the store is up 30 percent in remote start sales, a good part of that due to sub-freezing temperatures for much of the winter.
D’Elia says he used to hate January because all the gift customers come in. “All the remote starts are paid for and bought in December. You are now dealing with a client you have never met before and they don’t know your shop or whether you are a good guy or a bad guy. All they know is you want to keep their car for a full day.”
But that’s how to improve the situation.
“The breakdown in communication was that when a client asked how long it took to complete an installation, the salesmen would respond with ‘3 to 4 hours.’ Sure, maybe the process could take that long once the car is in the bay, but it’s when the car actually gets in the bay! So by just altering our language and telling our clients to leave for the day has helped tremendously, ” D’Elia said.
The policy is printed on the back of each remote start gift certificate. “If we say it enough, and print it out enough, it sinks in to enough clients to make a difference,” he said.
“And, we also began opening the sales floor a half hour earlier than the installation department. This allows us to check cars in and have things ready for when the technicians arrive. When both departments were arriving at the same time, keys and product weren’t going into the bay quickly enough,” he said.
Now, even in the off season, the store recommends clients leave the car for the day. “If you promise a car back by noon, and someone walks in who wants to do something on the spot at 10 am, you will not be able to and it limits your ability to be flexible. Under promise, over deliver is probably the best way to describe it,” he said.
(Note, a second Sound FX store in Providence, RI is separately owned. It licenses the name but is a distinct business).
Source: CEoutlook
Cindy…I think you might have misread the article. We always quote our pricing with module included and I loathe the bait and switch. It is done differently on the phone versus in the store. We quote $159 for our basic model plus module at $49 for a keybox, or $99 for no key loss. We do very few keyboxes, not a fan at all, but it has to be sold on the phone this way. Phone shoppers typically are incredibly price sensitive and breaking it down this way helps ease them into the price. I listen to the majority of the phone calls that come into the store through a call recording service and have tried many methods. This has yielded the best result for us. In store pricing is different, pricing is on display and quoted with module included.
Dave/Joe, we all wish remote starters would command a higher ticket price, but it varies from market to market. And in this market, $269 is the high side. Our competitors are $150 to $225 for similar systems. We still charge additional for keyless entry, PTS, etc. We stay highly profitable by doing large buy-ins, and maintaining an efficient install process. Dave, 3-4 hours is only what the salespeople were telling customers, not an actual representation of labor hours.
With no disrespect intended to Mr. D’Elia, I can’t say as I agree with many of the “lessons” in this article. For one thing I feel a customer should always be quoted the grand total “out the door” price (system, bypass module, labor & sales tax). Those shops that quote only the system & then surprise the customer with the actual installed price when they come to pick up their vehicle, I feel, are guilty of a sort of “bait & switch”. That approach may sell more systems, but will really anger a customer who will then tell everyone they know that your shop lied to them about the price. When quoting remote start prices I always start with our most basic remote start only system & work my way up rather than shocking them with the price of the most expensive system right off the bat. I feel it’s a lot easier to say “for only an extra $75 you can go up to this system…” & most of my customers end up going with one of the better systems as a result (in fact, our most expensive system has become our best seller using this tactic). We are also very careful to explain that the range of each system is “UP TO xxx feet” as some people will actually measure the distance they need & expect the system to hit that mark every time. I also don’t agree with having customers leave their vehicle for a whole day (that’s a really long time to be without your vehicle!) when the install actually only takes 3-4 hours. I always book our morning job at 8:30 & tell them it “SHOULD be done about noon” or a noon appointment & tell them it “SHOULD be done about 5” (we are a Mom & Pop shop so we close over lunch). We very seldom end up going over those stated times, & if we do, we explain the delay & our customers have always been very understanding. We would never dream of taking time away from a remote start install to do something “on the spot” for a walk-in customer. As far as installing remote starts with “no key loss” goes, there are precious few vehicles that iDatalink doesn’t make a keyless bypass module for so there’s almost never a reason to use a key-in-a-box type bypass (not the most reliable install & we don’t need to waste our valuable time doing warranty work!).
Just my “2 cents” after 17 years of selling remote starts.
Thanks I have been in the business 43 years now
(Article in trade mag) and have always done it that way. Gives you alittle cheat time if you need it and covers unforseen problems. Also I think the post from Dave doesnt realize you did not say anything about labor. But if it Does you are so short chaning yourself
Bet wishes
Joe
Dutchess Car Stereo
Hopewell Jct N.Y. 12533
845-227-7708
if the remote start takes 3-4 hours & u still have to add in starter & bypass & still want to make profit on parts. how the heck is $269 going to make profit?