Top Retailing Tips: Filter Sales

Few things are better understood in general, and less well understood where it really counts, than filters. Consumers at large may know that a filter is there to clean air, oil, or fuel, but not know what else to consider when making a selection.

Still, many fall into the DIY or heavy-DIY category, and so it is up to the experts within the store, the counterpeople, to communicate the proper information.

TIP #1: Know Your Selling Points

When it comes to filters, you need to know as many selling points as possible in order to ensure you strike the right buying chords with a retail customer. For example, cabin air filters can help allergy sufferers by helping filter airborne allergens like pollen. Further, with environmental issues being a major concern today, another selling point is that cabin air filters dramatically reduce rush-hour pollution seeping into the vehicle. For many clients, these two points alone would probably be enough for a sale.

Tip#2: Sell All Levels

There is a good-better-best selection for most products, and with filters this is no different. Resist the temptation to get the customer out the door quickly–spend a minute or two talking about what benefits different types of product can offer. In oil filters, for example, you can go from budget to OE to extended drain and a variety of other options for performance-minded owners. These not only add to the store’s bottom line, but give a customer some extra peace of mind for only a few dollars more.

TIP #3: Know What A Cabin Air Filter Is

According to independent studies, most motorists don’t even know that they have a cabin air filter in their car, let alone when and how to replace it. For this reason, jobbers should be pushing the education aspects of this product. Have displays that explain not only the product’s existence, but also its importance.

Tip #4: Check Into Rewards

Most filter manufacturers, like many other component firms, offer reward points to jobbers on every sale of a certain product they make. While this may not be the number-one factor in picking an air filter to sell, finding a high quality filter and also accumulating points can really help your business as well as motivate counterpeople.

Tip #5: Examine Your Customer

Different customers have different reasons for replacing their air filter, and many of them would rather simply not do it at all. Therefore, you need to train your counter staff to mention the appropriate advantages of doing the job. For example, you may not convince an elderly grandmother to replace the filters for reasons of added horsepower. She may, however, be interested to know about the fuel mileage benefits. Different filters have many different advantages. Sales staff simply need to pick the best ones to highlight based on the individual.

Tip #6: The SUV Upsell

Even with fuel prices soaring, North Americans are still in love with their SUVs. However, the average driver probably doesn’t understand the different mechanical needs of these vehicles when it comes to filters. By simply explaining the different needs of an SUV to an appropriate customer, you’ll increase your odds of that all-important upsell.

Tip #7: Clean Is the Name Of The Filter Game

More than many other parts you have on display, filters need to appear pristine. Given what they are meant to do, no customer is going to want to pay for a filter that looks dirty even before it is purchased. While this should be standard practice for your shop, making sure all of the display filters are clean, and replacing those that appear dated and dusty, should be a regular part of your routine.

Tip #7: Use An Old Filter For Effect

Like the lungs of a smoker, used air filters and cabin air filters are awful-looking. But, as many marketers have learned, this can be used as an advantage. By displaying the cross-section of a used cabin air filter, you’ll be driving home for the consumer the importance of regular filter maintenance. Point out the dirt and grime an air filter catches over the course of its useful life, and buyers will see what they could have been inhaling. Additionally, performance enthusiasts will obviously make the connection between the display of dirty air and oil filters and reductions in horsepower and efficiency.

Tip #8: Filters Need To Be Sold

When some parts break, the car stops. The problem with filters, however, is that they can seriously underperform for a considerable length of time without the driver really being able to notice. As such, they are a part that needs to be actively sold. If someone comes in looking for a case of motor oil, engage him in a conversation about his filters. Since it is a relatively inexpensive, yet highly critical part, you’ll likely make the sale.

Tip #9: Teach with P.O.S.

Manufacturers know as well as you do the problems associated with educating consumers in terms of their filter needs. As such, many of them have begun producing heaps of point-of-sale material designed solely for the edification of your customers. Take advantage of this type of freebie, as it can save you time answering repetitive questions from successive customers. However, it is important to use the educational P.O.S. material as an aid, not as a crutch. Know the information yourself, but have the manufacturer material there for those who are perhaps too shy to ask the questions themselves.

Tip #10: Know that Filter Technology is Evolving

Almost every manufacturer has a long list of different filters, both air and oil, that can accomplish remarkably different things. Make sure you stay current on your own knowledge of filter technology. Folds per square inch and valve specs are being increasingly catered to niche markets. These specializations can help you make the right sale to the right customer. As we all know, a happy customer is one who comes back, and so matching parts perfectly can’t help but increase your repeat business.