Building Oil Sales With Quality Choices

Today’s motor oil category offers your customers a wide array of choices, from conventional product lines to semi-synthetic, high-mileage oils, and premium full synthetic blends. By utilizing this toolbox of choices you can satisfy every customer’s preference and build premium oil sales.
Given the advancing age of today’s car park, jobbers can make a major difference when it comes to motor oil sales by focusing on performance and high-mileage product offerings. But to do so requires solid product knowledge and a stable of sales tactics to guide your client in the right direction. For example, have you ever asked a customer if he knows the benefits of switching to full synthetic oil for his high-mileage vehicle? If not, you should, because your customer can benefit from this upgrade.
“Synthetic oils are a good choice for high-mileage vehicles today because the higher oxidation life and the overall better lubricating ability of the oil, helps to protect the engine in the long run,” explains Blaine Sherwood, lab manager at Irving oil.
Consumers of high-performance oil are typically serious about what they put in their cars. High-performance oils in today’s market are highly adaptive, and actually change the way they operate depending on driving conditions. Be aware of the fact that you can never tell what a customer’s oil preference will be based on what he drives. You may see someone with a high-priced Audi or Mercedes, and he just wants to use the lowest-cost product available that meets the OE’s specs. All these oils will work in all of these engines, but keep in mind, you are satisfying the consumer too. Is he looking for low price or is he looking for high performance? Every consumer has a different value equation that determines how much he wants to pay, and how much he wants to get out of the oil.
“It is very important to match the appropriate oil with the appropriate filter technology, because filtering is critical. By keeping the dirt and other contaminants out of the oil, the filter allows the oil to oxidize more slowly, which in turn will prolong the life of the oil,” advises Sherwood. “It is very important to follow OE recommendations on the proper oil viscosity to be used, because as technology advances and the clearances inside the engines become smaller, a lighter-weight (20 weight vs. 30 weight) oil is needed to provide the proper lubrication within the engine.”
It’s important to speak with the customer and interact with them, learn what they are looking for, and understand their daily driving conditions. Do they do a lot of towing or a lot of hard service with their vehicle? If so, you may want to move them up from a premium conventional to synthetic oil. By interacting with your customers, you can learn their needs and make recommendations. With this approach you can satisfy their needs and have the ability to upsell the customer to higher-performing oil. If you never ask that question, you will never know if that premium product is something the consumer is looking for. Ask about driving conditions and explain some of the benefits of going to the higher-performance oils, so the customer can make an informed decision. Discussing oil drain intervals is another opportunity to upsell the customer.
There are a lot of published drain intervals out there and many OEMs recommend 10,000- to 15,000-kilometre intervals – but if you read the fine print it says “under normal driving conditions.” For severe driving conditions, it may advise you to change the oil more frequently. Severe driving conditions include if you do any towing, operate the vehicle in dusty conditions, if you do a lot of stop-and-go driving, or if you do a lot of high-temperature or low-temperature operations. In reality, only a small minority of drivers would be considered to do normal driving on a regular basis. It’s good to point this out to your customer, so they can make a more informed decision on their choice of replacement oil.
“The importance of following a proper interval for oil changes is that the contaminants in the oil that are being held by the detergent package will be drained out of the engine. Also, if the viscosity of the oil is starting to break down, by changing the oil at the proper interval, you will ensure that the engine is being lubricated by the proper viscosity of oil,” explains Sherwood.
Today’s engines are designed for specific viscosity grades, and using the wrong viscosity grade can cause problems. If you go too light, then you can risk creating wear in the engine. If you go too heavy, you can affect the fuel efficiency of the vehicle and end up having to spend more on fuel. Too heavy an oil can also put more stress on the oil, because the engine is designed for a light oil. It has smaller orifices and tighter clearances, so the engine does a lot more work pushing the heavy oil through these openings, which causes the oil to heat up even more, leading to accelerated breakdown.
With the wide choice of quality oils that are suited for all types of engine designs and driving conditions, you can provide each customer with a product that is tailored to their specific needs.