Many dealerships price prepaid maintenance programs (PMPs) high enough to shatter success from the start. Thinking that the real benefit comes from profit built into the plan along with forfeiture, they create a price point that’s prohibitive. While some new buyers will take the bait, the typical consumer, when asked to pay $895 for three years of scheduled maintenance, simply adds up the cost of nine or ten oil changes and a half dozen tire rotations and says, “Thanks, but no thanks!”
Successful PMPs are priced in such a way that even if a customer pulls out a calculator and – looking at the service menu – adds up the pricing for oil changes and tire rotations, the total represents at least an equal amount to what the F&I manager is charging them for the PMP.
Dealers who understand the full purpose and potential of PMPs price them well below the actual retail value. Instead of trying to turn huge profits in the F&I office, these dealers focus on the long-term potential of each customer. When incremental upsell can average over $90 per visit, dealers quickly see revenue increase. Statistics also show that up to 83% of customers will repurchase a future vehicle if the dealer can keep them returning to their service lane for regularly scheduled maintenance. With these two factors alone, even a PMP given away for free would more than pay for itself by the end of its contracted term.
With this type of program properly priced and executed, PMP sales penetrations can reach up to 50% or more, providing dealers opportunities to continually win over their customers.
Does your dealership sell PMPs? If your penetration is less than 50%, you could be pricing them too high.
What price range do you think is fair for a pre-paid maintenance plan? What would your plan include?
What percentage of customers return to your service lanes after purchasing a vehicle from your dealership? How do you track it?