Marinucci: Show-and-tell can mean show-and-sell for dealers

There's an old saying that seeing is believing. This helps explain why used automotive parts are effective props or visual aids in the hands of competent service sales professionals.

Here are practical things to remember about potentially valuable show-and-tell components.

I should put the show-and-tell approach into perspective before I delve into these tips. You see, its value is obvious to some tire dealers and service shop operators.

But others overlook or underestimate the usefulness of an old part during a difficult service sale. I have personally witnessed this oversight countless times during my visits to automotive service facilities across the country.

Basically, selling is the art of persuasion. Now, suppose a vehicle needs maintenance and/or repairs. The goal of a service salesperson is to persuade the vehicle owner to purchase the work on the spot — right here and now.

For one thing, you'll hopefully prevent a major breakdown that leaves the motorist stranded somewhere.

For another, that prospect may leave your business and purchase the work at another automotive service facility of some kind. Naturally, you want the vehicle owner to spend those hard-earned bucks at your tire dealership or service shop — before a competitor gets a crack at the job.

Clearly, some service sales encounters occur more smoothly than others do. For example, the vehicle owner believes your pitch, purchases the work and you move on to the next prospect.

In fact, if all sales situations were so easy, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

The reality is that some service sales require considerably more persuasion than others do. One reason is old-fashioned skepticism — suspicion — because the auto repair industry has had a checkered past.

The business has had its share of hustlers and shysters. Understandably, some motorists are afraid of being hustled.

Another reason some prospects must be persuaded is that a portion of the motoring public is simply stubborn; these folks don't readily part with their money regardless of the contractor or service provider.

There are situations where a competent service salesperson doesn't close the sale right away.

What's more, the prospect's body language may be projecting distrust or confusion. Or, perhaps the motorist telegraphs these emotions by becoming silent.

In other situations, a prospective customer's questions and comments about your recommended repairs may suggest suspicion and/or confusion.

To resolve this impasse, savvy sales professionals may introduce impartial data or testimony of some kind. In some circles, this additional sales support is known as third-party evidence.

For example, a service writer may refer to an auto maker's own maintenance schedule to confirm when certain vehicle fluids should be changed. Or, the support may come from an article in a trade journal that endorses a repair procedure.

More recently, modern technology has provided third-party evidence to tire dealers and service shop operators. For example, colorful point-of-sale illustrations and handouts became more affordable and more popular.

Furthermore, we have access to support material such as animations of vehicle systems as well as a variety of Internet-based videos.

However, some service salespeople have used old parts as an element of third-party evidence for years.

On the one hand, they tell me that the animations and videos are truly enlightening for many motorists.

On the other hand, showing a prospect an actual example of the failed part provides a sort of immediacy to the discussion. It also personalizes the discussion a great deal because a technician in the other room actually acquired this failed part.

Placing that nasty old part on the counter may tacitly confirm that replacing this component fixes vehicles like yours all the time.

The service salespeople at your business also may find unexpected third-party support from an old water pump, burned-up ignition coil, leaky shock absorber, plugged fuel injector, etc.

Naturally, there's a limit to the amount of space you can allocate in and around the service counter to storing show-and-tell parts. Let experience be your guide as to how many show-and-tell components you keep.

Some savvy tire dealers and service shop operators maintain display cases for this purpose. Instead of showing off plaques, trophies and photographs, their display cases feature items such as destroyed brake rotors, corroded master cylinders, broken ball joints, and so forth.

Some old parts lose their mechanical "charm" if you clean them up too much. Stowing a messy part inside a common, clear "freezer bag" may protect them well enough for demonstration purposes at the service desk.

Combating offensive odors is another reason to store your parts in freezer or lunch bags. For example, stale gasoline and brake fluid can smell downright rancid.

In other cases, salespeople have sandblasted or bead-blasted the show-and-tell components first. Then they gussied up the parts with either clear spray paint or a basic color such as black, white or silver.

Last but not least, some service personnel have saved show-and-tell parts simply because other examples weren't readily available. I have included two examples here.

Photo 1 shows a classic head gasket failure. This is a major mechanical breakdown and the center of this picture helps communicate that fact. Not only is that area severely burned, but a chunk of gasket material has been blown away.

Photo 2 shows a common filter screen assembly in the inlet of a typical fuel injector. Here, fuel contamination had been causing engine misfiring.

I pulled the filter screen assembly part way out of the injector inlet. Normally, the fine-mesh screen on this application is a whitish to pale flesh color.

But here, extended use of contaminated gasoline has turned the screen a rust color. What's more, a fine, rusty residue has accumulated inside the rust-colored screen.

In conclusion, reaching into your personal collection of show-and-tell parts may not close every difficult service sale, but showing off the right part at the right time may provide the evidence that tips it your way.