With the Pandemic Fading, Here are 4 Reasons Why It Still Makes Sense to Offer Antimicrobial Protection

Indications that the COVID-19 pandemic is over have been seen throughout the media and was even referenced in the recent State of the Union address by President Biden. He stated that ‘...we’ve broken the COVID grip’ and announced the coming end of the public health emergency that we’ve all lived under for the last 3 years.

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All good news. We’re all anxious to move on.

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But does it make sense now to offer any extra protections to car buyers that can help reduce the spread of viruses like COVID?

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Most dealers had made adjustments early on by offering free antimicrobial treatments on every car sold, making customers feel safer about virus-proofing all the interior surfaces. It was a good call and a treatment whose time had come.

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But as things settle into what many are calling a post-COVID world, it’s important for dealers to not take their foot off the gas just yet when it comes to this critical treatment. 

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Why keep spending the money if the cases in your state are diminishing rapidly? Here are a couple of reasons why antimicrobial treatments should still be a valuable add-on/preload…

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1. It’s Still in the Public Consciousness: It’s a very inexpensive product to offer and letting the car shoppers in your market know that your store still understands the risk of COVID-19 in the community buys a lot of goodwill. It may be fading from daily headlines but after 3 years, many are still guarded to say the least. 

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Older buyers in particular may be thankful for the extra reassurance as their demographic was hit particularly hard at the start of the pandemic.

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2. High ROI: The ROI on antimicrobial treatment is high (or it should be with the right administrator handling the coverage) and offering a comprehensive bundle to go with it makes it worth more to the customer. When offering ExoBundle, ExoClean (our microbial treatment) is free.

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3. Frees Up F&I: Any ancillary products that can be preloaded, like antimicrobial, gives the F&I staff a chance to focus on higher margin products like VSC and GAP. Any appearance or cosmetic protections should be bundled together as a Line 1 addition...makes life easier for F&I to make a higher PVR.

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4. Other Industries Are Still Offering Precautions: When you rent a car, a Clorox antibacterial wipe is in the cupholder. Many hotel chains across the world are still using antimicrobial sprays and cleaning products on common touch surfaces in the room. Hand sanitizer stations are still offered in airports, train stations, and shopping areas. 

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Is all this necessary? Maybe, maybe not….but the public is certainly not complaining about it. 

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Car dealers can provide the same level of precaution to buyers when offering antimicrobial treatments to the interior of the newly delivered car. Even those buyers who don’t think any of it is still necessary are unlikely to complain about its application. If your store offers it free, it’s exactly that…a courtesy layer of protection just in case. 

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Late 2022/early 2023 has seen a tough season of COVID, seasonal flu, and RSV cases on the rise and as car sales continue to slowly rise, offering this inexpensive protection gives your buyers added peace of mind while trying to dodge these viruses. 

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ExoClean and ExoBundle (powered by ExoGloss) are specifically designed to help your dealership offer a low cost, high ROI preload bundle that covers appearance ancillaries and the free add-on of antimicrobial protections for the interior. Together, they make a powerful unique selling proposition that can help your store stand out in the community.