{"id":10820,"date":"2020-01-30T17:39:29","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T01:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/?p=10820"},"modified":"2023-03-07T13:04:20","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T18:04:20","slug":"plug-in-america-trains-dealers-to-better-serve-ev-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/plug-in-america-trains-dealers-to-better-serve-ev-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Plug In America trains dealers to better serve EV customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we continue striving for greater electric vehicle (EV) adoption, a key component is the auto dealership that sells or leases the vehicles. While dealers are great at explaining the specific features of the vehicles, they can\u2019t always answer consumers\u2019 questions about charging, incentives, electricity rates, and other aspects of EV ownership. Plug In America\u2019s PlugStar EV dealer training and certification program bridges that gap by providing dealers with the information and tools to make EV sales easier for consumers and dealers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At each training session, salespeople from area dealerships attend a three-hour certification course led by experts\u00a0 in EV sales best practices. Trainees leave with a better understanding of EV basics, federal and regional incentives for new and used EVs, and charging at home and on the go. They also get a tour of PlugStar\u2019s online resources, including a mobile friendly web app that puts the answers to common EV customer questions in the palm of their hand. We also offer a supplemental one-hour, in-dealer training to familiarize a dealership\u2019s entire staff with key facts regarding EVs.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10825\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10825\" class=\"wp-image-10825 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/DSC01387-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10825\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Executive Director Joel Levin presents awards to auto dealers in the San Diego PlugStar EV Dealer Program in January 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales staff that complete the course and pass an exam earn PlugStar certification as EV Specialists. Dealers can also earn certification if they meet basic criteria that include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At least two trained PlugStar EV Specialists on staff;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supporting a minimum number of ride and drive events with vehicles and staff; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Complying with program terms and conditions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plug In America plans to roll out additional curricula and criteria to support dealers and sales staff that wish to reach higher levels of certification. Silver and Gold levels could be achieved, for example, by demonstrated performance, cumulative experience in EV sales, and completion of advanced coursework by PlugStar certified sales staff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The program has proven its effectiveness over the past three years of operation. PlugStar trained dealers earn customer ratings averaging 4.6 out of five stars, compared to just 3.5 stars from customers of other dealers. EV buyers are also twice as likely to award a 5-star rating to PlugStar trained dealers. They also sell more EVs. Sales staff that participated in the PlugStar program sell three to five times more EVs than their untrained counterparts. Since 2016, the PlugStar Program has trained over 1,000 dealer and manufacturer sales and sales support staff coast to coast, with more on their way.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10821\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10821\" class=\"wp-image-10821 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/dealer-blog--300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10821\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plug In America Program Director Eric Cahill and Program Manager Kathryn Urquhart present awards to outstanding dealers in Los Angeles in September 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not only is the dealership program beneficial for dealers, but it provides for a great customer experience. When shoppers visit a PlugStar Certified dealer, they can have confidence that the dealer can answer their questions and provide quality customer service. In addition, customers of PlugStar dealers\u2014and the customers they serve\u2014receive six months of unlimited access to <a href=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/why-go-plug-in\/ev-support-program\/\">Plug In America\u2019s EV Support Program<\/a>, which provides phone, email, and online support from expert Plug In America staff before, during, and after the sale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>To find PlugStar Certified dealers in your area, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/plugstar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PlugStar.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The PlugStar program from Plug In America works! Not only did it gives my staff unique tools to meet the needs of our customers, it improved the bottom line of our dealership. We recommend this program.&#8221;<br \/>\n\u2014John Driebe, Nissan of Elk Grove<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The PlugStar tool provides us with a one stop shop for everything we need to inform our customers on costs, charging, and incentives.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2014Honda Fleet Manager<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Our sales staff has a much better understanding of incentives and other regional resources for the Prius Prime, and sales are better than expected since the start of the PlugStar program.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2014Toyota Manager <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Our Leaf sales have doubled since the start of PlugStar training and the incentive program.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2014Nissan Sales Manager<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Your feedback is also helpful. Submit a review of the dealership(s) you visited or purchased\/leased your EV from on PlugStar.com to assist other EV shoppers in your area. Visit\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/default.salsalabs.org\/Te55f5a6e-ec84-414e-b131-c1da5e61e6d7\/d6f4423d-7e9b-41d0-b257-67a009da582a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/default.salsalabs.org\/Te55f5a6e-ec84-414e-b131-c1da5e61e6d7\/d6f4423d-7e9b-41d0-b257-67a009da582a&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1581542692782000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHwoj4gnSSJKBM5GzRenDEPlMz5zQ\">PlugStar.com\/Dealers<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0<wbr \/>search for your dealership, and click the &#8220;Write A Review&#8221; button on your dealership&#8217;s page.<\/p>\n<p>Plug In America&#8217;s programs, including the PlugStar EV Dealer Program, increase EV adoption from coast to coast. Invest in our future by <a href=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/take-action-2\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">supporting Plug In America<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we continue striving for greater electric vehicle (EV) adoption, a key component is the auto dealership that sells or leases the vehicles. While dealers are great at explaining the specific features of the vehicles, they can\u2019t always answer consumers\u2019 questions about charging, incentives, electricity rates, and other aspects of[&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Plug In America trains dealers to better serve EV customers - Plug In America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/plug-in-america-trains-dealers-to-better-serve-ev-customers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plug In America trains dealers to better serve EV customers - Plug In America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we continue striving for greater electric vehicle (EV) adoption, a key component is the auto dealership that sells or leases the vehicles. 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