Most dealers already know this, even if they have never said it out loud. Upselling in parts and service rarely fails because of a lack of knowledge. It fails because selling feels misaligned with how parts and service professionals see their role.

Dean Devore puts it bluntly. The issue is not a missing list or a missing system. “Your people already know what goes with A and B and C,” he says. “They probably know it better than we do.”

Parts and service teams know which seals should never be reused. They know which hoses fail next. And so, the real obstacle is not skill. It is identity. “They were born to fix problems,” Devore notes. And selling introduces variables out of their control. A recommendation can be declined. A suggestion can be questioned. A conversation can end without resolution.

“They can’t control those scenarios, and that makes them uncomfortable,” which Devore explains is a common feeling, and leads to fear of failure. For parts and service professionals who take pride in certainty and matching a part number to a problem, that discomfort is real. It is not laziness or defiance. It is simple wiring.

“Parts and service people, we really don’t like rejection very much, right?” he adds. “People come to see us, and we fix their problems. We’re heroes. We don’t like to have people say, ‘No.’”

Don’t Keep Good People ‘Stuck’

Devore calls this the “rope of resistance,” and he borrows the picture from how captive elephants are trained. When an elephant is young, it’s tied with a small rope to a stake. At that age, the rope is enough to hold the elephant and it can’t break free. Years later, that same elephant is powerful enough to snap it like thread, but it doesn’t. Not because it can’t, but because it’s been convinced it can’t. 

Devore says this same mindset often happens with parts and service teams when talking about upselling. Their limitation isn’t skill or knowledge, but instead an internalized belief that “this isn’t what I do.”

“If I wanted to be a salesman I’d already be one,” is the line Devore hears repeatedly. 

That statement reveals identity. These employees did not choose sales because they did not see themselves that way. Asking them to upsell without reframing the role feels like asking them to step outside the role they signed up for.

This is where many dealer initiatives stall. Expectations are announced. A meeting is held. A few weeks pass. Then attention shifts elsewhere.

“They’re going to wait for you to crack,” Devore says.

If leadership moves on, the team assumes upselling was optional.

Moving people past that resistance requires leadership engagement, not a new script. Devore recommends starting with straightforward team discussions. Even in a small department, there are at least two people who can compare notes. What objections are they hearing? What feels uncomfortable? What has worked?

Bringing salespeople into that conversation can help. They have experience handling rejection and can speak candidly about how they learned to work through it. The goal is not to turn parts and service into a sales department. It is to make selling part of the job conversation instead of something unspoken and avoided.

Recognition is equally important. Devore emphasizes celebrating successes, including small ones. These may include a complete repair sold correctly, a recommended part that prevented a comeback or an employee who simply tried and engaged the conversation. Parts and service professionals want to contribute to the dealership’s success. When leaders acknowledge their effort and results, it signals that upselling is a real expectation tied to performance, not a passing initiative.

Consistency may be the most critical factor. After a rollout meeting, teams will watch leadership behavior closely. If the topic disappears after a few weeks, the assumption will be that the priority has shifted. If it continues to show up in daily conversations, one-on-ones and performance discussions, it becomes embedded. Parts and service teams are exceptionally good at reading leadership cues. They know when something is temporary and when it is cultural.

In rare cases, upselling will never align with an individual’s comfort or capability. Devore acknowledges that reality. When that happens, leaders need to provide a soft place to land. That may mean a different role within the organization that limits customer-facing selling responsibilities. What does not work is exempting one person entirely while expecting everyone else to change. That undermines credibility and slows momentum, plus erodes company culture. 

Assumptive Selling

One of the most practical tools Devore offers is clarifying the difference between assumptive and suggestive selling, and teaching teams when each applies.

He begins with assumptive selling because it aligns closely with how parts and service professionals already approach their work. Assumptive selling means including everything required to complete the repair correctly while the machine is already apart.

“This is common sense stuff,” Devore says. “This is what your people already know. We just have to get them to say it.”

It includes lubricants, sealants, fluids, O-rings, gaskets and other related components that prevent a repair from becoming a repeat visit.

The reason Devore calls it assumptive is straightforward. “We’re going to assume the customer wants to fix it correctly,” he explains.

Whether the dealership is performing the repair or the customer is doing it independently, the working assumption is that the job should be done properly the first time.

In the service department, a customer requesting a radiator replacement may not have leaking hoses or a failed thermostat. The water pump may still function. However, if access is already available and labor overlap makes replacement efficient, recommending those components becomes a professional decision. Addressing hoses, a thermostat, a gasket or even a water pump in that context is not about inflating the ticket. It is about reducing future downtime and preventing avoidable return visits.

At the parts counter, the logic is similar. A bearing replacement often requires seals, O-rings, lock washers or other hardware that should not be reused once removed. Sealant and the correct fluid may also be necessary to complete the repair properly.

“I’m not even going to talk to you about that,” Devore says in one example. “I’m just going to say, ‘You need it.’”

That tone reflects confidence in expertise rather than a strong sales pressure, which no customer likes. Properly taught, assumptive selling protects the technician, the customer and the dealership’s reputation. 

Suggestive Selling

Suggestive selling operates differently. It involves focus products, seasonal items, promotions or new offerings that are not required to complete the immediate repair.

The most common mistake people make is introducing suggestive selling too early in the interaction.

“When people are at the counter and they don’t know what’s going to happen, their brain is shut off,” Devore explains.

Customers in uncertainty mode are focused on whether their problem can be solved. They are not evaluating additional purchases. Only after that uncertainty is resolved does a window open.

“When that’s solved, boom. Now they can listen.”

Devore observed this pattern clearly while overseeing call center operations. Highly skilled outbound sales teams struggled to close consistently. Inbound customer service teams, once they resolved an issue, achieved significantly higher close rates. The difference was not sales ability. It was timing.

Psychologists refer to this dynamic as the service recovery paradox. Customers who experience a problem that is handled well often become more loyal and more open to additional purchases than those who never had a problem at all.

Devore simplifies this into a rule leaders can teach easily: solve, then sell.

When suggestive selling follows resolution, it feels helpful rather than intrusive. “You’re actually providing a service,” Devore notes.

To make suggestive selling practical, Devore recommends identifying specific products to focus on for defined periods, often in two-week cycles. These may include seasonal maintenance items, new products or inventory the dealership wants to move. Clear focus prevents randomness and gives employees a defined reason to start the conversation. It also makes measurement straightforward, allowing leaders to evaluate growth tied to those items.

For any of this to work, however, leaders need to establish a culture that encourages parts and service personnel to get out of their comfort zone.

Leadership Sets the Culture

Even with the right tools and sequencing, consistency remains the challenge.

Parts and service professionals tend to repeat behaviors that produce reliable results. If upselling feels risky or inconsistent, they will revert to what is comfortable. Leaders must define expectations clearly and reinforce them steadily.

“The only failure is not trying,” Devore says.

Rejection is part of selling. For teams accustomed to solving problems and delivering certainty, hearing “no” can feel like failure. Leaders need to clarify that attempting the recommendation is success. Avoiding the conversation is not.

Recognition plays a practical role here. Effort should be acknowledged alongside any positive sales experiences and outcomes. A visible acknowledgment of the success really gets the team on board and lowers their resistance in the long term.

This is ultimately about culture. When leaders consistently reinforce sales and role expectations, upselling stops being an initiative and becomes part of how the dealership operates. Team members then see their role as part of the overall win for the dealership vs. only a fixer behind the parts’ desk. 

Compensation can support these goals, but not sustain them. Devore advises tying incentives to incremental gross margin and placing reasonable caps to avoid volatility. Poorly designed plans can create instability if earnings swing dramatically. More importantly, incentives do not remove hesitation. Leadership, belief and consistency do.

The hardest part of upselling in parts and service is not learning what to say, it is establishing the expectation that the conversation belongs there.

“You don’t need to teach your people what to sell,” Devore says. “You need to unlock their willingness to sell it.”

They already know how.