“Claims are high because most motorists experience some damage, whether it’s a ding or a scuffed alloy, but that adds to the feeling that they are getting value for money, and for dealers it’s an opportunity to maintain contact with the customer,” said Haskell.

Set up 11 years ago and now with a UK turnover of £10.5  million, GardX has exclusive deals with, among others, Inchcape, Lookers, Perrys and JCT600.

“Apart from the products, our rise in the marketplace has been due to a disciplined, repeatable sales process,” said Haskell.

Supagard believes that a 35% sales penetration represents a ‘competent’ performance, adding that some of its dealer outlets are achieving 40%-50%.

For those who are under-performing, the company offers half-day coaching sessions.

“The purpose of these is to identify the barriers to targeted performance and work towards a solution,” said head of sales and marketing Nick Horton. “For new recruits, training typically lasts a day to instil knowledge, skill and confidence.”

With 18 manufacturer endorsements and groups such as Sytner, Listers and Mercedes-Benz Retail among its customers, Horton says Supagard continues to be the “preferred choice” of the AM100.

However, he emphasised that Supagard does not take its market leading status for granted: “We are mindful that the marketplace is changing rapidly. As a result, we will be extending our product and service portfolios before the end of the year.”

With other optional extras to consider at sale time, Supagard acknowledged that some customers may need ‘thinking time’ about paint and fabric protection.

“For that reason, we provide a support service on behalf of the dealer network to re-present the product offer and this is achieving a conversion rate of 19.6%,” said Horton.

Terry Chapman, head of Autoglym LifeShine, said he would be “disappointed” if customer take-up was less than 50%, going to as high as 90% for some prestige brands.

Slough-based car supermarket Trade-Sales has been offering paint protection for 15 years, latterly through Supagard, with sales manager Simon Smith reporting: “One of our demo cars is part-treated to show the ‘before and after’ effect. Cars used by our sales team have also been treated and they say it really does work.”