Is Your Dealership an Ex-Salesperson Factory?
I run into people all the time who proudly proclaim they “used to sell cars”. If I were a dentist, or a doctor or an attorney, I wonder if I would run into as many people so proud of no longer practicing the profession. Obviously , a large part of this phenomenon is the checkered past of the car business. Many people aren’t proud to tell others that they’re even IN the car business, much less on the “sales” side of the business.
Except for the successful ones… When they’re successful, they tell everyone they know.
If you boil this down to its core, producing fewer “ex” salespeople is all about training. You could make an argument that we hire the “wrong” people. It takes a self-starting person with an inner discipline to be successful in the car business. Those sort of people can be difficult to find. Can those traits be taught? Yes. The US Armed Forces prove that every day. I think our hiring practices are part of the problem, but not all of it.
Training is the key. Since we’re a training company, this probably sounds self-serving, but it’s still true.
The car business doesn’t train their new hires well enough. When I see an entire crew of sales professionals who are proud to tell everyone they meet about their profession, chances are I’m looking at a dealership that makes training a priority. A dealership that has embraced training into its culture and makes it the highest daily priority. Their salespeople are successful, have better attitudes (even in a down economy), and make more money. That sort of organization produces far fewer “ex” salespeople.
Is your dealership one of those ex-salesperson factories? Here’s a simple way to diagnose your store… Left to their own devices, do your salespeople tend to skip steps in the sale? How often do they tell you a customer hasn’t driven the car they want numbers on? How often do they work the desk harder than they “work” the deal? How often are you rushing a new “crop” of salespeople through a couple video tapes so they can “hit the floor” and sell a car?
Salespeople, who have been properly trained, know that their paycheck depends on NOT skipping steps in their sale. Their paycheck depends on being able to show a customer why the car is worth the Published Value, instead of telling their manager why it’s NOT worth the Published value. Those salespeople sell more cars, make more money and tend to stay at your dealership longer, thus negating the need for constant “rush” training on a never-ending stream of green-peas.
If you want to be the best, then you have to do what the best do. Be more selective in your hiring. Once hired, show both your new and veteran salespeople they are worth the investment and do everything you can to train them every day. Make training a key part of your dealership’s culture, not an afterthought.
If you’d like to discuss your training program, I’d love to chat with you. Visit our automotive sales training website at RobertNoell.com, or call my direct line at 919-889-2423.
