You placed the classified ad for a salesperson in the local newspaper. You plodded through a stack of resumes and took a dozen phone calls from persistent prospects. You conducted countless hours of personal interviews, called references and narrowed the stack down to a half dozen. Second interviews are finally over, and you came to an agreement with your top candidate. Now what?
It depends on the person's experience and knowledge of the automotive business, but in most cases the answer is always the same: get back to basics. Training, no matter how much a person might know about cars or how to deal with people, is a valuable and worthwhile investment. Sure, the type of training you provide will depend upon the new salesperson's experience and knowledge base, but don't think that you can send a new person out on the lot cold and expect great things to happen immediately. Invest a little time in training it will pay off in the end.
Finding a top-notch salesperson may be one of the toughest challenges a sales manager faces. It requires a substantial investment in time and resources to conduct a thorough search for just the right person. And even if you follow textbook screening procedures asking the right leading questions, checking references, even role playing it doesn't ensure a successful outcome. That's where proper training comes in.
Successful sales managers invest a great deal of time in sales training and ongoing sales support. Even if a new hire has years of experience at another dealership, don't expect to send them out on the lot without any type of training. Everyone, no matter how experienced they are, could use some back-to-basics training, especially on the products you're selling and how you want them to sell.
Assuming your new salesperson has good people skills, the most important consideration is product knowledge. Remember, for most people, purchasing a vehicle is one of the largest investments they will ever make, and buyers want to be assured they are dealing with someone who knows the product. All of us have experienced the satisfaction of being handled by a salesperson with great product knowledge. The sales process should be an education which ultimately lays the foundation of trust on which salespeople can build a speedy rapport and more easily close the sale. As a result, buyers gain more confidence that they're making the right decision and will be more likely to act on that confidence.
Simply having product knowledge, however, doesn't mean the salesperson is going to be successful. Personality is obviously key. A likable person will go far in this line of work, but that character quality is not always easy to spot in an initial interview. Coaching a salesperson, whether it be on product knowledge or people skills, should be a continuous objective of the sales manager.
Even if the salesperson is likable, it doesn't mean he or she knows how to attend to proper personal appearance. Most dealers have a required dress code that all sales associates are expected to adhere to. As delicate as it may be to address, even personal hygiene should be part of the sales manager's coaching duties. Professional salespeople must have an attractive appearance, and should never be in a position to offend a potential customer.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Having a good personality, solid product knowledge and appropriate appearance isn't enough in the highly-competitive world of auto sales. Salespeople need to constantly develop their skills and have a variety of sales tools available to them in order to be truly successful.
One of the most overlooked areas for automotive sales training is proper telemarketing skills. Since most prospecting and call-back situations involve the telephone, salespeople need to know how to use the telephone effectively, which is a quite a bit different from face-to-face selling. The salesperson needs to be monitored and coached on effective telemarketing approaches.
Every salesperson should be required to keep abreast of the industry by reading automotive trade magazines. For instance, they should know which vehicles were the Motortrend Car of the Year or Truck of the Year for the last 5 years. They should know those vehicles inside and out, especially if those models are sitting on the lot outside. At a minimum, they should know everything there is to know about the cars you're selling and how the competitors' cars compare.
Product knowledge helps to build value in the mind of the buyer. If a salesperson can build enough perceived value in an automobile, price becomes less important. Knowing the different vehicle options is much easier with new cars, since the factory sticker contains all of the vehicle specific information. A salesperson shouldn't have to constantly peer at the window sticker as a prospective buyer would to find out what features that particular car has to offer.
As the cost of hiring and keeping good salespeople continues to skyrocket, investing in proper sales training and sales tools is more important than ever. You will not only protect your hiring investment, but you'll also help the dealership and the salespeople meet their respective financial goals.
George Nenni is Marketing Director for Dealer Specialties Inc., a Cincinnati, Ohio-based Internet advertising firm and maker of custom printed window stickers for used vehicles. If you have specific questions or require more information about this subject, please check the appropriate box on the reader response form on page 3.