Retail Automotive’s Blog
This blog is specifically for people working in the retail automotive industry. Retail automotive professionals have long been a unique blend of people who for the most part have relied on word of mouth for industry employment information.
This blog is an attempt to share job opportunities and pass along the hiring needs specific to the retail auto industry. We will also look for ways to improve your skill set so you can become better at what you do. I definitely subscribe to the mantra, if you want more, you must become more. Whether you sell cars, work in a business office, repair vehicles or call any of the other departments in a dealership your second home, I am going to offer helpful hints to make your job a little easier.
Like most every “expert” in the auto industry, I plan to take the best ideas and share them with you here. Much of our focus will be related to the people side of the business. This monthly newsletter will offer a monthly article focusing on Sales, Service, Parts or the Business Office focusing on opportunities in the industry.
I certainly won’t have all the answers but like any good car person, I will at hopefully offer you a little ammo to fight your fight. If you or someone you know has an idea or message worth sharing with our subscribers, please contact us and I will steal your idea too! Just kidding, I will give credit where credit is due and really want to hear from all of you.
The retail auto industry offers as much opportunity today as it ever has even in this difficult economic time. I will point out job opportunities, insights, humor with a genuine empathy and understanding for those working retail.
Jim Durkin is the founder and owner of Autobullpen.com a talent management firm exclusively for retail auto dealers. You can contact Jim by email: info@autobullpen.com
The Dreaded Subject: Training Your Staff!
Very few people in the world enjoy the subject of training; most people have great disdain for the subject. The retail auto industry is becoming interested in formalized training. The two variables that have historically worked against training are the high cost of hiring a quality trainer and high employee turnover. Today, I want to pass along an idea that I think every dealership needs as much as a room full of customers.
Our industry is changing as much or more than any industry in the world. Dealerships and auto manufactures are facing challenges that they have never faced before and even the United States Government has has tried their hand at marketing fuel efficient vehicles via Cash for Clunkers.
There is one point where everyone is in agreement; the retail auto business is a people business. Every successful sales person will tell you frequent customer contact coupled with the ability to communicate are the keys to success. The other missing link that is often overlooked in the car business is leadership.
Traditional methods of driving traffic to dealerships is becoming more and more expensive and less effective. Dealers just don’t have the money to spend on advertising, hoping enough clients come in and buy a car. Lets not even talk about selling cars for a profit. Today, dealers are trimming unnecessary staff and hiring multi-talented sales people that can reach out into the community and connect with customers. The old days of a sales person standing on the point waiting for customers are over; today’s sales professional have to be proactive and use alternative approaches to sell vehicles.
I mentioned the objections when the subject of training is raised – expense and employee turnover. Nobody wants to invest in training only to have their people leave a short time later. I couldn’t agree more! What I am offering here today is a framework and a process for training. Do with it what you may; I guarantee you this: you will not find a better or cost effective training program in the world. When I say, cost effective, I mean $6 per month per enrolled associate and training is one hour fifteen minutes per week. There may be a little extra preparation time for those presenting that week.
Here is a quick summary so far. We are going to develop the tools of today’s sales person to increase the frequency of his or her customer contact, improve their ability to communicate and their leadership skills for $6 per month!
Companies like Google, HP, Apple, 3M, Ford, Toyota, Wells Fargo all offer this training exactly because of the afore stated reasons. Why don’t dealerships? It’s not an easy job. It requires a real commitment from top management and 20 associates who really want to improve their skill set. The other issue that presents difficulties is the fact that the students are the teacher working within the framework and process I previously mentioned. The old quote, “a student will not believe something until they discover it for themselves,” has never been more true. I can’t tell you the number of times I have witnessed a dealer spend thousands on training and afterwords, overheard an associate criticize the instructor to a fellow associate.
The framework and process I am talking about is Toastmasters. It’s a training process that is going to help each and every person in a dealership communicate with co-workers, vendors and clients. Do your sales people connect with clients, build rapport, influence and motivate clients to act? Wouldn’t it be nice if each and every sales person had the ability to intelligently speak and influence a civic group and sell one of them a car, parts or service? For that matter, wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to practice and improve the skills sales people utilize in their day-to-day duties?
A Toastmasters club will not train and develop your staff; a Toastmasters club offers your staff the tools it needs to train and develop themselves. Leadership is getting associates to embrace the process!
Most people approach a training session from a compliance perspective when they should look at training with a commitment to improving themselves. When the student becomes the teacher and the student, he or she has a completely different perspective and seriousness towards training. Presenters will study and present their “new” ideas to the audience. Furthermore, their peers will evaluate their speech and have to offer positive feedback to help the speaker improve.
Toastmasters teaches the “Sandwich Method” of evaluating a speaker (positive feedback – helpful insights followed by positive feedback). The purpose of feedback is to have the speakers want to return to become a better communicator and leader.
I know of no more effective and inexpensive training program used around the world. Like anything, it will require a considerable amount of work and dedication.
Here is a link to Toastmasters International website. http://www.toastmasters.org and here is my local Toastmaster club http://www.rivercityspeakers.com
Please email me your questions or comments @ info@autobullpen.com
Job Fairs
Getting Noticed
Getting Noticed by Your Future Employer
Six Resume Secrets
Here are Six ideas I have borrowed from the best resume book in the market. The name of the book is Executive Job-Changing Workbook written by John Lucht. Lucht’s book is an informational workbook that shows the reader how to build a powerful resume.
- Identify your Highest and Best Use (from the employer’s point of view)
- Prove that you’d be the Best Person (among all candidates) and employer can hire for that use. The proof is two-sided…presence of positives and absence of negatives.
Here’s THE Answer
A few people have inquired about various positions and why they were not chosen. Here is THE answer!
Dealers are a funny bunch. If you have spent any time at all around a dealer, you know that it is difficult if not impossible to predict why and what they will do.
Let’s look at a automotive sales person. If he or she sells a car to 16% of the people they talk to, they need to speak with 62.5 people a month to sell 10 cars. They must ask each of the 62.5 to BUY!
The same is true for anyone looking for work but you only need to sell yourself once to the right dealer to find your job. Here is the question we all need to ask:
Are you doing the right things to land your next job?
And, if you are doing the right things, are you doing them at the right frequency? You need to communicate with 10 people every day and ask them for the job you desire – ask them to BUY!
Here is what I do when I hear a dealer is looking for a candidate or when I want to introduce Autobullpen.com since we have so many great candidates posted on our site.
- Do research on the dealer. Talk to someone who presently works for the dealer, a vendor, a factory or bank representative. What are the dealers top three problems and what can you do to fix them? Hint: Showroom Traffic.
- I write letters to dealers and direct them to a candidate that I think is a good match. Here’s my secret; I send it 2 Day Delivery from the Post Office directly to the dealer. Send your resume 2 Day Special Delivery!
- Network with people in the industry. When I say network, try to help them get what they want so they in turn want to help you land a job.
- Make sure your profile at Autobullpen.com is complete and offers solutions to a dealers needs – they have plenty.
- Record a 60 second Video Resume and include the link in a personal letter to the dealer.
- Cold call your future boss repeatedly. Your goal should be to get the job or a police escort off the lot!
I really do hope one or all of these tips find each of you the job and career of your dreams. I will continue to search for hiring dealers and feel free to pass along any comments or suggestions that may be helpful.
Interview Questions & The Reasons Employers Ask Them
Click on the link below to get a copy of Performance-based Interview Questions employers use to discover if you are the best candidate for the job. The column on the right gives the reason the interviewer is asking the question.
Business Sucks! Solution #323
My solution comes from Bob Burg. Bobby wrote a great book titled Endless Referrals and in an effort to stay true to form, I am going to pass along one more stolen idea.
One of the suggestions in his book is for sales people to ask for referrals and even a letter of recommendation from each and every client.
I thought back to a time when I sold cars. I recall having to wait for F&I to get all the necessary paperwork together; it seemed like months went by from the time the client said “yes” to the time they actually entered F&I.
This got me thinking; what a perfect time to ask for a referral and even a testimonial letter. Rather than sitting around and making idle small talk, sales people could help clients write a complimentary letter detailing the wonderful job they did. After all, there is no better time to ask a favor from a client than right after that client agrees to purchase your product. What a great way to help the client confirm their most recent buying decision!
Sales people could then keep a binder of referrals to show each and every customer that comes inside for, “a little more information.” Will this work on every customer? No, but if it works on one customer, we are that much better off.
Now, I don’t think there will be a run on black binders as a result of this article, but the good sales people will do this. The first thing each sales person must do is ask for a referral. The next thing that should happen is to help the client write the actual letter. Here is how Bob tells us to do this.
Use Technology to Find Your Next Job!
This Will Help
There have been several inquieries regarding the number of employers viewing your profiles. While many dealers are not hiring, they are shopping to upgrade their talent base.
I thought it would be a good idea for each of you to view your profile and add any additional comments or statistics that may set you apart from the competition.
Remember, our service is FREE for dealers and candidates and you never know what will catch the hiring dealer’s eye. As always, stay positive and we will let you know if we hear anything.
Join a Master Mind Group!
A Check-up From The Neck-up
Join a Master Mind group today for FREE – master mind with a unique group of like-minded individuals who are focused on taking the results, in every area of their life, to a new level. Limited seats remaining – REGISTER TODAY by sending us an email!!!
Experience the Power of the Master Mind A ten-week study that will change the course of your life! During the course of this free, dynamic, 10-week study, you will learn how to apply to your life the foundational principles of Napoleon Hill’s number one selling book, Think and Grow Rich!” After being commissioned by one of the richest men in the world, Andrew Carnegie, to write the book, Napoleon Hill spent the better part of twenty years studying the lives of five hundred of the richest, most successful people who ever lived – people like Thomas A. Edison, Charles Schwab, Wilbur Wright, Marie Dressler, F.W. Woolworth, John D. Rockefeller, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Ford, to name a few. As a result, Hill came to the conclusion that there were sixteen, key principles that lead to success. Think and Grow Rich! teaches one how these successful individuals put into practice these invaluable tools to create wealth and prosperity in their lives.
This ten-week, in-depth study will afford you the opportunity to join forces and master mind with a unique group of like-minded individuals who are focused on taking the results, in every area of their life, to a new level. Together, you will learn how to achieve your goals by understanding and implementing the doctrines of Faith, Desire, Autosuggestion, Mind power, Imagination, Decision, Persistence, The Subconscious Mind, and How to Outwit the 6 Ghosts of Fear as taught by Napoleon Hill himself. The results will astound you as you watch the lives of your Master Mind group improve from one week to the next!
When you begin to think and grow rich, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind with definiteness of purpose and with little or no hard work.” Napoleon Hill
What do you need to do?
1. Decide to make this year your best year yet!
2. Register your spot in a Master Mind group
3. Purchase the Think and Grow Rich Book there is a specific version you will need to purchase and we will provide information when you register to join.
4. Be committed to attend a 10 week study group.
Who should be part of this Master Mind group?
Those who want to join forces and master mind with a unique group of like-minded individuals who are focused on taking the results, in every area of their life, to a new level.
Individuals
Couples
Business Owners
Entrepreneurs
Corporate Leaders
If this sounds like you – register today by sending us an email info@autobullpen.com.
FREE Interview Questions!!!!
Several dealers have recently started to hold multiple stages of interviews in an effort to pick the best possible candidate. One of the ways they screen candidates is to offer a “take-home question.” For example, if you are applying for a GSM position, they might give you a scenario and ask to put together your plan.
Here are the paramaters of a possible question for a GSM candidate.
Take Home Test
GSM
Current environment:
1. Market down 60% versus this time last year
2. Sales staff turnover 80% versus this time last year
3. 80% of sales staff earning minimum wage
4. Losing money on front-end
1. Develop and deliver your plan to the panel:
a. bring the front end back to profitability
b. stabilize sales staff turnover
c. given current budget
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