As I work with multiple dealers daily, a common issue in these stores is their salespeople. Some are great, some good, and some not so good.
What are you doing to develop your salespeople? Where are you finding them? Is there a good income potential to entice top performers?
I ask these questions because I see such a wide range of talent and performance. There is always at least one top performer, a few in the middle, and a few at the bottom. The top performer is always busy, working leads, closing deals, and prospecting outside of their leads. The middle performer may work with fresh leads, have poor follow-up, and do little to grow their business. The bottom performer plays on their phone, hangs out on the lot waiting for drive-ups, and virtually no follow-up on leads.
What can be done to make all salespeople top performers today? Remember, the salespeople are your front-line workers. Do they all have equal training and constant coaching, and do they follow procedures consistent with the company’s expectations? If you think of the military, they train rigorously so each soldier can consistently follow orders and procedures to complete their objectives. Why would we not do the same with our front-line salespeople? Dealers invest millions of dollars a year into their businesses, but do they have the right staff to return a profit on their investment? I tell dealers they have to break it down by desk in their showroom; each desk needs to generate X amount of dollars. That needs to be conveyed to the salespeople so they can set expectations.
So, I asked dealers this week what training their salespeople go through. Here are some of the answers:
All salespeople need first to get certified by the manufacturer.
Some stores have training quarterly with Cardone.
Some stores send each new salesperson to corporate for training.
Some stores have a corporate trainer that meets with each salesperson twice a week.
Some stores have a pony desk to work with salespeople weekly.
Some stores have the newbies shadow the top performers.
Some stores use vendor or dealer partners for training.
Some stores hold weekly or daily sales meetings in-house to work with the team.
Some dealers just put them on the floor, which is the sink-or-swim theory.
Another thought was where are we getting our salespeople from, how are we vetting them, are they green peas, or experienced?
I recall a couple of decades ago when a dealer was looking for salespeople to go out on the town hunting. One of their favorite hunting grounds was furniture stores; they would find the top performers and offer them fewer hours and more money, potentially, at the dealership. Many successful salespeople were recruited this way, from outside the dealer world. They would go to various businesses and recruit people. They liked high end restaurants, real estate agents, department stores, etc. I know it sounds crazy, but a top performer is a top performer, especially in sales. Another main factor for attracting top performers is the opportunity to make a good living; remember, you get what you pay for. Dealers need to think like the military in the training and development of their salespeople, period. They can make or break a store, so let’s make an effort to have the best team in the business.
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-Bill Raynal
Performance Engineer
Lotpop Inc.
billr@lotpop
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