First look at the people already working for you when seeking to hire people to add to or replace current staff. What are the qualities of the best on your team?  Why are they successful within your environment?  What were they doing before coming to work with you?  Was it them, or perhaps what you have done since they started that has developed success?

Your best prospects for future success will be those who closely match the best of what you already have.  Gain an understanding of what keeps these people motivated and performing at peak ability.  These are the traits you need to advertise and hire for.  

Invest whatever it takes to bring a newly hired person fully into the team.  Make them an important part of your operation and they will respond in kind.

In my line of work I am often asked when the best time would be to hire salespeople.  When will I get the most people of quality to respond to my help wanted advertisement?  My overriding thought and response is usually the same; before you need them.   But taking a deeper look at the question itself reveals that in reality this is a multi-faceted question.  Is the question a matter of time of year or one week of the month being better than another?  Or, should we hire salespeople while there is a big sales event occurring?  Or, is it best to wait until I am a few people short and hire a bunch at a time rather than one or two?  Does a holiday affect the outcome?   Let’s take a look at these questions and share our experience.

The time of year does have both pluses and minuses.  Many people think that the winter months, especially the December / January time frame will not work well for them.  Their reasoning in colder weather climates is because business is generally slower and weather conditions could affect the outcome.   Some people try to speculate the market figuring that people aren’t looking for a career during holiday weekends, vacation season or at other times suggesting time of year has a bearing.  The reality is that on any given week there are far more qualified applicants who would most certainly have interest in an automobile sales career than you might think.  The times when conventional wisdom would indicate that it is best to hold off, wait until things get better, are in reality the very best of times to recruit salespeople.  Why?  For example; if very few dealerships are advertising for sales help and you are actively doing so, who’s help wanted advertisement is everyone going to see?  You benefit because you are the only game in town.  You are cornering the market of qualified applicants.  Additionally, when times are slower or perceived to be slower is also a great time to hire salespeople.  The reason is you theoretically have the time to devote to a newly hired person to better prepare.  Give them a foundation and they will grow and prosper for time to come.

Should I hold a sales event and does the week of the month help or hurt the hiring process?  Both of these are great questions because these are things that can affect results.  A sales event can be a terrific time to hire as the added excitement puts a buzz in the air and creates the impression of opportunity.  This is why some dealerships like to conduct recruiting during the last week of the month.  Ordinarily the last week of the month is one of the busiest.  Again, activity breeds action, and the action you want is for your applicant to make the decision your dealership is the place to be!

What is better to do, hire one or two at a time or wait to hire many in an effort to maximize the investment?  In short, the longer you wait the more it will cost you.  Why?  Missed opportunity is the biggest reason.  Even being only one salesperson shorthanded is a detriment to achieving success both in unit volume and overall gross profit.  The situation becomes exacerbated with each additional salesperson you are short.  In nearly every instance it is far better to recruit more often and well before the need becomes abundantly apparent.   A large percentage of our clients recruit on a quarterly basis, if not more frequently, even if on the surface they don’t have the “need”.  Their reasoning has proved sound.  They are rarely put in the position of having to cater to the whims of one or a team of salespeople.  They don’t run short-handed and are always prepared for the inevitable changes and opportunities that occur day to day, week to week and month to month.  They have also found their sales teams perform at a very high level; it is very clear their job at the dealership is highly valued and if they aren’t making a full out effort, someone else will.   Lastly, it is easier to integrate one or two people at one time into the culture of your dealership then having many to follow up with.

Hopefully you have gained insight into some of the most asked questions we receive and can implement strategies that work for you.  The bottom line is every week is a good week to hire salespeople.  However, it would be best to plan ahead and recruit a smaller number of people on a consistent basis. What questions do you have?  Perhaps we can help you.

Ernie Kasprowicz
Vice President / General Manager
AutoMax Recruiting and Training, LLC.
www.automaxrecruitingandtraining.com 
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If retaining top salespeople were easy, everybody would be doing it.

No kidding.   Seriously, so what can be done?  To be sure, there are many strategies to employ and different schools of thought.  For now, let's explore one possible solution.  To gain a different perspective, it may be helpful to start at the end, at the moment a quality salesperson tenders their resignation.  How did it get to this point?

The very first thing you need to do when a salesperson tenders their resignation is to react immediately.  No excuses, no delays, do not wait until after the morning meeting.  The number one priority becomes speaking with this salesperson.

The second must is not to mention the potential resignation to anyone else. This works for both parties and is extremely crucial.  This will allow the salesperson to save face with their peers should you successfully change his or her mind. Also, preventing the would-be resignation from becoming common knowledge will go a long way towards preventing wild rumors that could spread, suggesting a big pay raise was offered to retain the person.

It is imperative that we listen and "hear" what the salesperson has to say.  Try to understand the exact reason(s) why this person intends to resign. If you fail to find out for certain or accept the real reason(s), you will have no chance to keep this salesperson. You will also want to understand what opportunity is available to this salesperson; more money, less stress, more interesting work or perhaps more stress but a bigger career step. Give an unfiltered review to your immediate superior, even though this may be uncomfortable.

You will have to carefully think through your arguments and focus on why it is in the salesperson's best interest to stay. Remember, most likely the salesperson has had feelings of frustration for a long time and it has taken one final "incident" to make up his or her mind to leave. On the other hand, another business may have presented this person with a more attractive offer.

Now you should know why he or she is leaving.  By all means, solve the salesperson's problems!  The majority of sales representatives who have expressed their intention to resign actually like the company, their occupation and the people they work with and would like to stay.

Lastly, prevent further resignations! Think about the rest of your sales team and try and recognize problems early on and resolve them before they reach a breaking point.

By no means will this keep all the salespeople you want, and certainly isn't the only set of ideas to explore. There are many things that need to be done from the moment a salesperson is hired that will lead to retention. However, as part of an overall strategy, implementing these points can help to retain good salespeople and therefore make a positive impact on business performance.