Everyone has had personal experience being turned-away from a sale because of an overbearing employee. Whether dining out for dinner or shopping at the grocery store, there are always some members of the staff that try too hard to make a sale. Instead of being inviting and open, these sales people come off as aggressive and desperate. As these situations illustrate, there is a fine line between following up on a sale and being annoying. Finding this balance is an important aspect of closing sales, because a majority of clients will need that extra nudge. Here are a few ways to follow up a sale without being overbearing.

1. Change your perspective.

When attempting to make a sale, it can be easy to see two separate team. The competition exists between you and the potential customer. You're trying to get them to buy, and they're trying to resist the offer. While this is a natural way to feel about such a situation, there are better perspectives to take. Instead of seeing a customer as an enemy, see them as a strategic partner. In reality, both of you want to obtain the same goal. The customer wants to see their business succeed, and you want to provide the service or product to help realize that goal. This perspective can help ease the tensions felt during the sales process.

2. Kill the customer with kindness.

This is a strategy that works against any force working in the opposite direction of your goals. Getting upset and frustrated will only make the sales advances more aggressive. No customer wants to do business with someone who is agitated and desperate for a sale. Not only is this attitude annoying, but it also doesn't reflect well on future business. Being nice is a great way to follow up with a potential customer without seeming aggressive or overbearing. A simple message or phone call asking about their business or personal life will accomplish a few things. First and foremost, the customer will be reminded of the deal or offer. Secondly, the potential client will let their guard down a bit when confronted with such kindness.

3. Be persistent.

Following up with a potential customer in a nice way can even come across as annoying or overbearing. Reaching out after an offer requires tactfulness and care. Most professionals recommend waiting around a week before even contacting a client. A week offers enough time for the client to consider the offer while still ensuring that the deal remains alive. E-mail is a great way to follow up without seeming too aggressive. This allows the client to take time to read the message, consider their answer and then respond. A phone call can seem too forward. In the email, it is important to start with a warm introduction. Starting off too cold can turn away prospective clients. It is also recommendable to keep the letter short as the client is surely busy with other projects.

4. Don't be afraid to stand out.

Many people are afraid to stick their neck out when following up with clients. They conflate standing out with being too aggressive or annoying. While these two characteristics can exist together, they don't have to. There are creative ways to stand out without coming across as overbearing. Connecting with the potential client on a personal level is a great way to achieve this goal. At the end or beginning of every correspondence, find a way to connect with your client. This connection could be related to food, a similar hobby, a discussion about the best gap year programs and anything else under the sun. As long as the client can relate, this strategy can help make you stand out.

After making a sales pitch or offer, it is important to follow up with potential customers. Finding the right balance between aggression and silence can be difficult. These four tips can help you follow up after a sale without being overbearing.

If you've chosen a career in sales, you may have developed a good technique for getting the attention of potential customers, but how many sales are you actually closing? If you believe you could be doing better, the problem may not be in your approach. It may be in the way you lead your customers toward that closing. One of these strategies may work better for you and help ensure your prospects are committing to the sale.

Apply Pressure to Commit

One of the most reliable ways to secure a sale is to put on the pressure to compel your prospect to make a decision on the spot. While providing them with information and letting them go home to think about it may seem like a good way to forge a relationship, it will almost always cost you the sale. Once they walk off the lot or out of the store, you'll likely not hear from them again. You can forge a more positive relationship later, once you've made the sale. For now, however, you'll have more luck by getting your prospect to commit to the sale. If you're offering some kind of incentive, make sure the prospect knows the deal is only good during that one visit. Even if you know this isn't true, this will help you apply pressure to commit.

Focus on the Game-Changers

It's easy to get overzealous and start listing all of the features of a specific product or model, but this can overwhelm a prospective customer. A better strategy is to talk to the prospect and find out what features are more important to them. Once you get a better feel for what they want out of the purchase, you'll be better prepared to cater to their specific needs. This can even help you deliver a more personalized sales approach. For instance, if you're trying to sell a car to a young couple with children, pointing out child-safety features of a specific model may bring you closer to making the sale.

Help Prospects Solve Their Problems

New entrepreneurs focus their businesses on solving problems instead of directly trying to push a sale. This tactic can work for sales professionals as well. Whether you're selling luxury vehicles or covered RV storage units, your goal should be to solve a problem in a unique way. If you can show your prospects why they need your product, they'll be less likely to walk away from the sale. If you can relate your product to the prospect's personal circumstances and make them understand that this specific product is ideal for solving their problem, you're far more likely to make the sale. The most important aspect of succeeding with this strategy is to convince your prospect that no other product will solve their problem as efficiently as your product.

If All Else Fails...

Suppose you've tried these strategies and your own tactics, but the prospect is still reluctant to commit. The first thing you have to realize is that they're still thinking about all you've said, proven by the fact that they haven't left yet. In these circumstances, the price may be the one factor keeping your prospect from becoming a customer. Instead of losing that sale altogether, offer them a different model at a lower cost. This is the time to go into the cheaper model's features because you want them to feel as though they're getting a deal. The prospect will weigh the features against the lower price on this second model, which is often enough to get them to commit to the sale.

Especially in hard economic times, getting people to buy a product is difficult, but it's not impossible. The important thing to remember is that they're looking for a value on something they need to buy anyway. If you can address these two issues in a way that makes your product seem like the ideal answer, you'll get yourself closer to closing the sale.

If you've chosen a career in sales, you may have developed a good technique for getting the attention of potential customers, but how many sales are you actually closing? If you believe you could be doing better, the problem may not be in your approach. It may be in the way you lead your customers toward that closing. One of these strategies may work better for you and help ensure your prospects are committing to the sale.

Apply Pressure to Commit

One of the most reliable ways to secure a sale is to put on the pressure to compel your prospect to make a decision on the spot. While providing them with information and letting them go home to think about it may seem like a good way to forge a relationship, it will almost always cost you the sale. Once they walk off the lot or out of the store, you'll likely not hear from them again. You can forge a more positive relationship later, once you've made the sale. For now, however, you'll have more luck by getting your prospect to commit to the sale. If you're offering some kind of incentive, make sure the prospect knows the deal is only good during that one visit. Even if you know this isn't true, this will help you apply pressure to commit.

Focus on the Game-Changers

It's easy to get overzealous and start listing all of the features of a specific product or model, but this can overwhelm a prospective customer. A better strategy is to talk to the prospect and find out what features are more important to them. Once you get a better feel for what they want out of the purchase, you'll be better prepared to cater to their specific needs. This can even help you deliver a more personalized sales approach. For instance, if you're trying to sell a car to a young couple with children, pointing out child-safety features of a specific model may bring you closer to making the sale.

Help Prospects Solve Their Problems

New entrepreneurs focus their businesses on solving problems instead of directly trying to push a sale. This tactic can work for sales professionals as well. Whether you're selling luxury vehicles or covered RV storage units, your goal should be to solve a problem in a unique way. If you can show your prospects why they need your product, they'll be less likely to walk away from the sale. If you can relate your product to the prospect's personal circumstances and make them understand that this specific product is ideal for solving their problem, you're far more likely to make the sale. The most important aspect of succeeding with this strategy is to convince your prospect that no other product will solve their problem as efficiently as your product.

Suppose you've tried these strategies and your own tactics, but the prospect is still reluctant to commit. The first thing you have to realize is that they're still thinking about all you've said, proven by the fact that they haven't left yet. In these circumstances, the price may be the one factor keeping your prospect from becoming a customer. Instead of losing that sale altogether, offer them a different model at a lower cost. This is the time to go into the cheaper model's features because you want them to feel as though they're getting a deal. The prospect will weigh the features against the lower price on this second model, which is often enough to get them to commit to the sale.

Especially in hard economic times, getting people to buy a product is difficult, but it's not impossible. The important thing to remember is that they're looking for a value on something they need to buy anyway. If you can address these two issues in a way that makes your product seem like the ideal answer, you'll get yourself closer to closing the sale.

Today's dealerships face numerous challenges in their pursuit to stay afloat. They are experiencing increased competition, fast-evolving consumers, and tighter margins on car sales than before. Car dealerships must also add new employment regulations and laws to their list of the wave that already impacts how they manage their workforce. The new employment laws and regulations not only exposes car dealerships to lawsuits from workers but also increase the cost of legal compliance and labor.

With so many things to worry about, it can be hard for dealerships to balance their responsibilities with providing great customer service and making decent profits. This is especially true for small and midsize dealerships. Below are some of the employment and legal document management challenges that dealerships around the world face.

Changes in the FLSA Exempt Classifications Interpretation

The FLSA excludes some workers of car dealerships from its overtime requirements. For example, people involved in servicing and selling automobiles are exempted from the list. Auto dealers in the United States have always relied on the guidelines from the labor department, which exclude service advisors from overtime requirements. However, the federal agency reserved its position in 2011 and ruled in favor of overtime pay for the service advisors. The decision to reverse the regulations conflicts with decisions made by courts in other states. That means dealerships must comply with the new guidelines or risk misclassification lawsuits from their former service advisors.

Fair Pay Act

The fair pay act forbids car dealerships from gender-based discrimination when it comes to compensation. However, the bill has been amended twice in two years, creating more litigation for auto dealers. In 2016, the fair pay act was expanded to include all employees irrespective of their position or title. That means car dealerships must involve all their workers when conducting a pay comparison. Later on, the federal agency amended the law to include record keeping requirements. In 2017, the agency expanded the legislation to compel car dealerships to pay disparities based on ethnicity and race. Car dealerships with less ethnic diversity and gender positions are likely to see more litigations and agency action than before.

Workplace Harassment Rules

New workplace harassment regulations in the US went into effect in 2016. These regulations have raised complaint procedure requirements and workplace harassment regulations applicable to workers of car dealerships. Previously, the law required that all car dealerships with more than 50 employees train their supervisors in various topics related to workplace harassment. The new requirements demand that the training to cover supervisor obligations, victim's legal remedies, abusive workplaces, and remedy and strategies to prevent workplace harassment. As such, car dealerships have to comply with strict workplace harassment training regulations while training their supervisors.

Conclusion

Abiding with these and other laws can make a car dealership not only compliant but also prosperous. In many instances, car dealerships need to make slight changes to their existing procedures and policies to remain compliant with employment law requirements.

Every salesperson has their thing. Some people have a smile that charms even the most unwilling of buyers while other people have witty personalities that entertain the customer is buying. The problem is that those traits can’t be taught. You can teach someone to have a winning smile if the car salesman you’re trying to teach doesn’t smile--it would come off as not genuine. You also can’t teach someone to change their personality. They’re either a happy, smiley, or witty person, or they’re not. Some people think that only people will the cookie-cutter salesman attitude can make a good salesperson, but that’s simply not true. Anyone can make a good sales person with the right tools.

1. Make the Customer be the Hero

If you’re telling a classic story, there’s always a hero. In the story that you tell your customer, make them the hero. Don’t play out the cards as if the car you’re trying to sell is the hero that needs a sidekick. Explain to the customer why they need that car as their sidekick. You want to place emphasis on the customer and make sure that by the end of your conversation, your customer feels as if their brilliant. Any price drop that you make or any bundle that you include, make sure that it feels as if you’re only including because your customer convinced you to (even if you were going to include it anyway). If the customer feels like they’re the hero of the story, they’ll feel more confident in their decisions and be more likely to stick with their purchase.

2. Always be Closing

You want to use the ABCs constantly while you’re talking with a customer. But you want to do it without giving it away that you’re always closing them. If you use the same close over and over again, the customer will likely become annoyed with you. If you say, “Now, this vehicle comes with a full warranty if you’d like it. Would you like me to include that?” And the customer says yes, then you know that you can move on to the next step. “Great,” (never sounds overly excited), “Let’s move inside and I can show you some of the discounts I can apply for you.” Moving like that will give you a smooth transition from one close to the next without repeating yourself over and over again. By the end of your conversation with the customer, they should be ready to walk out of the dealership with a car loan, any pool loans, half a zoo, and feel satisfied with their purchase. Your closes should be so subtle and so smooth that your customer feels like pudding in your hands.

3. Find Common Ground

It is so important that you find common ground with your customer. If they don’t feel a connection with you, then they won’t buy from you. It can be that simple. The nice thing about selling cars is that it isn’t all cold calls. If someone walks into your dealership, they already know that they want a car. Your job is to show them which one. Since they’re not a cold call though, you’re convincing them less on the product and more of whether they like you. People are extremely unlikely to buy from people that they have nothing in common with or from people that they simply don’t like. If you want the sale, be likable, or the person is likely to move onto the next dealership. The best way to be liked is to find something that you both have in common. As you sit down to chat, or as you walk them around the dealership, small talk. Ask them where they grew up and act excited about the similarities that you find with them. Let them feel that you’re happy and excited to be talking with them.

If you use these three techniques, you will see sales and more profit from your work. People want to feel important (like a hero), they always need to be closed, and they need to feel like they have something in common with you. If you accomplish those, then you’ll soon be known as one of the best salesmen there are.

The automotive industry is a rewarding career path for people who love autos. If thinking about driving makes you excited and you like the idea of building a dream car, an automotive career may be in your future. The entire drive behind sales is getting people excited about stepping into that new vehicle. If they don't feel the need to re-experience the driving satisfaction when they visit an automotive dealership, chances are that they will keep searching. It is hard to make the sales if you are not excited about the product yourself. Although the automotive industry employs a wide range of people who wind up making it their career just for the pay and benefits, those who have a true passion for automobiles are sure to be satisfied with a lifelong career.

The Changing Face of Automotive Repair

Auto mechanics is no longer what it used to be. The types of problems that are being corrected are more often than not highly technical in nature and no more than 50% mechanics. This has led to a hurdle for automotive dealerships who are looking to keep the fleets of vehicles that they lease and sell in tip-top shape. In years past, many mechanics were grandfathered into the trade by starting out in more modest roles like pumping gas at a service station. Nowadays, the specialization of vehicles by manufacturers and computer trends of technology are limiting general repair to a handful of independent garages and commercial franchises. This means that auto manufacturers are willing to train and pay top salaries to qualified candidates who are both intelligent enough to understand the technology and athletic enough to do the physical labor.

The Advantages of Working at a Dealership

Dealerships work in high volume and offer numerous positions beyond automotive repair. All the positions require a dedication to learning professional skills because there is a lot of fast money on the line. Unlike houses that take months and months to build and just sit there for another century, vehicles are exposed to constant wear and tear. The quality customer service makes all the difference in the high-volume business model of dealerships. In order to retain skilled professionals for sales, management, repairs, and administrative roles, the dealerships have to offer competitive benefits, healthcare, salaries, and wages.

The Realities of Dealership Work

Not all car dealerships are created alike. Many dealerships find it hard to resist ordering high volumes of vehicles to maximize their capacities. This can result in lots that are impossible to manage and inefficient work that wastes a lot of skill. Choosing the right dealership to build your career is important. If you are work at a dealership with a congested parking lot, you may find that most of your day is wasted. Your real job description will be "lot jockey."

The better dealerships operate with a seamless workflow that allows employees to focus on improving their professions. The parts counter computer technicians retain experience to quickly locate and order the correct parts every time. The sales team is able to match customers with test-drive vehicles that fit perfectly. There is a large difference in the quality of career opportunities between congested big city dealerships and those who have opportunities for advancement.

Conclusion

If you are interested in management, sales, customer service, automotive repair, or reception, dealerships offer a wide range of positions. The 25 words of a great hire should demonstrate that they are passionate about automobiles and willing to go through the years of training to become professionals at what they do. Automobiles are the second largest single investment that the majority of Americans will make in their lives. Work experience at a dealership, therefore, offers a range of automotive-related job securities like no other trade. Learning how to repair vehicles is by far the most desirable because you have the benefit of transforming any vehicle into one of the best-kept cars on the roads.

Designing a website can be tricky because it has to meet the needs of visitors and update its content to rank higher on search engines. That means car dealerships should look into how they design their website backgrounds and use royalty free stocks in moderation. Below are incredible ways car dealerships can make their sites more appealing.

Emphasis Key Functions and Features with White Space

While color plays a critical role in making your car dealership website appealing, the lack of color can make a difference as well. White space allows a car dealership to focus on the essential pieces and gives the impression of professionalism and cleanliness. Just like how pool web designers use websites to demonstrate how to reduce pool cost, car dealership sites should employ white space to showcase their masterpieces.

Tone Down or Spruce Up Your CTAs

Car dealership websites no longer use flash ads that would pop up as people browse. Instead, dealerships have changed their approach and are now doing the opposite of those ads. You should make your CTAs pleasant and attractive and ensure they invite shoppers to the next step politely. Moreover, car dealerships should make sure their CTAs text style, color, and shade change when shoppers interact with them, and they should always feel good. However, car dealerships should avoid using too many CTAs so that the message reaches the targeted audience.

Be Strategic and Tasteful with the Use of Colors

While most people often overlook it, using colors strategically can drive more traffic to a website. Dealerships use a couple of thematic colors to decorate their storefronts, but often fill their sites with all sorts of colors and patterns. A curb appealing web page uses colors to enhance, emphasis, and highlight, but not to distract users or draw out content.

Get Rid of Distractive Pop-Ups

Of course, no one wants to be distracted by pop-ups as they try to search for a dream car. Poorly used pop-ups not only damage the appearance and credibility of a website but can also make a car dealership lose sales. Dealerships should, therefore, do away with any flyovers or pop-ups that distract web visitors. Social media is a powerful tool for driving traffic to a website, but too much social media feeds can cause a distraction. The worst thing that can happen to a car dealership is to lose its hard-earned traffic.

Use Simple Designs

Successful web designs embrace a simplistic approach. A few decades ago, web designers would install incredibly complex features on their website, but all that has changed. Simple web designs are on the rise, and more brands are trying to adapt to them. Gone are the days when brands would impress their web visitors with flashy-looking websites; instead, companies prioritize their products and service quality. After all, fancy graphics will only slow down a car dealership website.

Make Every Page a Landing Page

Designing every web page with the essential features is crucial. It’s not only traffic that goes to the homepage, so car dealerships should include their vital information on every page. While this may seem like a tedious task, it can be a game changer on your website appearance. Internet users want to visit web pages with essential information so that they don’t waste their money and time browsing helpless sites.

Use Stock Photos in Moderation

Of course, car dealerships sell cars that they have, so they should avoid adding imaginary vehicles to their homepage. Actual pictures of the dealership itself, employees, and vehicles can help users connect to the business. Recent research has revealed that replacing fictitious photos with real ones can help build buyer’s confidence and drive more traffic to your site.

Choose a Readable Font

Some car dealerships are still making the mistake of choosing a font for fanciness instead of readability. A website font should be readable on all screen sizes. Online shoppers searching for quick information about a car won’t bother to struggle to browse a site with fancy, unreadable font.

One of the biggest purchases that anyone will ever make is that of buying a car. Since buying a new car is such a big and important decision, the common buyer takes a variety of factors into consideration. One of the most important factors many consumers consider is when they should purchase their new car. There are a variety of times in particular during the year in which most people believe it would be better to buy a car, and dealerships can capitalize on this.

Before They Need One

Overall, most buyers believe that the worst time to purchase a car is when they are in desperate need of a new one. If their vehicle suddenly breaks down, they don’t usually want to rush out and buy a new car right away, even though they are in need of one. It’s important as a seller to encourage buyers that they should try to buy before they absolutely need to get a new one. Encouraging buyers to do their research will help you earn their trust and confidence. Hearing this, buyers will feel that they are getting a much better deal and getting the vehicle that they will enjoy the most, which will increase your customer satisfaction rates.

During the Fall

The second time of the year that is popular to buy a car is during the fall. Most major car dealerships unveil their new stock and model year in the fall. At this time, many dealerships are looking to showcase their new cars. In doing this, sellers can make a lot of sales if they are willing to mark down vehicles from the prior model year that are still on the lot. Many buyers see this as a great opportunity to buy a car that is less than a year old, for a cheaper price. For sellers, this is a great opportunity to get rid of old stock that has been around the lot for awhile and make quick sales.

The Holidays

Similar to any other type of retailer, car dealerships should try to take advantage of money that is being spent during the holiday season. When consumers start to see a silver Christmas tree in the parking lot of a car dealership, they take it as a sign that they should be shopping for a vehicle as a special gift to a loved one. National car companies are willing to offer amazing rates on vehicles during the Christmas and holiday shopping season, and your dealership should be no exception in order to stay competitive in the market during this season.

Three Day Weekends

During the year, there are many three-day weekends that promise to bring great deals to consumers that are looking for new or used cars. Some of these three-day weekends include the 4th of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. Similar to other types of companies, car dealerships are often providing amazing deals to those that buy a car. Although this is a vacation for the average american, it’s a busy work day for salesman and a great opportunity to make a lot of sales by offering great deals to consumers.

End of Month and Quarter

Another time of the year that can be great to buy a new car is at the end of a month or a fiscal quarter. It is widely known that most or even all car salesman have sales goals that they need to reach. In most cases, these sales goals are set on a monthly or quarterly basis. Many consumers believe that because of this, those salesman that have not yet reached their sales goals will be motivated to make a sale any way that they can. In many situations, customers believe that they are going to be offered a great deal in order for the salesman to close in on the purchase. This time can be a great opportunity to capitalize on a higher quantity of sales.

Auto Shows

Depending on where your dealership is, you could have a major auto show in your city. These events are usually used as a way to market and advertise, and dealers can also use this as a chance to make sales. Many consumers that come to these shows are already interested in purchasing, so this is a great time to make sales. These buyers usually come ready to negotiate fiercely, however, so dealers should also be prepared as much as possible on their end.

Providing small negotiations with your buyers can go a long way for them when it comes to making the final purchase. Dealerships can do more than great prices for their consumers. Sellers should try offering maintenance packages, warranties, upgrades, and other benefits if it means a good sale. The perfect combination of factors could be exactly what pushes the consumer to make the big purchase with your dealership instead of a competitors.

This article is part 2 of a 2-part series highlighting the struggles of hiring employees at a car dealership. This article will focus on how to find new potential hires for a car dealership. The previous article focused on the differences between hiring employees at a car dealership compared to hiring at any other business.

______________________________________________________________________

If you are looking to hire more people for your car dealership, it can be quite a hassle. After all, you want to find the right candidates. That way, you can ensure they are a great fit and will support your mission. So to help you fill your spots with the best candidates available, use the following tips:

Determine Your Needs

The first place to start when deciding on any new hires is what your needs are at this moment. If you need more service department employees, sales employees, or management personnel, then your approach is going to vary.

Sit down and map out where you want to be in a year's time. This will help you determine the kind of people and skill sets you need to hire for. That way, the decision will be easier when you find the right person.

Use Social Media

Long gone are the days where you had to wait for the right person to come walking into your door. Today, you can reach a larger market just by advertising online. Using social media can work two ways.

The first way is the push approach. You can put out branding, stories, and other content. This makes you more visible. You could get some great recruits passively from this. The other way is to search social media for profiles who mention they are working or looking for work in your industry and reach out to them personally.

Recruit in Person

Going to events or other in-person meetups is a great way to find new talent. There is something special about face to face relationships. You can get to know them better in a shorter period of time, which could cut down on the time wasted to try to find the right new hires.

Use Your Current Employees

Encourage your current employees to reach out to their social circle about job opportunities. If they are star employees, then they are more likely to bring even better people in to add to your team. Consider offering a finder's fee to make it more enticing.

Use Personality Tests

Everyone has a unique personality. It is hard to know what theirs is without testing it in some way. There are many digital personality tests that you can have them take before hiring them. That way, you know they are the right kind of person for that role.

Use a Professional Service

While the above methods can work, sometimes you just don't have the time. And in a dealership, time is of the essence. When you outsource the hiring function to a professional service, you are freeing yourself up to focus on what you truly are great at. Plus, you can spend more time on higher level strategy in your business.

Using corporate outplacement services in United States is a great way to get an edge on the competition. Not only do they save you time, but they are skilled in finding the right people because they do it every day.

When searching for the best hires for your car dealership, it can be difficult. However, it doesn't have to be. When you use the right approach, you can save time and money while finding the perfect fit. So leverage the resources above and hire new employees that fit your brand.

This article is part 1 of a 2-part series highlighting the struggles of hiring employees at a car dealership. This article will focus on the differences between hiring employees at a car dealership compared to hiring at any other business. The second article in this series (found in my list of published blogs) will highlight how to find new potential hires for a car dealership.

______________________________________________________________________

If you are in charge of hiring at your dealership, then you have a lot on your plate. However, it doesn't have to be hard. If you understand the key ways in which hiring is different at a car dealership then you can adopt the right tools and strategies to be more successful. That way you new hires are a perfect fit for your company.

Attitude

The first thing about the car dealership industry is that you have to hire for people with the best attitudes around. Attitude is the number one factor in a great salesperson and if they don't have it, they are not going to contribute to your company.

To find people with the right attitude for your business, you need to be able to see how they react to certain situations. In addition, the kinds of words they use and thoughts they have will show you if they have a negative attitude or positive attitude. Customers want a positive experience when they are buying a car, so make sure each new hire passes this test.

Experience

When it comes to car dealerships, experience is always a plus. If you have someone who has been selling cars for years it is going to be an advantage much of the time. However, what is unique is that sometimes someone with no experience is actually a plus.

If a candidate is coming in with the motivation to learn a new skill this can be a great way to boost your company. They will work harder and longer than others. It also means that they have not built bad habits yet from other places that might not have the same high standards that your dealership has.

Organization Skills

When it comes to cars, there is a lot of information to keep track of. You need people with great organizational skills. This way, they know which make, model, and year the cars are and how to present them to your customers in the best way possible.

People Skills

Even if the people you are hiring at your dealership are not going to be talking with customers that much, they need great people skills. Everyone that the customer comes into contact with will leave an impression in their minds. So the service departments needs great customer service skills just like any other department in the store.

Entitlement

You can't afford people who are entitled in the car business. There is too much competition and the margins are too thin. You need people that understand how their job is evaluated. Performance based mindsets are valuable in an industry with so much at stake everyday. It helps you keep your team in check, even if they don't feel like it on that particular day.

Technology

Using technology is the way to set yourself apart in the hiring process. From fielding applicants online, to using applicant tracking systems, to finding them on social media, it will give you a huge edge. However, be sure not to go overboard. You are not always going to find that next hire online. Sometimes, you need to roll your sleeves up and go looking for them out in the real world.

Leadership

At a car dealership, the hiring process doesn't stop once you bring someone on board with a salary. It is always ongoing. You need to have solid leadership to train your new hires in the right strategies and approaches. That way they continue to produce for you right away and well after.

When it comes to hiring at a car dealership, it is one of the more stressful positions. After all, you need candidates that are hard working, great with people, and know how to sell. If you use the tips above then you can get the best people in the door and build your brand even bigger than it is now. That way your position and your company are secure for the long term.