Car dealerships have a vast amount of assets spread over a large area. This can create an enormous security challenge. Depending on the location and design, criminals have many ways to access and exit the lot. Below are some tips to help protect your dealership from crime.

Positioning of Cars

It is important to position cars in a manner to prevent easy movement or towing. Park vehicles to block driving lanes, entry and exit points. The cars should also have the wheels turned and emergency brakes set. The most valuable cars should be parked in the middle of the lot or on the showroom floor. The key here is to make stealing the vehicles as difficult as possible as a deterrent. Most thieves prefer easy targets to decrease the chance of being caught.

Well-Lit Premises

Proper lighting is an excellent and cost effective way to deter criminals. Thieves prefer to do their work in the cover of darkness to avoid being seen. Good lighting also can improve surveillance video footage. Also, witnesses can get a better view of the perpetrators with proper lighting.

Vehicle Alarms

If the vehicle has an alarm, it should be set. This will be an additional obstacle that thieves would have to overcome. If the vehicle does not have an alarm system, it may be worth the investment to purchase one. This can also add value to the vehicle when it is sold. Also, insurance companies typically give discounts for cars with alarms.

Surveillance System

Installing an outdoor camera system can be an excellent deterrent in preventing theft. Thieves will be less likely to take the risk of being caught on camera. The cameras should be positioned to see the entire lot. The cameras should also be capable of producing quality images at night and inclement weather. If a crime does occur, the video could help law enforcement catch the perpetrators.

Security Patrol

Hiring a security company probably is the best way to prevent theft. Most criminals will not attempt to compromise a dealership if a guard is watching the premises. A security officer can immediately investigate suspicious activity and alert law enforcement if necessary. This is probably the most costly option, but could be well worth the investment.

Controlled Gate Access

Gated access control can prevent vehicles from entering or exiting the lot without proper access. Gates would prevent thieves from driving cars off the lot, or driving vehicles such as tow trucks onto the lot. The gate can also be equipped with an alarm in case criminals decide to climb over the gate. This would immediately alert the police or the dealership of the breech.

Properly Screen Employees and Contractors

Sometimes the biggest threats to a dealership are insider threats. Who better to steal from a lot than employees or contractors. Employees have access to the vehicles and important information. They can either use this to their own advantage or pass it along to friends, family or associates. They also know the type security the dealership has and how to possibly defeat it. Contractors who work on the lot such as groundskeepers, electricians, HVAC, and other trades could gain important information while performing their job. It is important to do proper background checks on all employees. This is not possible with contractors, but only hire reputable firms that do proper background checks on their employees. Also, keep a close eye on contractors and keep them restricted to the areas where they are performing the work.

In closing, there are numerous threats to your dealership. Many of these threats can be minimized by following the tips above.

Searching for new hires is an inevitable part of running a business, especially if it’s growing quickly, and especially when it’s a car dealership. When this time comes, it is beneficial for you as an employer to ponder about why people would want to work at your dealership. The most important question you want to ask yourself is, “what can I offer to my employees so they will want to stay for years to come?”

When you first start hiring employees, strategic action for retention needs to be taken in order to keep them productive and focused on the work. There are variety of ways that it will benefit you in the long run. These include:

• - Continually attracting high-quality employees

• - Low turnover rates (and related costs that come with high turnover rates)

• - Trust between employees and senior management

• More efficient workers

In order to maintain these benefits, you want to develop an employee benefits plan that will make your dealership attractive to applicants. Some of the most important parts of this plan include options that will ensure job satisfaction and employee engagement.

Invest In Your Employee’s Professional Development

Investing in developing a strong workforce will help you and your employees by giving them more of a reason to stay and grow with the company, as well as giving you the opportunity to educate your employees in order to promote them to higher positions in the company. This can also free up positions to be filled by new employees, this continuing the cycle that ultimately gives you the opportunity to keep hiring and retaining new employees for your company.

In order to see a high return on investment from putting money towards your employee’s professional development, you must make smart decisions so that it will be worth your while. You can do this though having your most senior level employees train those with less experience (while giving the senior level employees incentives for giving up their time), or give your employees the opportunity to be open and honest about what types of programs your company can pay for their professional development.

Give Your Employees Small Perks to Show You Care

Your employees give 40 hours (or more) of their week to your business, and if they are doing a great job, then the least you can do is show how grateful you are. This can be shown in creative ways such as office-wide contests that provide friendly competition and fun prizes. In addition, perks can include taking an employee out to lunch for their birthday, offering Fridays off during the summer, or providing breakfast in the mornings. Little things like this can be helpful in employee retention, and overall employee morale.

At the end of the day, the best way of retaining employees in your business is showing them that you care, in addition to making the realization that they are more like your family than your employees. Once this shift in thinking happens, you’ll have smarter ideas to make your employees happy, as well as building a more successful company. Keeping communication open and transparent in your company is another benefit to employee retention as well. If your employees feel that they can talk to you, they will more likely stay at your company and be more productive.  

All those brand new and certified used cars sitting on a lot practically sell themselves. The great looks and features do help move a car slightly. If the cars were capable of entirely selling themselves, however, no dealership would employ any salespersons. If you landed the job as a car salesperson, be prepared to do what is necessary to collect those commissions.

"Selling cars" is a simplified description regarding doing what is necessary. A good salesperson possesses a range of different skills capable of closing deals. Here's a look at a few top sales traits.

Work on Becoming a Better Communicator

While you may speak fine at home with friends and family, your professional vocal skills might be lacking. Speaking for sales purposes requires a useful set of skills. Every syllable must be understood. Delivery must come with enthusiasm. An overall positive nature shouldn't be missing from any wording. Impacting and persuasive speech contribute to sales success. So, anyone hoping for moving models off a lot should spend time working on developing his/her speaking abilities.

A great communicator isn't just a great talker though. Talking all the time doesn't exactly lead to determining the customer's needs. Salespersons who follow a script as a way to cheat learning communications skills, in particular, spend too much time talking. Work on becoming a smart listener who picks up on the customer's concerns. This way, you may find it easier to guide the customer to the car he/she would be happiest. Also, active listening allows a salesperson to figure out what customers aren't all that serious. Why waste time on these individuals?

Highlight Lesser-Known Benefits

Specific cars come with unique attributes not everyone readily knows. A vehicle known for handling well on wet roads may appeal significantly to someone constantly dealing with inclement conditions. If a top car accident attorney singled out a particular model for safety features, passing on the unofficial endorsement to a potential buyer might be a good idea. The average customer might not be entirely familiar with the benefits of a particular vehicle. A savvy salesperson knows to tip a would-be buyer off about all positive traits. Doing so makes it more likely to sell cars, which is the prime purpose for being a salesperson in the first place.

Embody Perfect Body Language

How you speak should be congruent with the way you move. Posture and mannerisms contribute to strong sales skills. If your body language doesn't back up all the positive things you say, your words won't carry credibility. You run the risk of coming off as scripted. Customers feel a little wary about scripted pitches. Such pitches don't appear natural nor convincing. To cut down on these problems, work on developing the right posture, facial expressions, and movements. Your physical presence should stress believability and confidence in a fluid way.

Watching impressive colleagues on the dealership lot can be an excellent way to pick up on decent body language. A word to the wise - don't limit yourself to fellow sales professionals. Try to pick up on profound body language skills from any source. Entertainers can be a great source of inspiration. So can politicians. Look closely at how they utilize mannerisms to get their intentions across.

Work on How to Close

Selling a car means someone pays for the vehicle and drive it off the lot. Talking with potential customers, highlighting the benefits of the vehicle, and handing out literature can support an eventual sale. The steps don't add up to much when the would-be customer never buys. Anyone involved with sales as a profession must learn how to close a deal.

Closing involves bringing together a multitude of skills to convince the would-be buyer he/she is making the right decision. Naturally, you can't close every potential sale, but you can increase the number of closings by making a strong commitment to improvement. Look at what you did right with successful closes. Analyze situations that didn't end in a sale. Shore up your strengths and work on improving on weak areas.

The perfect job is different for everyone. Some people would like a shorter commute, others think they could do with a raise or better benefits. However, one of the places businesses really seem to lack on meeting their employee's needs is by investing in furthering their growth. Programs that implement leadership or development training might seem old-fashioned, but it gives the workers a way to learn new things outside of the office that might actually help the office. And it works on all sorts of levels, regardless of the type of training.

Practice Makes Perfect, But So Does Good Training

From software training all the way to leadership training, there are many different kinds of programs that managers and bosses can implement to make sure their employees are doing their best. Many businesses pride themselves on their training initiatives. There are also options to utilizing these programs, including weekend seminars, conferences, on the job training, crash courses, or classes at a nearby university. Each of these have their pros and cons, but the important part is that there are numerous programs designed to work around your schedule, you just have to know how to utilize them.

Win Win Win Situation

It might seem like this kind of investment in employees isn't really worth it, but studies show that this is far from the case. And the benefits for both you and your employees will make it all worthwhile. Studies have shown that by training your employees regularly, it encourages them to work harder and be more engaged in the workplace. Not only that, but it makes them more prepared to implement the skills they've learned to benefitting your workplace. And the skills don't have to be directly relevant to one specific faction of the company.

Quality sales training initiatives can provide a lot of information that other parts of the office could benefit from knowing, such as a supervisor. By having that knowledge under their belt, they may be able to assist a salesman who isn't performing his best. Or if a member of the IT department is learning a new type of software, it might be helpful to have someone from human resources or another department if that software might have an effect on them and their workload. This relevance to their job will also make them more likely to retain the information. And if it turns out later that this specific software has to be taught to the rest of the office, it would be worthwhile to have someone who knows about it and is less likely to use confusing jargon that the rest of the office might not understand. Plus, they're gaining important leadership skills by teaching others about something. It increases their own understanding and gives them experience they may not be used to having, all because of one training initiative.

Benefits of Cross-Training

Providing training like this also allows the office to become more close-knit and understanding of one another's departments and the work they're responsible for regularly. And it allows the manager or person implementing the training to gain knowledge about the workers and what kind of learning strategies work for them. This will make it easier to use better strategies to make sure that everyone grows at a rate that works best for them. And that will keep them open to the idea of development and learning new things while allowing them to learn as easily as their peers.

Concluding Thoughts

Regardless of the training that they receive from you, your employees will remember that you wanted to invest in them and their wellbeing as well as their personal growth. That shows that you care about their professional career in the long run and you want them to succeed. This is the kind of attitude you want to show your employees, as it will make them more appreciative and want to work harder in return. And if nothing else, that's a pretty good pay-off for your investment.

Rather than a genetic predisposition or birth talent, one learns sales talent. That means managers who lament that their sales team doesn’t make the numbers they need to simply have not trained them to do so. This comes as great news to every business that relies on sales of some type, and wait - that means every business. To train your sales team, you first need to determine the school of thought or mindset used by your sales manager.

Common Complaints of Sales Managers

Certainly, sales talent exists. Hopefully, your human resources department hires well. Don’t despair if they didn’t or if you’re a startup who hired new graduates. When your sales manager does complain that the team doesn’t have the talent to make the target numbers, ask why to determine their mindset. How you tackle the problem and develop your sales training program depends on their mindset, as team leader.

• Sales managers who see talent as a static metric based on the natural talent of incoming and existing hires require education themselves to the effect that sales success is learned.

• Sales managers who see talent as a metric within their control based on working with and mentoring the incoming and existing hires require direct support from you to develop a sales training program.

Here’s how to tell which mindset your sales manager has. Those who see talent as a static metric blame low numbers on a non-competitive compensation program; HR policies that don’t allow necessary hiring and firing; talent loss to a competitor; HR recruiting errors. Managers who see talent as a metric within their control blame low numbers on a young, growing team; onboarding and training programs that lack in multiple areas; lack of customer value. To succeed in sales, you need to turn your static metric sales manager into a developmental manager, then develop a successful sales training program. If you’ve already got a developmental manager, you can jump right into developing your training program.

How to Develop Your Sales Team

Determine what your sales program and sales people need. This starts with building a persona of the ideal sales representative. Create a list of the key skills and traits of a successful sales representative. Next, interview each of your sales people to assess their experience and skill in each of the success traits. This identifies your areas of improvement.

These areas of improvement determine the basis of your development plan. For each area of development create action items with deadlines for each. Developing a sales training plan provides the business equivalent of a medical qigong program for general wellness. You have a professional develop the program then guide the sales people through it.

This guidance is your program execution. You may determine that the team needs sales classes or that each individual needs one-on-one training or both.

Provide feedback and watch how each sales person accepts and implements that feedback. Those who ignore their development plan or reject improvement input should be let go.

Publicly recognize talent improvements. Update each person’s strengths and weaknesses. Re-develop your sales development plan. As your team updates its talents, you must update the records of them and their skills to develop.

Best Practices

Organizing and continually updating this sales personnel information accomplishes one of the key best practices of any sales organization. Your metrics should reference how much the employee sells, how much they should be selling and at which appropriate sales techniques and behaviors they currently excel and which need improvement.

Another best practice consists of the periodic update of the sales skill assessments and re-honing of individual coaching and training. Creating a program that identifies sales potential and helps develop it doesn’t just bring improved sales numbers. It creates team improvements that develop better employees who value your organization and want to remain with it.

If you have low sales numbers, you don’t need to scrap your team and start over. You do need to train your team to learn how to sell. You can improve their skills and your sales numbers by investing time and effort into developing each individual’s sales potential.

Technology is the force that drives the development of modern society. Things that were not possible to do before were made common because of advancing technology. Take the Honda Civic 2016 as an example. It has introduced many innovative elements that were not seen in cars before. But now these car elements are commonly seen in most affordable cars. Car innovations have not stopped so here are some of the things that we may expect in the car designs of the future.

More Car Innovations

More and more car manufacturers will think of innovative technologies, not just in autonomous tech, but in other car tech as well. For example, we could expect future cars to have seating positions that can be revised where passengers can turn their seats around to be able to talk with each other face to face.

Manufacturers will also build cars with multiple displays even using the car doors for this purpose. This will induce more interaction with everything and everyone such as streaming online content and conducting social media activities, hands-free. There are also some projections that steering wheels will be experimented on with regards to what they do while the autonomous system is driving the car, and how the control can be safely returned to the driver if needed.

Autonomous Cars Are Going Up The Next Level

The driverless car has already gone up a notch. There is already a vehicle built that is capable of operating on “Level Three Autonomy” and it is now on sale. It was built by Audi which named it as Audi A8. However, in many regions of the world, its autonomous powers are deactivated because there are still no legislations that will regulate their use. But as the world gets ready for such technologies, the situation for these types of cars will vastly improve.

The speed by which technology will spur development of new autonomous car designs will only get faster. We can expect the future to see humans interacting with these emerging autonomous technologies. There will be cars that can message their environment while they are running on the streets. They can warn pedestrians or other road users of their presence or they can reverse the position of the front seats so that the passengers can face one another as the car is speeding ahead.

Electric Cars Will Go Mainstream

Electric cars will become featured products in glossy brochures of car companies instead of just the special cars that they were before. Take the example of the Mercedes EQ Concept and Volkswagen I.D. The Mercedes SUV will have overhangs that are shorter at both its rear and front ends. This design trend is reflecting the emergence of simple surfacing in the car’s flanks and no additional fussy spoilers or creases.

Meanwhile, the Volkswagen I.D. is nearly the size of the VW Golf but has a much larger interior. This is due to a change in the chassis design which took advantage of the free space that was vacated by the combustion engine. This car is has the same cabin space of the Passat saloon which is much larger. It appears that this design trend is increasingly becoming common.

Both the Mercedes SUV and the Volkswagen I.D. are very similar to their concept cars that introduced them. Considering all of the innovative features of these two car models, it is therefore understandable that those who have seen them are of the firm belief that they will give the Tesla Model 3 of Elon Musk a run for its money.

Car Displays Will Be More Dynamic

Car cabins are not exempt from disruptive technologies. Manufacturers are now spending time and effort to increase the degree of display functionalities by using fewer switches and installing more touchscreens. There will be many instances where car makers will ditch physical instruments and gauges in favor of high resolution displays.

Not many cars have these features at present. However, if it becomes popular, more and more carmakers will be forced to join the dynamic display bandwagon. This technology was already showcased by a modified Maserati at the last Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show when it displayed an amazing multi-screen display arrangement inside its cabin.

Joe strolls into the home insurance office where he works as a salesman. It is early in the morning, and he has a cup of coffee in his hand. He feels energized and ready to make some sales.

He opens up his email and starts responding to a customers question when all of a sudden the sound of the doorbell catches his attention. He looks up, a smile on his face, and greets the customer. The customer appears to be in a hurry and stressed. A few drops of sweat slide down the customer's face as he approaches Joe's desk.

Before Joe has the opportunity to open his mouth and speak, the customer erupts into an angry tirade claiming that he never agreed to the new home insurance quotes and he needs to be issued a refund.

Without losing his cool Joe tries to calm down the angry customer. He pulls up the customer's insurance account and politely tries to explain why the rates have changed. After repeating himself several times and the customer's volume only getting louder, Joe raises his voice and tells the customer nothing can be done to refund him. The customer immediately gives Joe a death stare and storms out of the building. The customer announces to the room that he will never do business with the insurance company ever again, and he will never recommend their services to his friends and family. The manager then abruptly walks out of his office with a puzzled look on his face after hearing all the commotion in the lobby and sits next to Joe in an attempt to figure out what went wrong with the customer.

How could Joe have handled the situation differently? Should he have called the manager right away? How could Joe have better helped the angry customer?

Many of us have worked a job that requires us to interact with the public on a daily basis, and its never easy. Our patience is constantly tested. But if you know what to say, when to say it, you may be better able to calm an unhappy customer.

Check out these tips to adjust your mindset so that you are always giving a work situation your undivided attention.

1) View the problem from another person's perspective

When a work situation gets heated, take a step back, breathe, and try to understand why a customer might be mad. Step into their shoes for a second. Is there a valid reason for their outburst of anger?

Tuck away feelings of this is unfair, I don't get paid enough to handle this, or the customer is giving me unfair criticism.

2) Listen first, ask questions later

Humans have two ears and one mouth for a reason. A salesperson must be an active listener at all times. Listen to what the client has to say before you make any unnecessary judgments. Sometimes the client just wants to be heard. They could provide important feedback about an internal work problem occurring within the chain of command that you were previously unaware was happening. Do not start planning out how you are going to respond while the customer is still talking.

3) Repeat the customer's concerns

Once the customer has finished their rant, repeat their concerns as you are answering their questions to ensure that you are addressing the right problem. It is okay to ask the customer questions to make sure you understood them correctly. They will appreciate it. Start your response sentences with, "correct me if I am wrong..., "If I heard you correctly..., From what I heard, you are....

4) Maintain good eye contact and body posture

When a customer is speaking to you, look them directly in the eye. Respond with head movements to show that you are actively listening to what they have to say. Sit up straight and do not slouch.

It’s never easy to keep your wits about you on a stressful work day, but as a car dealer, it’s something you have to do. Your job involves talking to people, which means you can’t get overwhelmed and brain fogged, and you definitely can’t get in a bad mood. At the same time, you’re only human. Stress has an effect on the strongest among us, and that means you need relaxation techniques to help ensure you’re balanced and energetic while talking to customers at work.

1. Calming Exercises

Pretty much any form of physical activity is going to have a stress-relieving effect. However, certain things, such as yoga and qigong, can really help you relax and get focused on the positive. When you’re overwhelmed with stress, energy blockages begin to form in the body. These practices have been done for thousands of years for a reason. They really work!

If you’re not up for learning an ancient art, taking a walk is another simple activity that can make you feel better. A study from Princeton University found that simple physical activities like going for a walk can help the brain respond better to stress. The treadmill is an option, but if the weather allows, try going for a walk outside. Being in the fresh air and sunlight can really turn a bad mood around.

2. Meditation and Deep Breathing

This likely isn’t the first time you’ve heard about the benefits of meditation. If you’re facing a stressful time at work, this is a good opportunity to test it out. You don’t need to be perfect, and it’s okay if your mind wanders during the meditation. The point is to focus on your breathing and relax yourself. If it helps, you can find a guided meditation online.

3. Set Reasonable Expectations

Most people in America are trying to do too much. It’s important to realize that attempting to cram as much work into the day as possible will often limit your productivity. If you’re facing a difficult time at work, try not to schedule too many other activities and errands within that time frame. Allow yourself time to rest and relax and home, and handle the other stuff later.

4. Decide on Your Goals the Night Before

If you do have things you need to handle outside of work, list them out at night before you begin to wind down for bed. No one likes to figure things out while groggy in the morning, and having your plan for the day decided in advance will help you feel less stressed out.

5. Eat and Drink Healthy

Some people tend to overeat when stressed, which leads to feeling bloated and sluggish. If you know you have an important day at work, start the day with a healthy breakfast and plan a nutritious lunch as well. Avoid the temptation to overload yourself with coffee or drink too much alcohol in the evenings, tempting as it might be. Too much coffee can make you jittery, and too much alcohol will leave you dehydrated and unable to be at your best with your customers.

The most important thing to remember is that you are capable. If you need to sell a certain number of cars to meet an expectation or financial requirement at work, you can do it! You just have to believe in yourself and know that it’s possible. You chose this line of work for a reason. The skills that are needed already belong to you. If you take care of yourself and practice an anti-stress lifestyle, you’ll be sure to do your absolute best.

When you lose a customer, it can cost you big time. Some business insiders suggest that it costs five to ten times as much to gain a new client or customer as it does just to keep the ones you already have happy. Any kind of customer service mishap has the potential to lose you that customer.

If you’re facing a situation, where you’re about to lose an important client or customer, you’ll want to try the following steps to see if you can retain him/ her. In doing so, you’ll save yourself a ton of money and you might even have a more loyal customer to boot.

1. Keep It Simple

Groove HQ recommends that managers follow the Disney model for customer retention. It’s a simple acronym: H.E.A.R.D. It stands for hear, empathize, apologize, resolve, and diagnose. Any apology that doesn’t include these elements will ring hollow to an angry client.

When you’re dealing with a customer who is angry, it’s important that you listen to him or her and feel a measure of empathy for his/ her plight. It’s additionally important that when you apologize that you resolve the customer’s issue. The resolution may include giving the person his/ her money back or offering some sort of discount on products or services.

Finally, you need to diagnose the problem. Be sure to understand what contributed to it happening so that you can take steps so that it doesn’t happen again.

2. Take a Cue From Top Brands

But Disney isn’t the only company doing customer satisfaction the right way. According to USA Today, despite being a mass market car producer, Toyota company, maker of vehicles like Toyota Tundra and Toyota Prius, outranked Lexus and Mercedes-Benz in customer satisfaction.

Toyota accomplished this, in part, due to its attention to dependability and customer satisfaction.

Don’t be deceived into thinking that the dependability factor only applies to cars in this instance. An article on Mashable suggests that dependability is the most important aspect of customer service.

When it comes to pleasing a dissatisfied customer, your company needs to have a reputation of being dependable in this respect. People want to know that you’re going right the wrong so to speak, because you’ve made yourself accountable to them.

In this case, it’s not as if Toyota has never screwed up. The company has had its far share of mishaps and voluntary recalls. But that’s the point. The company has been dependable in it commitment to making safe cars, which in turn, helps it find favor among consumers.

If you’re looking for companies to emulate, Toyota and Disney (and other companies with similar customer satisfaction levels) are a good place to start.

3. Be Sure to Follow Up

After a bad customer encounter, you should follow up in the months following the incident. As the Groove HQ article points out, often a nearly lost customer who has been won over becomes more loyal than he/ she was to begin with.

To do this, Entrepreneur recommends that you keep post-issue follow up low key. Your initial attempts to make things right with your customer may not result in the ending you had hope for. That is to say, you may not get a big project from this client right away. However, you may be able to win some smaller projects.

It’s okay in the aftermath of an issue to send postcards or coupons to keep yourself on your client’s radar, without becoming overbearing. This lets the client know that you are making the attempt at making things right, without actually asking him/ her for anything.

Conclusion

Losing a big customer can be devastating to a business. Most business owners understand that it costs more to get a new customer than to retain the ones it already has.

Unfortunately, an angry customer can be a lost customer, unless the situation is handled correctly. Start with a simple apology and attempts to resolve the situation. If you’re not sure how to approach this aspect of customer service, look to companies that are doing it right.

Finally, in the months following the incident, use some low-key follow-up measures to get your customer back in your good graces, without being overbearing.

As a business owner, there is a lot you have to worry about. This includes creating a high quality product that keeps customers satisfied. It can include working with suppliers, vendors and other business partners. It also means managing your employees. Businesses invest a lot into employees. Companies with less than 500 employees spend $1,888 on average to train and develop a single employee.

However, sometimes all this money and effort spent on employees is flushed right down the toilet. This occurs when an employee unexpectedly quits their job. Turnover is a huge problem for almost every industry. It forces companies to spend much more on recruitment and training than they would otherwise. Thankfully, there are strategies for lowering turnover that you can implement in your company. Below are a few.

Get Better at Hiring

One way to lower turnover is to stop hiring people who will quit or eventually be fired from their jobs. Recruitment can itself be expensive. Recruitment costs for a single employee can total $4,000. However, being more selective with your choices doesn’t mean you have to spend more money. Conducting interviews on your own can help you to only select people that are credible, competent and won’t flake out on you. Overall, hiring is a skill that must be refined overtime. Try to get better at it.

Offer Paths for Advancement

One reason many employees leave a job is because they believe there is no path for advancement. You can’t really blame people for doing so either. Everyone wants to better their selves through a long term career. 70 percent of employees at risk of not being retained say they would quit a job to advance their career.

If you want to slash turnover, you need to supply employees with clear paths for advancement up the company ladder. You won’t be able to run all aspects of your business forever. Don’t be afraid to delegate responsibility to managers and middle managers. Developing your employees in this fashion is also important if you ever plan to expand your business in the future. Current employees could be the mangers of new locations in the future.

Incentivize Employees

Another strategy for retaining your talent for the long term is to create an employee incentive program. There are many different things that can be included in such a program. It can include vacation time and paid time off. It can include a car pool program to help employees save money on commuting to work.

For employees that want to further their education for the benefit of the company, you could reimburse a portion of their tuition. You could even use a points system similar to those available from airlines or fast food companies that awards points for good work that can later be redeemed for things like gift cards. There are almost limitless options. Overall, these kinds of programs provide perks and benefits that may make employees think twice about leaving the company.

Provide Encouragement and Recognition

Another reason why employees eventually leave a company can be as simple as not receiving the recognition they think they deserve. You need to make sure employees receive direct feedback on their efforts. This can include criticism, but it should also include positive feedback as well.

Make sure employees receive recognition for work well done. Even taking the step of choosing an employee of the month can help employees receive the recognition they need to stick with your company. No one likes to be ignored. This includes being ignored by your employer for all the effort you put into your work every day.

Employee retention is something all employers must strive for. It is required to keep costs under control and to ensure that you retain the talent you need for your company to succeed for the long term. Make sure you’re doing what you can to lower turnover in your company.