At a recent conference I attended, the topic of hiring younger more diversified talent came up. Dealers constantly need to hire new salespeople to meet the demand of strong sales growth and constant employee turnover. Turnover has always been an issue for car dealerships, let’s face it the hours are a big reason for this turnover. Dealers have done a pretty good job of being brought kicking and screaming into the new age of the internet and social media however many are still stuck on their 60 hour weeks for their salespeople.  Why is that???

For some it’s the age old “We have always done it that way” mentality and we all know what that defines!! For others it’s the fear of adding salespeople, having to train them and the added overhead of insurance and taxes. Can you really afford not to change with the times? You need a diverse sales staff of all genders, races, ages & backgrounds! Yes, you even need those dreaded Millennials, but why do you need them? You know all that technology you have started to use but have not fully committed to? Guess what. They know how to use it!!!

So how do you attract this diverse mix of salespeople? You need to get creative with your hours! Add enough staff so you can create several teams and try to keep their hours to 40-45 hours per week! It is really quite easy to do! Depending on the size of your store you may even need 3 teams! Personally I like 5-7 person teams that are scheduled so they overlap during busy times so you have plenty of coverage. You also assign a Sales Manager and an F&I Manager as part of those teams (you will attract the super stars with this schedule) and appoint one of the salespeople on the team as the team leader. This person will still sell, but will also help close deals, coach and train new salespeople. For doing this there will be a little extra bonus each month.

Setting up the schedule will be trial and error at first. Goals to aim for are:

• If you have 3 teams,  2 teams will get a day off, early night out and late morning in during the week and 1 team will get off at noon on Friday and have the weekend off!
• Schedule rotation each week so each team gets one weekend per month off
• All teams work the last weekend of the month. This pushes the most coverage where it is needed the most!

I know what you are thinking, give salespeople and managers a weekend off, what the heck are we talking about here??? Why not?? If you want to attract and retain great employees who represent your brand in a positive light in the community you need them to want to be there!

I am betting you will actually see better sales results with this type of set up. You have added salespeople which should increase sales for you. You have a happier staff because they are  not working 60 hours a week! Your managers will be more refreshed and sharp when working deals and talking with the lender!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this set up!