Stan Sher of Dealer eTraining Tells Stories Of Coming Up In The Automobile Industry!

Starting a career in auto sales at 20 years old and coming up over a 19-year career. He talks about getting hired, training, and selling the first few cars to get hooked with this career. Stan sold two cars on his first day after training.

There is a lot of talk going on about car dealership turnover. It seems that everyone has an opinion about it but not a whole lot of solutions. I am going to do some "REAL TALK" in this post because it is time that the sugar coating stops. I have spent a great deal of time between consulting dealers and working for dealers on a case by case basis over the last six years after spending eight full years in retail sales and management positions. It is no secret that turnover has been an issue for ages in dealerships but only has become a HUGE topic of discussion in recent times.

So, what's the problem?

1. Management (or Lack of Proper Management): Managers get put into managerial positions without understanding the concept of what management is. I have noticed people get put into management positions that are willing to hold the title for half of what a good manager should be earning. Dealers need to have mandatory management training for managers that are being promoted and managers that are being hired into the organization. 

2. Poor Recruiting / Interviewing Skills: In order for any business to be effective there needs to be an appropriate process for recruiting. This includes asking a specific set of questions, testing and evaluating a candidate's personality, giving everyone a fair chance to interview that applies so that a proper hiring decision is made and most importantly, setting proper expectations from the very beginning.

3. Training (or Lack of Training): It is very sad that dealers will hire new employees or start a new department (like a BDC) without investing some time and money into training people the right way to do the job. Why do we hire sales people and throw them out on the sales floor to figure it out for themselves? This is because the "lack of proper management" does not consider it their duty to build a strong team for themselves. Is it pure ignorance or is it the fear that training costs too much money? Dealers, I got news for you! Every time a traditional company hires someone for a position they always train the new hires on everything from company policy to how to do the job properly. Why are we not doing this? Do you think that a training problem can help retain and grow good employees? Training does not have to be expensive but it needs to be effective. 

4. Poor Work Environment: This goes back to "Lack of Proper Management" because that is the only way that a work environment can be poor. There are managers that bully or belittle their sales people. There are dealer principals that love to make employees feel scared that they might lose their job by constant warnings or threats. I have seen dealers interview managers behind their current managers back just to test the waters and sometimes make a rapid change with hopes that they will soon sell more cars. 9 our 10 times that miracle never happens. A poor work environment is generally the product of all of the aspects of turnover that I am discussing in this article. 

5. Pay Plans: Stop trying to cut corners and save a couple bucks. Let your people come to work, train them, motivate them, help them, mold them, PAY them fairly for their performance. Keep the pay plan consistent. Everyone should have the same pay plan and opportunity to earn a decent living as long as they perform. Do not cut pay plans, as it does not add to your bottom line. It does hurt your business in the long run.

6. Scheduling: Give people a fair work life balance. Stop operating slave shops. I noticed that there are huge dealers in Michigan that are open shorter hours than most of us and still they do huge numbers. I personally think dealers should close at 8:00 pm during the week, 7:00 pm on Fridays and no later than 6:00 pm on Saturdays. Sunday’s all dealers should be closed. Great employees enjoy coming to work, produce and make you a lot of money when you give them a chance to breathe.

7: Lack of Patience: Stop panicking every 30 days! Start thinking about your whole year in general. There will be record months and sometimes there will be slower months. We have all seen it. It is the circle of life. We need to keep the momentum going by making sure that we doing everything we can in order to be profitable and maintain a great staff. The people that you employ are the backbone of the business. If you are not happy with someone is performing then train them, coach them and guide them before you fire them. Give people a chance to prove what they are capable of doing. Turning over a manager every 3-5 months is INSANITY! If you do not provide tools and training you cannot expect a replacement to do much better. Drop the ego. Stop being greedy. Start thinking about the people that work hard every month to help you stay profitable and how you can help them make you even more profitable. 

8. Poor Communication: If you are not happy with something then start communicating. Create an action plan with meetings to discuss what the problems are and how the team should work to fix it. If you want to command everything and take full control of dealership operations it is important to start communicating. Stop dropping $10,000 on direct mail and wonder why your BDC department is not converting these sales calls into appointments or why your sales people have no clue what the customer is talking about when they show up with it. Successful dealerships communicate well with each other and in turn operate like a well oiled machined.

9. Investment vs. Expense: Stop treating legitimate and important business expenses (which by the way you all write off your taxes) as an unwanted or unneeded expense. You want to build a BDC? Hire the right people with the right expectations in the beginning and invest in the right training program to get the department off the ground. After the department is set up invest in an accountability partner that will continue to help the BDC stay on top of their game. Do you have a reassurance company that works with your F&I department every month? How much do you spend on that service every month? If that makes sense, consider investing in Sales, Internet, and BDC training for the same exact reasons. After everything, is the BDC still an expense in your mind? If it is then take a look at what your sales people are doing at work on a daily basis. Are they following up on leads? Are they making calls? Are they standing by the door waiting for UPs? Could they be doing the job of the BDC? It may very well be so that they can. If you will eliminate a BDC department then invest in training the sales people to do their job. 

This is "REAL TALK" so take it for what it is. There is no magic formula for how to be a successful dealership. There is only common sense, a great attitude, well planned out business practices, a smaller ego, excellent training programs / methods and a general respect for the people that you employ. This is how your dealership can at least lower turnover by a minimum of 50%.

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

What an event!!!

Incredible!!!

I just got back last night from spending a long week in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I always like to recap these events when I get a chance.  Here we go:

I started my trip to San Francisco on February 1, 2011 where I was fortunate to bypass the bad weather and flight cancellations in Philadelphia.  It was unfortunate that I was unable to spend time in NAPA with Digital Marketing Strategies conferences as I was visiting my family.  I heard a lot of great things and look forward to being a part of the next one.  This week was special because I was able to accomplish a lot not only in my business life but also my personal life.  I met my beautiful 18 month old niece and visited family that I have not seen in years.  I was also able to spend time with very old friends that I have not seen in years.

Once Friday 2/4/11 came around, I was ready to get to business.  It started with my checking in to the NADA convention and getting my pass.  It was not easy getting to my hotel at first because the cab drivers in San Francisco are all mean and nasty.  They stop to offer you a ride and reject you.  It took five tries until someone actually helped me.  After checking in to my room, I decided to go explore the area.  I quickly met up with my very good friend, Matt Lamoureux from DealerRater and we started hanging out.  We went to Yoshi’s for a planned meet up with a lot of our friends (Dan Moore, Dara Moore, Joe Webb, Eric Miltsch, Ralph Paglia, Larry Bruce, Michele David, Jim Ziegler, and so many more).  We enjoyed a great dinner and social experience.  A bunch of us went out and stayed out late to have a great evening.

Saturday started off with walking around the convention hall exploring different vendors and catching up with old friends.  I enjoyed a few business meetings throughout the day where I met with some powerful minds in the industry including the very amazing, Paul Potratz.  I am always enjoying his posts on different sites because they are informative and creative.  The day brought a lot of meet ups including my friend Stan Thomas (eCarlist) who I get to see once in a while back home.  I was impressed with the new platform of eCarlist and how well the system works.  It was also amazing to see what my friends over at VinSolutions had come up with.  When I saw the VinLense, I saw an absolute game changer.  This team keeps coming up with out of this world invention.  It was great to catch up with Sean Stapleton, Kendall Billman, Joe Little, and a bunch of other talented individuals from the VinSolutions team.  As always, I hung out with my friends Joe Webb (DealerKnows) and Matt Lamoureux (Dealer Rater).  I got to see Gary May (IM@CS) and catch up with him as well.  It was also great to see my friends at Autobytel. 

As the day concluded, I went to the eCarlist party and networked with some other bright minds in the industry before heading out to the eBay party.  I hung out with good friends from IntelliPayment and got to discuss some great BDC strategies for their product.  The party was a hit where I once again hung out with VinSolutions and Autobytel friends.  As the night was coming to an end, I hung out with DealerOn friends (Ali Amirrezvani, Amir Rezvani, and Jeff Clark).

I continued a similar pattern on Sunday with more meetings and more exploration of different vendors.  I was looking for products that I can work with in my line of work.  I was able to meet some more interesting people that I can do work with.  It was great to spend time with Steve Risso and Ted Bessen (Teddy Nissan).   I used to work for them as their Internet Director and here we were at NADA walking around.  I really respect them both and admire them for the work they have done with their store.  I still think it was one of the best dealerships that I have ever worked for.  It was Super Bowl Sunday so I ended up at the PCG Digital Marketing/Colorado Dealer Association/TK Carsites sponsored Super Bowl party.  I got to connect with Ed Brooks from vAuto as well as Tom White Jr. (Suzuki of Wichita).  I also hung out with many industry friends.  It was great to catch up with Brian and Glenn Pasch (PCG Digital Marketing), Tim Martell (Wikimotive), Arnold Tijerina and Jared Hamilton (Driving Sales), Michele David (Esserman Nissan VW), Brent Wees (Dashboard), Matthew O’Such (PCG), JD Rucker (TK Carsites).   I was happy to see many other friends.  I want to thank the sponsors for a wonderful Super Bowl Event.

As soon as this party ended, a bunch of us went to AT&T Park the always amazing DealerTrack party.  I got to hang out with my old friend, Adam Ross (Infinite Prospects) as well as Gene Kociuba (Classic Cars) and Dave Adams (also an ex Dealer Synergy employee).  It was like a meeting of the NJ automotive internet sales gurus.  We toured the stadium and mingled.  The night ended with me catching up with the usual bunch from the dinner at Yoshi’s.  I also saw my friend Rechelle Gryparis (IMN Loyalty Driver).

We concluded NADA with more meetings and walking around.  This was my chance to see any vendors that I missed seeing before the show ended.  I had lunch with my old friend Maurice Lawrence (Autotrader).  Maurice was my Autotrader rep at a previous dealership that I worked with.  I ended that day catching up with more family friends.  I even got to catch up with the one and only, Chris Saraceno (Kelly Auto Group/DealerElite).

I have to say that this was one of the best conventions that I have been to in a long time.  There were a lot of great products to explore.  There was a great attendance which allowed for better interactions.  San Francisco was a lot of fun and a great experience to not only get business accomplished but also visit my loved ones.  I look forward to the upcoming Digital Dealer Conference and the future NADA conventions.  It was great to see all of my friends once again.

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

What an event!!!

Incredible!!!

I just got back last night from spending a long week in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I always like to recap these events when I get a chance.  Here we go:

I started my trip to San Francisco on February 1, 2011 where I was fortunate to bypass the bad weather and flight cancellations in Philadelphia.  It was unfortunate that I was unable to spend time in NAPA with Digital Marketing Strategies conferences as I was visiting my family.  I heard a lot of great things and look forward to being a part of the next one.  This week was special because I was able to accomplish a lot not only in my business life but also my personal life.  I met my beautiful 18 month old niece and visited family that I have not seen in years.  I was also able to spend time with very old friends that I have not seen in years.

Once Friday 2/4/11 came around, I was ready to get to business.  It started with my checking in to the NADA convention and getting my pass.  It was not easy getting to my hotel at first because the cab drivers in San Francisco are all mean and nasty.  They stop to offer you a ride and reject you.  It took five tries until someone actually helped me.  After checking in to my room, I decided to go explore the area.  I quickly met up with my very good friend, Matt Lamoureux from DealerRater and we started hanging out.  We went to Yoshi’s for a planned meet up with a lot of our friends (Dan Moore, Dara Moore, Joe Webb, Eric Miltsch, Ralph Paglia, Larry Bruce, Michele David, Jim Ziegler, and so many more).  We enjoyed a great dinner and social experience.  A bunch of us went out and stayed out late to have a great evening.

Saturday started off with walking around the convention hall exploring different vendors and catching up with old friends.  I enjoyed a few business meetings throughout the day where I met with some powerful minds in the industry including the very amazing, Paul Potratz.  I am always enjoying his posts on different sites because they are informative and creative.  The day brought a lot of meet ups including my friend Stan Thomas (eCarlist) who I get to see once in a while back home.  I was impressed with the new platform of eCarlist and how well the system works.  It was also amazing to see what my friends over at VinSolutions had come up with.  When I saw the VinLense, I saw an absolute game changer.  This team keeps coming up with out of this world invention.  It was great to catch up with Sean Stapleton, Kendall Billman, Joe Little, and a bunch of other talented individuals from the VinSolutions team.  As always, I hung out with my friends Joe Webb (DealerKnows) and Matt Lamoureux (Dealer Rater).  I got to see Gary May (IM@CS) and catch up with him as well.  It was also great to see my friends at Autobytel. 

As the day concluded, I went to the eCarlist party and networked with some other bright minds in the industry before heading out to the eBay party.  I hung out with good friends from IntelliPayment and got to discuss some great BDC strategies for their product.  The party was a hit where I once again hung out with VinSolutions and Autobytel friends.  As the night was coming to an end, I hung out with DealerOn friends (Ali Amirrezvani, Amir Rezvani, and Jeff Clark).

I continued a similar pattern on Sunday with more meetings and more exploration of different vendors.  I was looking for products that I can work with in my line of work.  I was able to meet some more interesting people that I can do work with.  It was great to spend time with Steve Risso and Ted Bessen (Teddy Nissan).   I used to work for them as their Internet Director and here we were at NADA walking around.  I really respect them both and admire them for the work they have done with their store.  I still think it was one of the best dealerships that I have ever worked for.  It was Super Bowl Sunday so I ended up at the PCG Digital Marketing/Colorado Dealer Association/TK Carsites sponsored Super Bowl party.  I got to connect with Ed Brooks from vAuto as well as Tom White Jr. (Suzuki of Wichita).  I also hung out with many industry friends.  It was great to catch up with Brian and Glenn Pasch (PCG Digital Marketing), Tim Martell (Wikimotive), Arnold Tijerina and Jared Hamilton (Driving Sales), Michele David (Esserman Nissan VW), Brent Wees (Dashboard), Matthew O’Such (PCG), JD Rucker (TK Carsites).   I was happy to see many other friends.  I want to thank the sponsors for a wonderful Super Bowl Event.

As soon as this party ended, a bunch of us went to AT&T Park the always amazing DealerTrack party.  I got to hang out with my old friend, Adam Ross (Infinite Prospects) as well as Gene Kociuba (Classic Cars) and Dave Adams (also an ex Dealer Synergy employee).  It was like a meeting of the NJ automotive internet sales gurus.  We toured the stadium and mingled.  The night ended with me catching up with the usual bunch from the dinner at Yoshi’s.  I also saw my friend Rechelle Gryparis (IMN Loyalty Driver).

We concluded NADA with more meetings and walking around.  This was my chance to see any vendors that I missed seeing before the show ended.  I had lunch with my old friend Maurice Lawrence (Autotrader).  Maurice was my Autotrader rep at a previous dealership that I worked with.  I ended that day catching up with more family friends.  I even got to catch up with the one and only, Chris Saraceno (Kelly Auto Group/DealerElite).

I have to say that this was one of the best conventions that I have been to in a long time.  There were a lot of great products to explore.  There was a great attendance which allowed for better interactions.  San Francisco was a lot of fun and a great experience to not only get business accomplished but also visit my loved ones.  I look forward to the upcoming Digital Dealer Conference and the future NADA conventions.  It was great to see all of my friends once again.

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com/

I have been working in the automotive industry for over 8 years as of this month.  The one thing that I felt I could always do better was build value in my presentations.  When I say presentations, I am not just talking about performing a powerful walk around.  I am talking about the things that a professional says to a customer when they are on the phone trying to give them a reason to come in.  I am also talking about what a professional does with the customer when they go to discuss numbers with management.  As a huge advocate of building a "digital rapport" I wrote a successful article about this in the past but would like to take this further.

Some value building techniques:

- The BDC/Internet Department remembers to make customers aware of the dealership's strong online reputation.

-The BDC/Internet Department informs the consumer of the convenient aspect of considering this dealership over others (Some of us like to call it a Value Package Proposition).

-If the customer claims to have a busy schedule, it is a great idea to offer to bring them the vehicle to look at.

-Finding out why they are looking at a particular vehicle will allow to demonstrate the benefits of the vehicle when working with customers in person.

-When going to discuss numbers with management, it is always a great practice to leave the customer with something to read such as a product information book.  This will keep them interesting in the benefits of the vehicle.  It is also a great idea to have a book of positive reviews and letters of recommendation from previous customers.  Better yet, if there is a computer on the table, save a few positive video testimonials and have the customers watch it.  Too often, sales people leave customers waiting for minutes and minutes which allows them to think about reasons why they should not buy the vehicle.  A lot of customers always think that sales people and managers are in the backroom wasting time.  We need to maintain a professional and positive image of ourselves and our dealerships.  If it takes a longtime to create a book or two books of these tools, so be it.  These tools will help close more deals, build more customer trust, build more customer retention, and allow the opportunity to make more money.

-During delivery, a sales professional should keep building value and go over any last minute information that they have not presented before.

-After the customer leaves the lot, call them at home leaving them a great message expressing your gratitude for their business.  After all, they just helped you feed your family.  In some cases, remind them of when their license plates will arrive and if they pick them up, they will be installed on the vehicle for them.

Some of these tips might sound old school or basic.  However, we forget about them.  I know after selling cars for three years I started to slack off, get comfortable and arrogant.  I realized that real quick when my income was $15,000 lighter that year.  I want to be successful and I want to make more money not less.  Stop taking shortcuts, create a strong process of how you do business and keep doing it with every single customer.  Never be satisfied, always seek to improve.  I once met a sales professional who is the number one Audi sales professional in the country.  The man sells more units in one month then most Audi dealerships in the nation sell as a whole.  He makes more money then his GM.  He is consistent the same way.  He never takes ups or relies on internet leads.  He was consistent for many years and it pays off.

www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

www.naymz.com/stan_sher_2372084

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com/

I have been working in the automotive industry for over 8 years as of this month.  The one thing that I felt I could always do better was build value in my presentations.  When I say presentations, I am not just talking about performing a powerful walk around.  I am talking about the things that a professional says to a customer when they are on the phone trying to give them a reason to come in.  I am also talking about what a professional does with the customer when they go to discuss numbers with management.  As a huge advocate of building a "digital rapport" I wrote a successful article about this in the past but would like to take this further.

Some value building techniques:

- The BDC/Internet Department remembers to make customers aware of the dealership's strong online reputation.

-The BDC/Internet Department informs the consumer of the convenient aspect of considering this dealership over others (Some of us like to call it a Value Package Proposition).

-If the customer claims to have a busy schedule, it is a great idea to offer to bring them the vehicle to look at.

-Finding out why they are looking at a particular vehicle will allow to demonstrate the benefits of the vehicle when working with customers in person.

-When going to discuss numbers with management, it is always a great practice to leave the customer with something to read such as a product information book.  This will keep them interesting in the benefits of the vehicle.  It is also a great idea to have a book of positive reviews and letters of recommendation from previous customers.  Better yet, if there is a computer on the table, save a few positive video testimonials and have the customers watch it.  Too often, sales people leave customers waiting for minutes and minutes which allows them to think about reasons why they should not buy the vehicle.  A lot of customers always think that sales people and managers are in the backroom wasting time.  We need to maintain a professional and positive image of ourselves and our dealerships.  If it takes a longtime to create a book or two books of these tools, so be it.  These tools will help close more deals, build more customer trust, build more customer retention, and allow the opportunity to make more money.

-During delivery, a sales professional should keep building value and go over any last minute information that they have not presented before.

-After the customer leaves the lot, call them at home leaving them a great message expressing your gratitude for their business.  After all, they just helped you feed your family.  In some cases, remind them of when their license plates will arrive and if they pick them up, they will be installed on the vehicle for them.

Some of these tips might sound old school or basic.  However, we forget about them.  I know after selling cars for three years I started to slack off, get comfortable and arrogant.  I realized that real quick when my income was $15,000 lighter that year.  I want to be successful and I want to make more money not less.  Stop taking shortcuts, create a strong process of how you do business and keep doing it with every single customer.  Never be satisfied, always seek to improve.  I once met a sales professional who is the number one Audi sales professional in the country.  The man sells more units in one month then most Audi dealerships in the nation sell as a whole.  He makes more money then his GM.  He is consistent the same way.  He never takes ups or relies on internet leads.  He was consistent for many years and it pays off.

www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

www.naymz.com/stan_sher_2372084