What do I have to do to develop a great sales team?

An ideal sales team of veteran salespeople would allow each dealership to maximize revenue.  In reality, sales departments experience a high level of turnover.  As a result, there is no easy answer to this question.

Focusing on what we can’t control while ignoring what we can is a pathway to frustration and declining success.  Fearing turnover is no excuse for not investing in training your sales staff.  A sales force influencing your income pipelines without intensive training is something to fear.  Smart businesses accept that some turnover is inevitable and still provide proper training.

The practice of “On the Job Training” where a salesperson shadows existing staff is not effective.  Most people cannot absorb skill sets visually and improper training also leads to higher turnover rates.

Effective training for salespeople does not have to be a complicated task.  The key is to provide your people with tools that will foster and encourage success.  Experiencing success on the job increases longevity.

Key Ingredients for Successful Sales Training

• Learn to view you sales staff as an asset and not an expense.  See each member of your team as a protector of your investment.  The best way to protect this investment is to train, train, train.  They will either get better or they will get worse, there is no other option.
• Be sure that your sales training is specific to your goals and not generalized.  Give your team proven ideas, tips and strategies they can use.  Avoid unrealistic goals and promising theories.
• Be consistent in your sales training.  If you have it scheduled for every Tuesday at 11 AM, then be sure and conduct the sales training every Tuesday at 11 AM. Sales training will never be important to your sales staff unless it’s first important to you.
• Be sure to reinforce what you are training.  Nothing will dilute training quicker than not practicing what you preach.  Teach a skill set and have your staff practice, practice and practice this skill set.

It’s unfortunate that so many members of the automotive industry when approached with a genuine request to be of assistance, are prone to wondering  “ What do you want from me?” or “What are you selling?”  I blame the all too common and frequent hidden agendas that often occur in B2B and B2C interactions.

We already understand that a single loyal customer is worth more than a hundred hot sales leads.  Most business also embrace the concept that brand reputation goes beyond a logo and into the experience of consumers and their subsequent emotions.  So how can businesses train their sales and management staffs to move beyond the transactional relationship and into a partnership with client opportunities or a Human to Human (H2H) relationship?

Here are six strategies to bring H2H concepts to your sales and management teams:

1. Build Value:  Determine what your consumer finds of value and make genuine offers of assistance.
2. Be transparent: Fully disclose all the benefits.  Holding back something for negotiation leaves your consumer wondering what else you are hiding and undermines the ability to build trust.
3. Collect Data:  Ask questions, frequently and with purpose.  Your questions should reveal more ways you can be of assistance or bring benefits to this relationship you are building.
4. Give Referrals: Offer alternative resources beyond your services, especially if you are unable to meet their current needs. When you go the extra step to find solutions to consumer concerns, even if they are not through your own company, you have broken down the barrier of selling and built a foundation of helping.  The next time they need advice, you will be considered a trust worthy source, increasing your interaction time with your consumer and the likelihood of having a customer for life.
5. Deliver on promises: Delivering on your promises will not only strengthen your relationships, but expand you network of opportunities. Being known as the person to trust tends to nature long lasting relationships and adds high octane fuel to the rumor mill in a positive way.  Your current consumer will recommend you when they find a friend who needs assistance because they know they are in good hands.
6. Build a helping network: It is difficult to soar with the eagles, if you hang out with turkeys.  Build your reputation as a helpful person by connecting with other helpful people.  This will not only strengthen your consumers impression of you, but will give you a network of support, access to answers and the ability to continue to be helpful through referrals to those you know and trust.

Be the individual and the organization that encourages mutually beneficial relationships.  Let your consumers perceive your intentions as a desire to see everyone succeed over the need to close the sale.

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is a former Forestry Queen and still continues to promote her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

If you like this blog, please share with others and connect with Stephanie on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

In most markets, those seeking jobs are also those buying your goods and services.   So how should companies engage with these candidate/consumers while navigating changes in shifting age demographics, new recruiting tools and the desire for a strong positive candidate centric recruiting experience?

Here are four tips to improving your company brand while recruiting for sales and management staff.

1. Enhance Your Brand

A logo, tagline, phone number and website are just the corner stones to creating a powerful brand when recruiting candidate.  It is important to remember that they might be a job seeker, but they are probably also a consumer or potential consumer of your products and services.  Therefore, your communications and engagement during the recruiting process may not only affect your recruiting efforts but also your sales volume.

Start with clearly communicating the job opportunity with descriptions of job duties, benefits, pay, company culture and what makes your company a desirable place to work to job-seekers before they apply.  Being vague means you can miss out on the type of talent you seek.   In addition, step into the shoes of the type of talent you wish to attract and optimize your processes to create a positive experience for those job seekers.  For example, not having a mobile accessible job board in today’s society is like using a carrier pigeon to send messages long distance.

2. Utilize Accountability Metrics

In general, recruiting campaigns have been designed on live in the moment actions that return short-term results.  Not a problem if you plan on having a short company lifespan.

Rumor has it that people will talk about their experience with your company.  In a recruiting campaign, candidate satisfaction becomes just as important as customer satisfaction when your brand image is at stake.  Therefore, take the extra step of creating metrics that hold your company accountable for candidate satisfaction.  For example, most job seekers expect that from the time they apply to offer of employment should not exceed two weeks.  If you time from apply to hire exceeds this number, then it is time to find ways to streamline your process.   Also, track the timing and frequency of candidate communications.  If it takes too long to respond to a candidate, then you are probably losing talent that you have worked so hard to find.  If your inbox is flooded with candidate questions, then maybe your job posting was too vague and needs updating.    Another option would be to create a FAQ page for job applicants and include a link in your job posting.

Ultimately, a more transparent and candidate friendly recruiting process will pay off in the long term.  With just the right candidate experience, finding talent becomes easier as your reputation becomes stronger.

3. Become a Talent Scout

Create your own talent network.  Talent pools allow you to nurture interested potential candidates until they have skill sets to match your job requirements.  With transparent and regular communication strategies, a company can keep candidates invested in their company and potential job, while building a pipeline of active and passive job seekers. This strategy is especially helpful for those hard to fill positions.

Take advantage of social events by creating networking opportunities.  Encourage your employees to invite a friend or two, as birds of a feather tend to flock together and this chance meeting might reveal additional talent sources.

4. Become Known as “The Best Place to Work”

The best company cultures provide environments that attract employees that want to work. Making a visible effort to treat all individuals with respect and consideration can accomplish this goal. Not only will this culture decrease turnover, but though the grapevine, it will also attract the best and brightest and job candidates.

Good employees do not grow on trees and are often hard to find.  If you have an employee that has a good work ethic but struggling in their current position, consider finding a new role based on their skills sets.

When implementing a recruiting campaign, interact with candidates carefully—they’re very likely your customers, too! Poor recruiting can quickly reflect on your overall market reputation.  A company is only as effective as its people and as strong as its weakest link.

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is also the current Ms. Florida Forestry Queen, promoting her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

If you like this blog, please share with others and connect with Stephanie on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

DIY recruiting campaigns can be cumbersome and time consuming, but it can also put a strain on your company image.  There is a growing chasm between company and candidate satisfaction with recruiting campaigns.

According to two recent studies from the ADP Research Institute:

• While 46% of recruiters think job-applicant tracking “works well,” only 16% of job-seekers feel the same.
• 60% of job-seekers are frustrated over the lack of quality positions, while 52% of recruiters have a similar complaint about the quality of applicants.
• 73% of job-seekers would prefer at least weekly communications throughout the application process and 58 % of applicants believe a reasonable time between an initial interview and job offer is one to two weeks.

In most markets, those seeking jobs are also those buying your goods and services.  So how can companies work smarter and not harder while navigating changes in the recruiting process resulting from shifting age demographics, new technology tools and the move toward a consumer-style job-seeker experience?

A resourceful company should use a recruiting campaign to enhance their brand and expand their customer experience, while sharing their favorable company culture with their candidate/consumers.  Smart companies can also enhance their talent pool for future opportunities and deploy metrics to ensure they are creating positive candidate/consumer experiences.

My next blog will feature the details for strengthening your brand image while recruiting talent in “The Recruiting Campaign-Brand Image Correlation”.

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is also the current Ms. Florida Forestry Queen, promoting her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

If you like this blog, please share with others and connect with Stephanie on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

There are probably a thousand reasons or more that customer service and retention is a valuable automotive sales training topic, but here are just nine that affect all industries that should get your attention.

1.   86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience. But only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. (CEI Survey)

2.   By 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. (Customers 2020 Report)

3.   In 2013, 62% of global consumers switched service providers due to poor customer service experiences, up 4% from the previous year. (Accenture Global Consumer Pulse Survey)

4.   It is 6-7 times more costly to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer.  (White House Office of Consumer Affairs)

5.   89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor customer service. (RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report)

6.   It takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience. (Parature)

7.   70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated.  (McKinsey)

8.   A 10% increase in customer retention levels result in a 30% increase in the value of the company. (Bain & Co)

9.   90% of respondents who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, while 86% said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. (Dimensional Research)

We all know the importance of customer service, but the priorities, processes and expectations of the management, sales and service teams can complicate the act of rolling out the red carpet.  If you want your dealership to build customers for life, customer retention should be every department’s priority.  In your sales, service and management training programs, include lessons on:

• Creating personalized customer experiences
• Building relationships through positive communications and positive reputation building interactions.
• Providing easy to access and transparent information and assistance.

Remember, it is not about the priorities, agendas, expectations or processes of your sales team, your service lane or even your management staff…it is about your customers and how they feel about doing business with your dealership.

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is also the current Ms. Florida Forestry Queen, promoting her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

If you like this blog, please share with others and connect with Stephanie on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

Transparency is critical to Generation Y and it starts with the job posting.  Dealerships should consider posting information regarding employment directly on dealership websites to include details on job responsibilities and expectations, compensation and benefit plans, sales training programs, and most importantly, opportunities for career growth and development.  This same information should also be reflected in any additional job postings, be it online or in print.  Job postings should be clear and not misleading.  For example, a sales position should not be posted as marketing or a customer service role.

The educated Generation Y population is looking for a better balance of life and career.  Addressing their wishes may have an improved effect on their overall sales performance.  Creating flexible schedules that mimic corporate America with 40-hour weeks and at least monthly weekends off is suggested.  Most dealerships will pack their sales floor with staff out of fear there will not be enough coverage.  Couple log hours and idle time and you have created a double edge sword for Generation Y, who is use to instant gratification and furiously fast multilevel tasking.  The result is a shift in work ethic in the younger generations, who can become complacent and unmotivated leading them to quit.  Dealerships can avoid this trap by watching floor traffic and make note of peak hours and non-peak hours and modify the schedule accordingly.

Income security is another appealing point for Generation Y.  This generation prefers the security of a salary or hourly wage over risking making more money on a commission based pay structure.  Generation Y is the cumulative result of “feel good” education and “everyone is a winner” sports programs and therefore lack the thick skin for aggressive selling or perceived financial risk  Creating realistic training salaries and pay plans that combine salary with commission is alluring to this generation of up and coming salespeople.

This generation lacks an individual competitive streak and is greatly motivated to be part of a team.  When constructing a training program, consider team building as part of the structure instead of competition between individuals.  During training, demonstrate why something is important instead of just giving a direct order.  Show them how each step of the process builds on the previous step.  Help them to visualize how what they do affects other departments.  Create a network of support inside the training module.  This generation is also highly technology driven and savvy.  Take advantage of this asset by including the use of modern technology during training and expand their sales role to include social media and digital marketing opportunities.

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is also the current Ms. Florida Forestry Queen, promoting her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

If you like this blog, please share with others and connect with Stephanie on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

One of the retail automotive industry’s greatest challenges is attracting educated and young talent.  Most career seeking university graduates overlook the automotive industry when considering employment.  Their distaste for the automotive retail industry is typically fueled by negative thoughts about long work hours and confusing, commission-only based pay plans.

Dealers who can make a paradigm shift in their employment focus have a tremendous opportunity to attract and build the careers of the Generation Y talent available in today’s employment pool.  The answer to this automotive sales staff recruitment challenges lies in the need to shift employment efforts, to match the practices of companies that are successful at attracting new graduates.  Like it or not, change is inevitable for survival. Change and how it is handled is often a determining factor to success. Ultimately, a dealership’s success is about giving someone the tools they need to build their own success.  Hiring, training and motivating still comes down to the leadership and how much responsibility leaders will take for the ones they hire.  In order to attract a youthful automotive sales staff, you should consider creating:

• Transparent recruiting processes
• A focus on quality of life
• Income stability
• Innovative technology based dealership sales training

Automotive Recruiting Tips for Attracting Young Talent Part 2 will cover the details of each of these points.

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is also the current Ms. Florida Forestry Queen, promoting her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

If you like this blog, please share with others and connect with Stephanie on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

Rejection is part of the sales professional experience, but selling is a personal experience for both the salesperson and the buyer.

Long sales cycles, endless follow ups via email and phone and no-after-no cannot only be brutal on the morale of a salesperson; it is often not much fun for the buyer either.  Now when a salesperson is able to bring to the table a human factor, the rather impersonal act of selling now becomes an opportunity to build a relationship with a potential buyer.   As a salesperson, we know when someone is “selling” to us and we really don’t like it, but everyone enjoys making new friends.  Friends tend to help us explore our options, they understand our needs and wants and they ultimately have our best interests in mind.  Shopping with a friend is usually a positive experience and something we do with a smile on our face.

Automotive Sales Performance Training Tip: When collecting contact information for a new prospect, do not forget to discover where they enjoy socializing on social media.  Social media has quickly become the new “spot” in town to get to meet new people, build friendships and keep up with existing friends and family.  By connecting with your prospects on social media, you have made the first step to building a relationship.

I found this awkward at first too.  But when phone calls and emails were being ignored, I took a chance and reached out through social media.  I was amazed to find an immediate response to my communication.  My prospect just happened to be signed into their social media via their cell phone and responded right away.  We bantered back and forth for a few minutes and then they asked me to call that afternoon.  I was shocked that when I called, that they picked up on the second ring.  We had a great conversation and concerns were resolved.  Not only did I make the “sale of the day”, I made a new friend on social media and “fan for life”.

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is also the current Ms. Florida Forestry Queen, promoting her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

 Perfection is unsustainable, while personal progress is obtainable.

Stay green and let yourself grow!

When someone claims to be “green”, what first comes to your mind?  They are making an effort to reduce their carbon foot print on mother earth?  Maybe they are a vegetarian?  Or they are actively recycling?

When I hear the word “green” used to describe someone, the first thought that comes to mind is "green pea" or the newly hired automotive sales staff at a dealership.  Like a struggling seedling pushing their way up through all the heavy soil around them, to reach for the life giving sun.

Seedlings tend to:

• Adapt rapidly and are flexible and unstoppable
• Look for new ways of doing things and think outside the box
• Absorb everything around them and are a sponge for knowledge
• Maximize resource use and do more with less
• Draw little attention, while listening without the need to always speak
• Be strong despite size and have a can do anything attitude
• Aspire to be a tree with a think big and you will be big viewpoint

Nothing can stop the changes of time.  As a seedling grows into a sapling, it starts to become more rigid.  When a sapling becomes a tree, it is almost inflexible.  Even something as invisible as the wind can destroy a tree.

We are all on the pathway to becoming a tree, but successful automotive management will continue to progress as if they were still a seedling.  No matter your experience or wisdom, recycle your thinking to the time you were a seedling.   Stay green and let yourself grow!

About the Author

Stephanie Young is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Manus Group, where she is an active blogger, social media contributor and spokesperson for one of the nation’s leading automotive recruiting and training firms. Stephanie is also the current Ms. Florida Forestry Queen, promoting her platform encouraging young woman to pursue their interests in STEM field careers.

If you like this blog, please share with others and connect with Stephanie on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

Both automotive management and sales staff struggle with vendors, prospects and/or clients that fall out of communication after a dynamic conversation.  Usually after three attempts, the manager and/or salesperson will give up without success.  Hence, the Three Strikes, You Are Out Rule.

Automotive sales training needs to consider a twist on that play…three strikes and you are in!!!!  Normally, we see a strike as a negative.  With a change in point of view, a strike becomes an opportunity to lay down a pathway to building a relationship with a vendor, prospect or client.  So the next time you call on a prospect and/or client and get their voice mail, try striking out three times as described below.

Strike One-The Fast Ball:

Leave a voice mail but without any specific details, but add that you will be emailing the details for your call to them shortly.  Just before you close the message, let them know you will be reaching out to an additional person in their organization/group/family.  Make sure this third party is relevant to the conversation, has current contact information on file and your can identify them by name.  Making this step creates a sense of urgency for your message.  For example, a voice message would be, “Hello Joe, this is Susan with the Speedy Family of Dealerships.  I am leaving you a message about the leasing opportunities that I spoke with you about last week.  You don’t need to write anything down, as I will be emailing you the details shortly.  I will also send Charles the same information so that you two can discuss this matter further.  If you have any questions, you can call me at (909) 555-3312 or reply to my email.  I am looking forward to being of assistance to you and Charles.”

Strike Two-The Curve Ball:

Reach out as you vowed to the additional party that you identified by name in your voice mail.  When leaving a voice mail for this third person, follow the format you did for the original party with an abbreviated message and a follow up detailed email.  Also let the third party know that you left the same message for the original party, identifying the original party by name.  Taking this step reinforces the urgency of your original voice message.  For instance, this voice mail might sound like, “Hello Charles, this is Susan with the Speedy Family of Dealerships.  I just left a message for Joe regarding leasing opportunities.  I thought you might like to be a part of this conversation as well.  You don’t need to write anything down.  I will be emailing you and Joe the details shortly, so that you two can discuss this matter further.  If you have any questions, you can call me at (909) 555-3312 or reply to my email.  I am looking forward to being of assistance to you and Joe.”

Strike Three-The Change Up:

Immediately follow up your voice messages with an email as you promised.  When sending an email, you should send the message to both parties at the same time which adds a level of accountability if both names appear in the “To:” field.  Start the email with a notice that you left a voice mail recently and this email details the subject of the voice mail.  Provide the details that you wish you could have left on their voice-mail, including contact information.  Sending this email allows you to go into greater detail than is acceptable or even retainable for your audience via voice mail.  Keep the tone of this email business personal and not something that looks like a mass email.  Sample email copy would be:” Dear Joe and George, I left a voice mail for you both recently regarding leasing opportunities. Here are the details of this opportunity for your review and discussion.  (Provide details)  I appreciate your time and consideration on this matter.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me or send me an email.  Otherwise, I will be calling you both later this week.  My contact information is listed below.”

Calling and calling and calling is wearing on all parties involved, but when you strike out three times in this manner, you are creating urgency, accountability and a relationship between all parties involved.  When you bring in the human factor to what is otherwise an impersonal act, you are fostering relationships and relationship building is part of developing business.

Copyright © 2014,  Stephanie Young All rights reserved.