Turnover is something that occurs in every business. Employee’s leave, some get fired and others retire, it happens. The automobile business is no different, if anything, turnover rates for automobile sales consultants are higher than most. Why? It's my opinion that our industry as a whole has come to accept high turnover for so long, it's now considered normal. I'm telling you right now... HIGH TURNOVER IS NOT NORMAL, and it's costing dealerships hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. I've heard it said that turnover is just the cost of doing business. The real question is, "How much is sales consultant turnover alone costing your dealership?"

Turnover cost is not hard to calculate, however I recommend that you are sitting down when you see the number. Some of you may even want to have a crash cart standing by. To see how much your turnover expense was last year go to www.hirethewinners.com and click on the “Cost” tab.

The next question is, "What can we do to reduce turnover?" The short answer is... Hire and retain better performing sales consultants! So how do we accomplish this task? By having the right comprehensive hiring process in place.

Does your dealership currently use any pre-hire assessment tools like a personality profile? If so, does the tool inform you of the candidate’s ability to sell cars? I’ve found personality profiles used by many dealers today are nothing more than a very basic IQ test, which doesn’t tell us what we really need to know… Does the candidate have the dominant traits necessary to be a successful high-performing sales consultant? Are they motivated? Are they an instinctive closer? Do they have investigative skills? Do they have enough empathy to identify with customers wants and needs? We must know all of this information upfront about a candidate in order to assess the risk and make the right decision when hiring a new team member. By having the right comprehensive hiring process in place and knowing what questions to ask prior to the first interview, we can gather the critical information needed to hire better performing sales consultants.

A comprehensive hiring process should include the following:

1. A quality pre-hire assessment tool to determine whether a candidate possess the dominate traits necessary to be a successful automotive sales consultant.
2. Interview Questions: Initial, First and Second
3. Communication Skills Questions
4. Questions on Networking
5. Commitment Questions
6. Risk Assessment Tool: To determine if the candidate is a low-risk, medium-risk or high-risk investment.

In conclusion, the solution to high turnover is not rocket science. It does however require a comprehensive hiring process and a commitment from the Dealer and/or GM to see the process is enforced. By having the right tools and implementing the right processes you will reduce turnover, expenses and increase gross profit exponentially. Process is profit!

If we can ever be of help to your dealerships hiring, retention and sales processes, please contact me anytime.

All The Best,

Tom Kain
National Marketing Director
Hire The Winners
tom@hirethewinners.com
606.231.8340

www.hirethewinners.com

As I discussed in Parts 1,2 and 3... There are four traits that every successful automotive consultant must possess.  Though they may not be dominate in all these traits, in order to be a successful sales consultant, they must either have or be able to attain the following traits:

• Motivation
• Closing
• Empathy
• Investigation

Today I would like to discuss Investigation and how this trait is another key to being successful in automotive sales.

Investigative people have a great desire to learn from others.  They're more likely to probe customers for their underlying needs before pitching a product.  As sales consultants, they thrive on asking probing questions, listening intently, establishing rapport, and building relationships with customers.  They know that selling is more about listening than talking, and they can tailor the product, offering benefit statements to the stated and unstated needs of the customer.

It is important as a dealer or GM that you know as soon as possible if a candidate has the investigation abilities to be a successful sales consultant.  Much like Closing, Investigation is something we can improve upon through training.  However, this is an area where having a means of assessing sales candidates' abilities comes into play.  By knowing this vital information upfront, you will be able to better assess whether a candidate will be a good investment of your time, money and have the potential to be a high performer.

If we can ever be of help to your dealerships hiring, retention and sales processes, please contact me anytime.

All The Best,

Tom Kain
International Marketing Director
Hire The Winners
tom@hirethewinners.com
606.231.8340

www.hirethewinners.com

As I discussed in Parts 1 and 2... There are four traits that every successful automotive consultant must possess.  Though they may not be dominate in all these traits, in order to be a successful sales consultant, they must either have or be able to attain the following traits:

• Motivation
• Closing
• Empathy
• Investigation

Today I would like to discuss Empathy and how this trait is another key to being successful in automotive sales.

Candidates with high empathy can sense the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people.  They can put themselves in the customer's shoes, feel their pain, and anticipate their needs.  They don't necessarily agree with other people all the time, condone their actions, or feel pity for their predicaments (that's sympathy, not empathy), but they understand and relate to them.  This ability to connect with customers is important in finding the right words and tone for sales conversation and addressing stated and unstated customer desires.

It is important as a dealer or GM that you know as soon as possible if a candidate has enough empathy to be a successful sales consultant.  Like Motivation, Empathy is Intrinsic (comes from ones self) and this is another area where having a means of assessing sales candidates' traits comes into play.  By knowing this vital information upfront, you will be able to better assess whether a candidate will be a good investment of your time, money and have the potential to be a high performer.

If we can ever be of help to your dealerships hiring, retention and sales processes, please contact me anytime.

All The Best,

Tom Kain
Hire The Winners
tom@hirethewinners.com
606.231.8340

www.hirethewinners.com

As I discussed in Part 1... There are four traits that every successful automotive consultant must possess.  Though they may not be dominate in all these traits, in order to be a successful sales consultant, they must either have or be able to attain the following traits:

• Motivation
• Closing
• Empathy
• Investigation

Today I would like to discuss Closing and how this trait is another key to being successful in automotive sales.

Closing is the ability to gain customer commitment.  Candidates who rate high on closing have an assertiveness well suited for the give and take of effective negotiations, without coming off as too aggressive or overbearing.  They are not shy about asking for the business and later asking customers for referrals.  Good closers have confidence in their abilities, judgments and have the ability to influence the customer to close the deal.

It is important as a dealer or GM that you know as soon as possible if a candidate has the natural ability to be a good closer.  Though closing is something we can improve upon through training, this is where having a means of assessing sales candidates' abilities comes into play.  By knowing this vital information upfront, you will be able to better assess whether a candidate will be a good investment of your time, money and have the potential to be a high performer.

If we can ever be of help to your dealerships hiring, retention and sales processes, please contact me anytime.

All The Best,

Tom Kain
Hire The Winners
tom@hirethewinners.com
606.231.8340

www.hirethewinners.com

"Procees Is Profit!"... What a true and powerful statement, and one that applies to all dealership operations.  If dealers don't have the right processes in place, and more importantly, follow each step of these processes 100% of the time, things will get overlooked, opportunities will be missed, and deals will get lost!

Question: What if dealers did not have the right process in place for remitting deals to lenders or service contracts to warranty companies?

Answer: They would not get paid!

The same holds true for hiring high performing sales consultants.  If dealers don't have the right hiring process in place, they won't hire the right people with the necessary traits and skills to be successful in automotive sales, therefore deals will get missed, cars won't get sold and the dealer won't get paid!  So begs the question...  What is the right process for hiring high performing sales consultants?  Below are a few steps that should be included in the hiring process:

1. Have a means of assessing a sales candidates abilities to be successful in automotive sales either before, during or immediately after the initial interview.

2. Know the right questions to ask in the first formal interview with the candidate.

Here are some great examples of First Interview questions:

• Education and what you have done for personal growth within the last 2 years?
• Describe for me the most significant impact you’ve had in your current job and explain the keys to pulling it "off".
• Describe a situation or two in which the pressures to compromise your integrity were the strongest you have ever felt?
• One of our goals is to get each of our salespeople to an average monthly sales count of sixteen units. If you get the job, how would you go about accomplishing this?

3. Second interview questions (More in-depth).

Here are some great examples of Second Interview questions:

• Tell me (us) about a time when you sold someone a product, service or idea. Walk me (us) through how you convinced the other person to buy your product, service or idea.
• Tell me (us) about a time when you got very upset or hurt by a co-worker, what happened and what was the outcome.
• 50% of your income will be derived from you bringing customers to the dealership. Tell us what you have done in the past that would show us you could do this. How would you propose to bring customers to our dealership? What are some things you would do to ensure your success?
• There is a lot of down time in our business. What would you propose to do while waiting for a customer to come to the dealership?

4. Reference Check. This is very important and should be done for each candidate you interview.  The more we know about the candidate the better!

5. Risk Assessment. Being able to assess the risk of a candidate is vital and is not easily accomplished without knowing the right questions to ask yourself as a dealer or GM. Having an assessment tool can make this a much easier task.

Here are some examples of Risk Assessment questions:

• Longevity in the area?
• Successful sales experience (Top 20% on any sales team)?
• Demonstrated proven success in previous jobs?
• Has a plan in life that would be consistent with a long time career in automotive retail?

In conclusion, the days of being able to fog a mirror are no longer a qualification for being a sales consultant. Now more than ever dealers must have an effective, consistent hiring process, effective hiring tools and quick, effective training tools.

If we can ever be of help to your dealerships hiring, retention or sales processes, please contact me anytime.

All The Best,

Tom Kain
Hire The Winners
tom@hirethewinners.com
606.231.8340

www.hirethewinners.com

There are four traits that every successful automotive consultant must possess.  Though they may not possess or be dominate in all these traits, in order to be a successful sales consultant, they must either have or be able to attain the following traits:

• Motivation
• Closing
• Empathy
• Investigation

• Intrinsic motivation - The drive that comes from ones self.
• Extrinsic motivation - Comes from another person (The Manager).