Recently I flew in to do some training at a dealership.  Due to the late booking, I was limited to the flights I could take to get there on time.  Fortunately, I got the last flight out of town and arrived at my destination late that night.  Unfortunately, my luggage somehow missed the flight.  When I travel by air, I always take a carry one with a change of clothes for just such an emergency.  However, there wasn't any room for a sport jacket or suit.

 

As soon as I woke up, I got ready and headed out the door in search of a place where I could buy a jacket to wear for the beginning of our campaign.  Luckily there was a men's store near the dealership.  I rushed in adn asked where the jackets in my size were.  The helpful sales person sipped his coffee and pointed.

 

I was running out of time.  I grabbed three jackets and tried them on.  I took the one that fit the best ove to the register, had them cut the tags and put it on as I rushed over to the dealership.

 

That day we did 25 interviews and each one was more uncomfortable than the one before.  The jacket just didn't feel right.  All day long I was tugging and pulling as I questioned the applicants, trying to get the coat to sit right while I met each potential hire.  Finally, the day was over.

 

I returned to the hotel and to my surprise, they had delivered the rest of my luggage.  As I opened my suitcase, I gently took my suits out and carefully hung them in my room's closet.  I couldn't wait for tomorrow.

 

The next morning, I showered, shaved and selected my suit fo rthe day. It felt good to be dressed in something made just for me.  I moved easier, was comfortable sitting or standing and I knew it looked a lot better than yesterday.

 

Needless to say, the interviews went a lot better.  I was able to totally focus on the people I was meeting.  It seemed there were more quality people to talk to on this second day.  It couldn't have been the suit, could it?

 

While you could never prove whether the candidates were better the second day or the first.  Yo0u could certainly make a case that I was not very comfortable working with something that just didn't fit right.  After 33 years in this business, I've learned that you can train almost anyone in the process of selling cars.  But, if they are not a fit for your dealership, you will never get the maximum potential from any of them.  It may be better to be short handed while searching for the RIGHT people, than to simply put bodies on your sales floor to look like you're staffed.

John Fuhrman is the Senior National Trainer for Carolina Automotive Resource Services, a unit of The Dealer Resource Group. His ten books have reached 1.5 million readers and he has trained sales professionals around the world. //www.thedealerresourcegroup.net. ATTENTION DEALERS: VISIT OUR WEB SITE AND REGISTER TO KEEP UP ON MONTHLY TRAINING SAVING SPECIALS. Our trainers are ready to show you our "WOW!" factor. (c)2012 by John Fuhrman - Permission to reprint this post in its entirety, including contact information, is hereby granted.