Accept or Reject: You Need More Salespeople - by Paul Stowe

Written by Paul Stowe. Originally published on the Up to Speed blog.

showroom

The rapid growth of both new and used vehicle sales over the past three years is stunning. Because of this, you need more salespeople. Recruiting, training, and retaining new sales talent into our business is difficult and challenging. But you simply have two choices: Accept this fact and take action… or reject it and do nothing.

The Reality Is:

You cannot steal talented staff from another dealership. If they are good, they are staying put.

What To Do Instead:

Think: Did you hit the numbers you set last month (in both new and used sales) or did you simply accept the numbers produced by your sales staff?

Do your math: The average salesperson sells the following new and used vehicles a month:

Domestic: 11
Import: 13
High Line: 10
New Vehicles: 6
Used Vehicles: 4

Ponder this: If you want to increase your sales volume by 15% this year, you need 15% more sales staff. Do you have a plan in place to make this happen? Attack the reality as a crisis. It is a crisis. Open up your Employee Development Plan and go to work. If you don’t have one, get one.

Most dealerships simply do not have enough sales staff to grow their business. Are you in this category? I f so, now you know what to do about it.

Paul Stowe is the Director of Retail Operations Consulting for NCM Associates. he and his team of experienced retail coaches are actively engaged in over 100 dealerships each month, helping them to improve their productivity and profitability.

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Comment by Garry House on April 16, 2014 at 3:10pm: Thank you for the comments! Ian, if you'd like to contact Paul Stowe directly, he'd be happy to walk you through the numbers. His email address is: pstowe@ncm20.com.

Comment by Michael Del Priore on April 16, 2014 at 1:21pm: This so true. Upper Management does not want to recognize the need to hire additional sales personnel to increase the sold numbers for the store.

Comment by Ian Woodward on April 15, 2014 at 3:03am: Greetigs from the UK.

Can I clarify those numbers - Are your average sales guys selling 43 cars a month, or is that a split depending upon what products they sell?

For a premium (BMW/Lexus/Land Rover/Audi etc) brnad, we expect an avergae of 12 deals a month, with a more volume orientated brand (VW, Honda, Toyota etc) we push this expectation up a smidge to around 13.

Is that consistent with your expectations?

Comment by JR Rohrman on April 14, 2014 at 4:54pm: Amen brother! It's simple math. Divide your goal by 10 and hire accordingly. Don't let your salespeople decide how many salespeople you need!