No Inventory /Lots of Inventory...should I hire salespeople?

OK....sooooo you are a dealer that has been affected by a lack of inventory due to world events and your first concern, fear is lack of vehicles to sell; we get that.

Let's talk about what may not seem to be a priority now and the ways it's being handled right now.

1. Hiring freeze, don't need more salespeople to sell blacktop!

2. Let go of salespeople, because you don't want to pay a draw or benefits because all you have is blacktop.

3. Wait till the cars start to roll in to put on more salespeople (and they will, soon) less blacktop, more cars

4. Salespeople leave, cause nothing to sell, but....blacktop!

Here is the dilemma with that type of plan. When you are ready to pull the trigger so is your competition and thus the available talent pool pie gets divided by a larger number.

Staff your stores now!

Let's say in your market there are 1000 quality people available to choose from to sell cars now and you are the ONLY Dealer to understand that, your available talent pool to pick from is huge....wait till the inventory hits and now that same 1000 quality people is divided up by 5 other dealers?...10,15? Do the math.

Our technology, manpower and experience can help you take advantage of this current opportunity.

Ok....sooooo you are a dealer that has NOT been affected by lack of inventory and you can't see any blacktop anywhere on your property. How are you handling staffing?

1. You are using AutoMax Recruiting and Training to assist you (Great move).

2. You picked up a couple of "vets" from the stores with no inventory.

3. You know you should take advantage of this current opportunity but you still are just a little gun shy due to 08 and 09.

4. Salespeople that you currently have will leave when the dealers with no inventory now get inventory soon.

Your opportunity, same as above, staff now and as my dad used to say in the summer; "It's time to make hay while the sun's shinning".

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on June 2, 2011 at 7:59pm

Yes Rick,when the supply starts to flow,there is a huge demand waiting on it!

Rick Bryant said:

I my opinion this inventory crunch is short term and will be followed by pent up demand. Lets also face the fact the some of the good sales people will leave to Ford, Chevy VW Dodge, etc, they have financial obligations and they have to go. Who will that leave when the pent up demand returns? I have been told that Toyota is making it very attractive for thie expiring leases to extend out until the inventory comes back, smart move but who will be left to help them. If you hire new staff NOW while there still is inventory then they will have some experience watching and usually can survive on the draw as they are not used to the $6 to $10K per month nor have they based their life styles on this amount. By the time the inventory does come back then they will be ready to go. Will the dealer take back the rats that jumped ship? This is the auto industry but who knows.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GET READY FOR THE TOUGH TIMES AHEAD!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Abe Hopper on June 2, 2011 at 8:02pm

Add a few new recruits and train them to sell pre-owned ... fill the empty blacktop with pre-owned. I was at a Honda Dealer that reconditioned a Civic with 146,000 miles ... stuck a warranty on it ... made an unbelievable gross profit. I shared the math with the new recruits ... I wish I could have bottled the enthusiasm.

Permalink Reply by Glenn Wilkins on June 2, 2011 at 9:36pm

Inventory is coming, the big question is "Will you be ready when it hits?" Im at a Toyota store this week who wants to expand his sales force by 10 more to have them ready when it hits!! I say its a smart move.

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on June 2, 2011 at 10:02pm

Thats what Im talking about,thats why that store Rocks!!!!!!
Glenn Wilkins said:

Inventory is coming, the big question is "Will you be ready when it hits?" Im at a Toyota store this week who wants to expand his sales force by 10 more to have them ready when it hits!! I say its a smart move.

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on June 2, 2011 at 11:37pm

There are three types of business approaches when responding to an economic challenge:

Proactive = Those who anticipate the demand and prepare accordingly.

Reactive = Those who respond to the incident once it occurs and attempt to put a plan into action in a hasteful manner.

Non-Active = Do nothing! (and we can assume the results of their outcome to be unsuccessful).

It makes sense to always be prepared!

Permalink Reply by mike holmwood on June 3, 2011 at 9:40am

good luck with all those 90 day wonders. where will they be in a year? sounds like most of you dont care anyway. as a long time consultant who works for a major dealer group most of these comments i find foolish. a really bad habit is the much outdated management style of making good consultants feel lucky to have a job. you develop long time heavy hitters with decency and support. where i work we clear dead wood swiftly and often. guys who dont get owner loyalty we dont want anyway. you have no idea how motivating it is when your company shows appreciation for long term commitment of truly hard work. i assume most of you have sold cars in the past, please dont lose sight of how difficult it can be, and do you think you could still do it today? the way that i do? make something out of your own teams, promote from within, recognize talent and try to close a deal or two. mike holmwood (Salesman of the year 2010) KELLY AUTO GROUP

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on June 3, 2011 at 9:59am

Thanks for your comments Mike and congrats on your Salesperson of the year award at a great group like Kelly,you are blessed to work for a great dealer group.

Of course there was a day when you first started selling and what's done at that critical point in a salesperson career is so important from both sides,the attitude of the new salesperson and of course the training the salesperson receives from management.

I happen know know many of the people that have made comments on this topic of if NOW is a good time to hire,I can assure you these people CARE about each and everyone of the people they train every day of every week in every city and state they find themselvs in year after year.

As far as still being able to sell today,these people and when you really think about it,we all are selling everyday of our lives no matter what we do.

38 years ago I was a 90 day wonder as you put it .all I did was put 152 of those 90 day periods together to form a pretty good career.

Best of luck in your continued success.

Permalink Reply by Ernie Kasprowicz on June 3, 2011 at 10:45am

Mike thanks for getting involved in the thread. You hit the nail on the head in terms of what this thread is about when you said where i work we clear dead wood swiftly and often. guys who dont get owner loyalty we dont want anyway. That's what we are saying. All salespeople should be supported and especially top performers by management with at least training, technology and appreciation for sure! Strong teams do build from within. However there are salespeople at every store that aren't making the effort that you do and no matter what aren't going to reach your success. Just the same, there are more "Mike's" out there that can and will join dealer teams and become long term contributors. Congratulations on your acheivement of salesman of the year. That is a heck of an accomplishment. I wish you continued success!

mike holmwood said:

good luck with all those 90 day wonders. where will they be in a year? sounds like most of you dont care anyway. as a long time consultant who works for a major dealer group most of these comments i find foolish. a really bad habit is the much outdated management style of making good consultants feel lucky to have a job. you develop long time heavy hitters with decency and support. where i work we clear dead wood swiftly and often. guys who dont get owner loyalty we dont want anyway. you have no idea how motivating it is when your company shows appreciation for long term commitment of truly hard work. i assume most of you have sold cars in the past, please dont lose sight of how difficult it can be, and do you think you could still do it today? the way that i do? make something out of your own teams, promote from within, recognize talent and try to close a deal or two. mike holmwood (Salesman of the year 2010) KELLY AUTO GROUP