Part Time Sales - Anyone Tried It?
Doing more research and surveying the DealerElite community to see if any dealer groups across the country have implemented Part Time Sale Associates with any success? Hourly Pay with Benefits, How Many Hours per Week, Flexibility? Have you done it and what have you learned? Please share!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Natural on
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I gotta tell you...BAD IDEA! Traditionally, part timers have never been a good deal. The full timers resent them for a number of reasons, and due to the nature of the business, part time sales persons just don't work.
People who are working 63 hours a week resent a part time person even taking a single up. The is also the aspect of how full times will have to pick up the part timers half deals when their customers come in and they are not there.
The full timers will view the part timer as a person who gets the gravy, but doesn't have to pay the dues.
I'll be surprised if I see much approval on this site of part time auto sales persons.
Sorry, but you asked,
Gillon
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Permalink Reply by mark lucas on
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We tried it many years ago; it didn’t work at that time because the other salespeople thought it was unfair. The consensus was that they (the part time people) would work the prime hours. But that was way before the internet, when people would come in on Saturday’s and in the evening.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Nagy on
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I agree with Gillon, it's a Bad Idea on many levels. Other than full timers resentment of them, they are not able to do proper follow up with un-sold and more importantly sold customers. As a result of resentment and lack of follow up, CSI suffers, morale goes down and profits shrink because part timers are trying to get units to hit bonus levels. It creates an environment that is not healthy for customers or employees. It is also a burden on managers as well. I have seen this at two different places, one a low volume store and at a very high volume store and the results were the same at both.
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Permalink Reply by Russell Grosser on -
I'm going to offer a positive response for you.
While selling cars in the traditional "part time" capacity will create all of the issues mentioned before, there are other avenues which do work.
I managed an Infiniti store where there was a group of people that shared the business. They had their own thing worked out where four people were working the shifts of two people. They all had part time hours, didn't affect the number of ups being taken (because not more than one worked at a time), and divided the commissions between all of them. It seemed confusing at first, but ended up being a pretty good little set up.
I can't speak to any dealers out there. It was a unique situation I put together for 4 guys that had been with the dealership for a long time and were nearing retirement, but certainly not a traditional setting and something I'd be weary of doing agian.
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Permalink Reply by Cortney Ewald-Ihde on
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Thank you everyone for your thoughts.Have any of you had experience where your part-timers were outside sales people? People who knew the process, were professional and were the hunters bringing people in, rather than minders who took ups and calls? I appreciate everyone's thoughts as I am trying to create something more competitive in our marketplace and get those people with the knowledge and experience to work for the sales side but allow the flexibility needed if they have families, other jobs, are going to school, etc.
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Permalink Reply by Russell Grosser on
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I don't know the laws South of the border, but up here the deal and the deposit must be done on the property of the selling party. We need to make special applications to allow us to conduct business in other settings like: Mall sales, Auto Show sales, Off-site event sales, etc. You might want to look into that.
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I am not implying that we would actually sell off-site. I am saying that we would have someone in the field mining activity through networking, community service who is licensed to sell at our stores. The customer would go through the traditional sales process just the same as inside sales.
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Permalink Reply by Russell Grosser on
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You just described the duties of an Account Executive. I would look at getting in with a local (to start) leasing company, and growing yourself a portfolio of clients. Most will allow you to work your own schedule so long as you perform. Might be a good option to research
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We have a leasing company with these types of positions, but they are fleet based, not retail unit based. All good suggestions though - something to ponder.
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Permalink Reply by Russell Grosser on
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If there isn't a retail section, create one. What a great opportunity to approach people you know at other dealerships that don't have an avenue for leasing (Most domestics, ultra-luxury, and sub-prime if they're open to it).
That Ferrari dealership down the street doesn't have a manufacturer's lease program, but I guarantee that most of their clients are leasing the car for write-off purposes. Who are they putting the leases through? Could you get in there as a backup option? Do you know anyone at a small business that you could fleet them 2-3 vehicles to start with? It's all about thinking outside the box and creating opportunity for yourself.
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