How Can We Make It Better?

You’re 10, 11, 12 years old and you’re at a family get together. Aunt Mary walks over to you pinches your cheek and remarks on how big you’ve gotten, how’s school etc. and then asks the question “So [insert your name here] what do you want to be when you grow up?” Show of hands now and be honest, how many of you answered “Aunt Mary I want to be a Car Salesperson!”

My father was in the car business my entire life and owned a small Plymouth store in the late 60’s and 70’s and selling cars was the very last career choice on my mind. I wanted to be the lead singer in a rock band, closer for the Cleveland Indians, or a teacher. Car salesman….no I don’t think so, thanks anyway Dad, 38 years later and well, here I am in our wonderful business and honored to be in it.

My point here is that selling cars is very few peoples first career choice, usually it’s “If I can’t find anything else, I guess I could always give selling cars a try”

What needs to change within our industry to make this a more appealing choice ?

This picture shows the crazy amount of opportunity!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ernie Kasprowicz on July 26, 2012 at 8:21am

How can we make it better is a very good question. Perhaps as suggested by Craig a work environment where the salesperson earns and receives tangible recognition and appreciation for their personal excellence. Excellence with respect to job related skills such as sales volume, customer satisfaction, product knowledge, client development and adherence to company procedures could be a few. Tangible recognition and appreciation could be a significant income bonus, vacation bonus, special time off, dealer financial contribution to a charity of the salesperson's interest or even ongoing training and development. Ask the salesperson what would be meaningful to them. I agree with much of what others have written in response to this question and believe the industry can attract the best and brightest as a first choice career.

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on July 26, 2012 at 10:56am

Many good points on this thread.... New Order....Synergy Honesty Integrity Transparency (You can put the acronym together)

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on July 26, 2012 at 12:34pm

All the time I've known you I have wondered,where the heck do you come up with this stuff? I really think,you think,in acronym's.....you're a trip!

Love it!

Permalink Reply by Jane Schuster on July 26, 2012 at 12:46pm

LOVE IT, Nance!!!!

Permalink Reply by Scott Klein on July 29, 2012 at 1:10am

All great stuff here, but let me interject my 2 cents. I think it all comes down to dollar and cents. When it comes to selling cars for the majority of the dealerships, it's 100% commission. Most people don't have the confidence, or aren't willing to chance a commission based pay plan.

The masses seem to want a guarantee of some sort when it comes to compensation which makes the potential talent pool microscopic when it comes to finding career orientated automobile salespeople. If I posted jobs on Monster and Career Builder that read, "Auto Sales People Wanted. $50,000 Per Year Salary Plus Commissions." I'd have more resumes in that one post than I'd get in 3 months of traditional postings.

Permalink Reply by Ernie Kasprowicz on July 30, 2012 at 10:05am

Scott, you bring up a good point and I think money is a fair point to discuss. I wonder though, will the dealer get more for their money by paying a solid salary plus commission versus straight commission? I guess my question is will the gross profit on the sale increase? Will csi increase? Will retention of staff increase? I imagine it is debatable on each and if the answer isn't a resounding yes on all accounts, then what?

Permalink Reply by Scott Klein on July 30, 2012 at 2:06pm

Obviously dealers don’t think so Ernie that’s why they all pay (most anyway) 100% commission. In most stores there isn’t much structure... “There’s your desk, there’s your phone, here’s your schedule, go sell cars.” Maybe there’s some training initially, but not too much after that. We all know where our turnover ratios are in terms of salespeople based on current operating procedures of hiring salespeople on 100% commission pay plans.

So based on the above, let me throw this scenario out: Let’s assume that XYZ Motors paid a strong salary + commission. But for that salary there was mega structure. First things first, they would all be trained and be experts in the selling process.

They would all be product gurus. They would be taught to be prospecting machines, and if they weren’t face to face with a prospect, they were doing some form of prospecting to get face to face with a prospect. In other words there would be no standing around waiting for something to happen.

With a well oiled machine like that, then answer your question of “Would the gross increase?” If all the salespeople were trained the right way and knew how to sell value, not talk price on the lot, knew the way to negotiate a deal I would think the grosses would be worst case scenario the same (but probably a little higher). Same thing with CSI; if they were all trained on how to get high CSI scores, I would think they would be higher as well.

If all the salespeople were making good money, they’d have a secure job with benefits and a future. That being the case where would the retention numbers fall? Maybe, just maybe this could be an industry where people were pounding on the doors for a job, but there weren’t any available.