Digital Dealer - June 2018 - 10

DEALERSHIP MANAGEMENT

Continued from pg. 9

salespeople for help."
Training was at the top
of the list from both seasoned sales professionals
and new hires alike.
Next, I visited with the
general manager and
inquired as to how things
were going.
Of course, I had to ask
him the simple question:
"What do you consider
your greatest asset to
be?" He replied, "Our
people." When I asked
why, he said, "Well, that's
simple if they don't come
to work we don't sell
cars."
Next, I asked him how
much they spent monthly
on advertising. "$80,000
a month," he responded.
I then asked him how
much they spent on training their people, and his
reply was "zero?"
"Why zero?" I asked.
"O' I have too many irons
in the fire to take time for
that," he said.
Wow, zero? And your
greatest assets are your
people? That's kind of like
investing in a million-dollar beach or mountain
house and letting it wither
away without any maintenance being performed
on it. Just let it crumble
before your eyes and it,
in turn, paying you back
by depreciating its value
so you will ultimately lose
money. I'm sorry that just
doesn't make good sense
to me. And the 'too many
irons in the fire' rap is a
flimsy excuse for either
not knowing what to do
or being too ignorant to
understand its importance
or maybe just doesn't
want to invest in the solid
development of his peo10

JUNE 2018

ple. Mark my word, it will
cost you 20 times more
not to train your people
than to train them in good
practices and processes.
There are studies that
indicate if you hire someone, don't train them, and
they leave in 120 days it
could cost you upwards
of $50,000 to $75,000.
"How?" you ask-Brooming customers because
employees don't know
what to do, losing additional service opportunities, damaging your
reputation because of
their frustration and con-

we got the line wet but
weren't able to reel anything in."
Upon speaking with
another dealership about
how the lack of training is
commensurate with their
high attrition problem the
dealer immediately told
his GM to get out all the
old training programs
and boring videos and
start training again. That
just won't do it anymore.
Today's auto landscape
has changed dramatically. The consumers have
changed as well, and
using those tired old-

IT IS TIME TO
CONSIDER CARVING
OUT A CONSERVATIVE
FIVE TO 10% OF YOUR
AD BUDGET AND BEGIN
TO INVEST IN YOUR
GREATEST ASSET-
YOUR PEOPLE."
fusion being taken out on
customers, administration
time required interviewing and getting them on
board, employment advertising costs, managers
spending unproductive
maintenance 'fix-em' time
instead of on productive
tasks, and creating a morale problem to mention a
few. Lots of money going
down the drain. If you
would have just invested
a small percentage of the
ad budget, this person
could be contributing to
the overall growth of the
store instead of making it
go backward. One fellow
explained not training
people like this: "It's like
going fishing without a
hook on the line." Sure,

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

school training methods
will most likely do more
harm than good. New
training methods are here
so use them. Studies
have shown that the best
way to approach adult
learning is instructor-led
training for a multitude of
reasons; team engagement, feedback, comradery (learning together
and sharing of ideas/
concepts), more fun,
entertaining, and usefully
measurable.
Ok, so if our people are
truly our greatest assets
why don't we treat them
like they are? It is time
to consider carving out
a conservative five to
10% of your ad budget
and begin to invest in

your greatest asset-your
people. That newspaper
ad will be in the garbage
tomorrow, your radio or
TV ad most likely switched
to another station at the
commercial break, your
digital footprint on prospects is unnerving, but
your people will hopefully
still be there day after day,
year after year. Doesn't it
just make sense that if you
have an asset you want
to appreciate, you should
be happy to make further
enhancements toward its
appreciation valuation? I
think so, and so do many
others.
Your receptionist, service advisers, business
office, internet person all
need advancement in the
new technologies and
communications skills.
Your sales and service
people have to know the
new 21st-century way to
communicate and handle
objections. How about
phone skills? Wow, you
mean people call before
they come in. Yes, they
do, and the closing ratios
can hover around 40-45%
when processed properly.
Train them in the proper
techniques, and you will
see your asset begin to
soar. Re-focus on training
you will make an indelible
cultural change to your
store for the better. Good
ERD will certainly render
good CRD-and a whole
lot more.
CHUCK BARKER is
president and founder of
Impact Marketing & Consulting Group in Virginia. EMAIL:
Chuck@impactgroupcrm.com
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - June 2018
