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Automobile DealerEvery automobile dealer and general manager recognizes the increasing costs of sales training. Take a look at your monthly statement. Factory sponsored training costs are on the rise. Training programs from outside vendors continue to become more costly. What return are you receiving for that investment in your sales department? The feedback I receive tells me not much is changing. High turnover and low productivity continue to plague the industry. In 2004 I was contacted by the COO of large dealer group in the midwest. He wanted to talk with me about sales training. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at his office and saw a pile of books, manuals, cd's, dvd's and tapes. Not a small pile. This pile was 3 feet high. His first question was..."Do you have any idea what this pile is?" The answer, of course, was automobile dealer sales training materials. He said,"yes, and take a guess at what I am spending annually for them."
Then he told me his grosses had remained static for over 2 years. He also shared with me his employee turn-over figures in his sales departments. The best store had a salesperson turn-over percentage of 112%, the worst in excess of 400%. Yes, 400%. Then he asked, "Why do you suppose that is?" Obviously no one answer can cover all the reasons so I asked him a question..."Who is responsible for training your salespeople?" He told me, like I thought he would, "the sales managers." My response was, "Who taught them to train?"
His answer wasn't what I expected. What he told me was each manager used training materials they liked and the GM's of his stores contracted with outside automobile dealer sales training companies on a regular basis. I had to stop him right there. I asked him one more simple question..."What vested interest do outside training companies have in your business?" None, of course. Their interest is in coming back, at hefty fees, for follow-up sessions. Any of this sound familiar? Your showroom, break room and training room probably have unused piles of this stuff just like he had on the floor of his office.
"Program of the month" is the derogatory term your managers and sales department call them.To the point; I know you're busy, just like every other automobile dealer or GM. What is the single biggest problem in automobile dealer showrooms today?
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