Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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industry expert / special finance
territories being changed or internal program changes. They almost always have the ability to read and call credit, as well as the ability to speak the language, which can be an asset when selling a deal to a finance company.
Special Finance Sales Personnel Now that we have addressed the SF manager, where do we look for capable sales consult- ants? Personally, I have a strong belief that you are better to look outside the industry to find quality people than to try to retrain retreads. I always suggest you go "shopping" for salespeople. It certainly worked for my stores.
First of all, let's define who it is we are looking for. Give me someone with integrity, desire, and the ability to learn, follow instructions and communicate well, and I can teach them to sell. Next, you have to find someone with those traits who is motivated to enter the retail car business. That is where it tends to get dicey.
So where do you shop for salespeople? First of all, while many of us who have spent years in the business may agree that sometimes our hours are long, there are cer- tainly other businesses that have much worse hours.
Think of the restaurant and hotel industries. When you get off work and go to dinner, there is still someone serving at your favorite restaurant. Servers and hostesses have all been selected for and trained to provide excellent customer service. Additionally, they must all be able to communicate well. Are there servers who have waited on you frequently and always delivered first-rate service? If so, your hours have to be better, and I bet your pay is too.
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Hotel clerks often work 12-hour shifts, and they must be able to think on their feet when confronted with awkward situations while at the same time delivering first-rate customer service. Again, our industry offers better hours and better pay.
Also, consider other retail stores. I can't count the number of times my managers were asked to leave Best Buy or Office Depot while recruiting a salesperson—er, I mean, shopping for a computer.
Essentially, anywhere you shop, you meet potential prospects. Keep a business card with you with the follow- ing written on the back: "I just want to let you know that you do a tremendous job. If you are ever interested in a career change with a higher earnings potential, please give me a call." You cannot find enough good people with character and drive to fill your dealer- ships. Never quit looking.
Compensation
Along with hiring or promoting people comes the issue of compensation. This is as important as hiring the right person. Without a fair compen- sation plan that works for both sides, any success will be short-lived. Rather than try to build a specific pay plan in this short space, I will give you some general parameters.
First, the benchmark guide for total compensation for both sales and management is roughly 25 percent of the departmental gross profit give or take a tenth or two. That means that your goal is to fit both the manager's pay and any sales personnel pay inside that box. Average is 30 per- cent. This means that you cannot simply pay the first person you hire 25 percent of the combined gross. If you do,
