Author: efgmarketing

Dealership Recruiting The Transcend Group

EFG Companies Explains the Cost of a Poor Hiring Decision

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date September 29, 2011

Have you ever made a poor hiring decision? Have you hired a staff member that within a few days or weeks you knew that you made the wrong decision? Have you allowed that staff member to continue with the hope they would catch on with additional auto sales training, only to realize that decision was costing you money by not increasing your auto sales? Most people have made these mistakes not once but over and over again. What hiring managers fail to realize is the actual cost of that poor hiring decision.

Figure the Cost

Most auto dealerships offer any new hire a 90-day guarantee to make sure the salesperson does not starve while they are in auto sales training. This allows the staff to fully participate in training and learn about increasing auto sales, without having to worry about having a check at the end of the week or month. For the new hire, it is like getting free money in his or her pocket. It is an investment the company makes with hopes of getting a great salesperson out of the process, but this training period is not free to the dealership.

Advertising, interviewing, and new hire training can cost a company approximately $8,000 or more. If that new hire only performs at 50 percent compared to your successful salespeople, this can cost the dealership approximately $44,000 over the 90 day guarantee period. Failure to ensure service tickets by not producing higher sales can cost you another $23,000-plus. This means that just in the first 90 days alone a poor hiring decision can cost you in excess of $75,000.

Recruiting and hiring the right people is the number one hurdle for most dealerships. This ranks above maximizing service revenue and increasing store traffic. Most dealerships do not have the time or personnel resources to perform this task efficiently or effectively. Let EFG Companies, a firm with more than 30 years of performance management and recruitment experience, perform this task for you. Having worked with over 1200 dealerships, we have the tools and knowledge needed to hire the right sales staff that will produce increasing auto sales. Our high quality auto sales training will have everyone on your staff, regardless of experience level, exhibiting the customer service skills that will ensure repeat customers for years to come. Do not let a poor hiring decision cost you and your dealership money.

Tags dealership recruiting, EFG Companies, PHD, poor hiring decision, recruiting top performers, The Transcend Group

Dealership Marketing

Auto Dealership Marketing: EFG Companies Gives You Five Ways to Better Market Your Dealership

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date September 14, 2011

Your customers under the age of 30 rarely read a newspaper or magazine article. They consume more than 50 percent of their information electronically. Print advertising is no longer reaching them because, for the most part, they are not seeing it. It has never been more important to review and revise how you are marketing your auto sales to existing clients and potential customers.

EFG Companies has a full range of added products and services that can help you and your dealership create marketing campaigns that will utilize the Internet and social media sites to notify, recruit, educate and retain existing clients and potential customers. The messaging could promote internet auto sales as well as service promotions offered by your dealership. Here are five effective ways to market your dealership to new and existing customers:

Your website – Do you know what constitutes a good or bad website? Your customers do. Make sure your site is up-to-date and easy to use. Images of your vehicles in inventory should be high quality, and the site should include plenty of information about your inventory, specials, incentives and reasons to buy from you.
Search Engine Optimization – According to a study done by iPerceptions in March of 2011, search engines accounted for 25-33% of the paths used to reach automotive retail sites worldwide last year. Is your site search-engine friendly?
Get social – Social media is here to stay. Many auto purchases start with a web search. 45% of new vehicle buyers and 43% of used vehicle buyers used the Internet when shopping for their vehicle, using the web to compare car models across different makes.
- Utilize Facebook for posting pictures of new cars/showrooms/inventory and for conducting giveaways and promotions
- Use YouTube to promote your vehicle inventory
- Encourage and monitor consumer reviews – more consumers are turning to online reviews from peers to read and share information about their buying experience. Make sure you have a voice in this area and that your customers are reporting a positive experience online
Use email to recruit and encourage referrals from your current customer database.
- Create a contest that features a drawing for a popular ticket item (Laptops/iPads) for referrals that result in a sale.
- Stay in touch with your customers about your service specials and other incentives
- Be visible. Participate in your community by partnering with other community businesses to give back. Sponsor a local sports team or volunteer at a local charity.

It’s a good bet that the costs to implement any of these tips will be less than what you are currently spending in print advertising for auto sales. While it is not time to abandon print advertising altogether, it is time to reassess and re-allocate your resources to increase your visibility and presence online and in your local community. EFG Companies creates lifetime customers. They can assess your current online and traditional marketing programs and assist you in creating a winning solution that will have your customers returning for generations to come.