Categories
Dealership Training

Preparing for a Surge

Dave Gibbs Training Manager EFG Companies
Dave Gibbs
Training Manager
EFG Companies

It’s Spring! Warmer weather coupled with tax day refunds equals the potential for a customer surge. While this is certainly good news, one of the biggest challenges could be servicing that increased traffic. Whether it be prospective customers researching a purchase online or potential showroom floor traffic, responsiveness is critical to closing the sale.

To address this challenge, a knee-jerk reaction would be to extend dealership hours, schedule more employees on the showroom floor for longer hours, and hire more sales and F&I team members. Bulking up might seem like the logical solution. However, longer dealership hours can incur non-productive costs, including hourly wages and higher utility bills. Adding more staff on the floor – with longer hours – might increase your response time but it could also increase burn-out with your employees. Hiring new employees is great but your experienced staff might be too busy training those folks to effectively respond to prospective customers!

Work smarter, not harder

When experiencing a surge, the smart action is to step back and evaluate the dealership’s existing processes and measure their effectiveness. I often hear panicked dealer principals exclaim “But I don’t have time to step back! We’re slammed!” What you don’t have time for are lost sales and damaged reputations because your frazzled sales team was unprofessional, or the F&I department hurriedly left money on the table!

Continue reading “Preparing for a Surge”
Categories
Recruiting

Are Your Recruiting Practices Causing Turnover?

Contributing Author: Amber Hash Recruiting Manager EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Amber Hash
Recruiting Manager
EFG Companies

Auto dealers have always had a difficult time with employee retention. It takes a certain kind of individual who can handle the long hours, commission-based pay, and constant pressure to make a sale and increase gross. It’s easy to think that turnover is just the nature of the industry. But, we all have those dealer principals in our 20 groups who brag about the tenure of their staff. What do they have going for them that most dealers don’t?

According to the 2017 NADA Dealership Workforce Study, the median workforce tenure in retail automotive is 2.5 years. But, it takes employees in key production positions, like F&I managers, an average of three years to reach full productivity.

So, why are dealers losing key employees right before they reach their potential? A lot of it has to do with the dealer’s recruiting practices.

A common trend in the retail automotive industry is to hire the first person interviewed, often on the spot. This is especially prevalent in high volume dealerships that need to fill positions quickly to keep production levels up. The problem here is there is no vetting to make sure the person being hired is the right fit for the dealership.

One interview does not provide the entire picture of a person’s strengths, weaknesses, energy level, and ability. It’s always better to build time into your recruiting model to conduct multiple interviews, background checks, and references checks to ensure you have the right person for the job.

Continue reading “Are Your Recruiting Practices Causing Turnover?”
Categories
Compliance

Documenting Processes: More than Just Compliance

Contributing Author: Steve Roennau Vice President Compliance EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies

Over the past few years, you’ve probably heard a lot about the importance of documenting your processes. Even with the changes at the CFPB, this importance is not diminished. Remember, the CFPB does not have jurisdiction over most dealerships (except Buy Here Pay Here). State Attorney Generals, the DOJ, and the FTC do. And, these government bodies haven’t undergone significant changes.

Therefore, if you haven’t already begun the process of documenting your processes, it’s time to get that project started. I’ve spoken with a lot of dealers who thought documenting processes would take an investment of thousands of dollars and a legal team. This does not have to be the case. It simply starts with taking a process that your team completes every day and writing down the steps.

Of course, with the numerous, ongoing processes in a dealership, not everyone knows where to begin. This is especially true for those processes that are simply just part of the routine. Many dealers haven’t even conceptualized how to define them beyond, “just do it”.

Just like with any big project, think about tackling this project one bite at a time. Start with the checklist on your deal jackets. Define and write down the process behind each item on the list. Each process should consist of three components:

  • What you do
  • Why you do it
  • How you do it
Continue reading “Documenting Processes: More than Just Compliance”