QuestionThis may be a little different question.
My friend, who comes from the old school, owns a successful car dealership. He bought me coffee and asked what could he do to attract salespeople that are willing to work long hours so that if the customer comes back later in the day, the sale can be closed by the same salesperson. He complained that the young applicants want a shorter day.
I told him that the modern view is quality of life as well as pay. I have an idea for him, but I ask for your help before I present it to him.
My idea is as follows:
Get two salespeople to work as a team and share commissions. One can work in the morning and the other in the afternoon, with an hour of overlap to talk about customers. They could have business cards that say they are "Team Elite", for example. If a sale is started by one, the other can close the sale when the buyer returns because the buyer has been told to look for the second salesperson who knows all about the deal.
The customer gets good service, the dealership gets some good salespeople and there is cooperation because all commissions by the "team" are split.
Is this being done by dealerships? Please give my your thoughts and any enhancements to the concept.
Answer
carguy
Hi Larry... I thought I had answered you guys already ...and this morning it is back in my que... hmmm ... probably operator error on my end.
You are correct in the modern view of life even in the car business has gravitated towards balance and quality. So far I can't even begin to conceive of how many marriages the car business has claimed as its victim... I know of two for sure because they were mine. With all of that in mind, here is what I have found to be the most workable way to accomplish what you are trying to accomplish and keep the guy who signs your checks on the front happy as well.
Partnering up with another salesperson in a team situation as you described does not work unless you are in the Internet Department, the Fleet department or in the special finance department. If you are on the line taking fresh ups in a retail setting, the couple of times we have allowed something like what you have described, we have ended up acting like a divorce court. One person thinks they are working harder than the other or one partner drops the ball or blows out the other guy's customer by mistake or out of ignorance, one guy gets the hot hand and let's it feed his ego causing him to be convinced that you are 'weaker than jail house coffee ...or circus lemonade" and he is stronger than grim death or one person thinks they are carrying the other one and it turns into a very contentious situation quickly. It has more to do with the nature of the people who are successful automotive retailers than it does with whether or not the idea itself has merit. Does that make sense ? To put it more bluntly... car guys don't have the mindset for sharing or for allowing themselves to feel taken advantage of for very long without letting the whole world know how they feel about it.
The Good news is there is a way to accomplish what you are wanting to accomplish. There is an old saying that especially when it comes to car sales and car sales professionals that "the fear of loss is greater than the desire for gain" and I think you'll agree that's true. I certainly believe it. Without knowing how many cars your store sells every month and without knowing whether you are a straight sell or liner closer set up, or how many salespeople you have the most workable configuration may or may not apply. There is a rotating schedule that requires three crews that allows each crew to have 2 1/2 days off every week in a row, and does not require over 48 hours a week and only requires one bell to bell each week. If your days off were Wednesday Thursday then you would be the early crew on Tuesday and then you would be the late crew on Friday. I would be more than happy to send you what that schedule looks like if you like to see it. Right now you're thinking... but Roger what about the customers that I'm going to potentially miss should they happen to come back later that day after I am off work? How does your schedules solve that problem?
You are correct ...the schedule does not solve the problem ... that problem is solved by you. The solution to that problem is to always make sure that you have performed the two functions the customer wants from their salesperson... And that is: they want you to be friendly and helpful... that's it! Everything else flows from being friendly, and helpful. I call this part of the process "creating common gross", so if you are with the customer in the morning and you spend your time with them being both friendly, and helpful,and spend your time building some 'common gross' with them... then just before they leave to go home and think about it, or leave to go take a look at another car or whatever they tell you they're going to do, you need to make sure that they understand very early, and very clearly how much you have enjoyed working with them, and exactly what your cell phone number is, and tell them that you can be contacted any time they want to call you. Explain to them how important it is to you to be able to provide only the highest most professional level of service to them and should they decide to come back later that day or tomorrow or whenever you would appreciate a phone call giving you at least a 30 minute advance warning so that you can make sure that you are not with other customers, this also gives you a chance to get more information from them so you can decide if they're going to come in and buy or kick tires. If they are just coming into drive another car to see how they like it but have no intention of buying that day... and it's your day off you may decide to let someone else drive them around, then let whoever drives them get middled out when they come back to buy a car. You'll also want to impress upon your customers before they leave that calling you first will make sure you are there and available so they don't have to tell their entire story to somebody new all over again who may be pushy or aggressive. If you work with a closer, then make sure he also tells them to call you and give you advance warning... when you introduce him to them before they leave
There is no way to be there all the time you would need to be there to never miss a customer of yours coming in. If you dwell on that fact then you will be miserable all the time you are away from work. Do not do that to yourself! The best way to minimize that possibility is to make sure you bond with them and create some loyalty to you before then they leave...
My private e-mail is roadloans@Gmail.com if you have any follow-up questions feel free to ask them and going direct to this e-mail will get a much faster as I check it constantly throughout the day. Good luck.
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