Dealerships Not Selling Their Sales Positions?
Interest in the sales position at dealerships are at a notable decline which may have a ripple effect that bleeds down to their customers. According to Isabelle Helms, head of research and market intelligence for Cox Automotive in Atlanta, job seekers would entertain the idea of working in the auto industry but that interest drastically declines if the position is for sales.
Getting Down To The Facts
Alongside a lowering interest at jumping into a sales position at a car dealership, job retention is also weak causing a concern among dealerships across the country as to why that may be. Cox partnered up with Hireology to create the “2017 Dealership Staffing Study”, in which a survey was distributed to 800 job seekers and 383 dealership employees to get down to the bottom of the growing problem.
The Numbers
67% -Â The average annual turnover for those who take on the sales position. The issue is a bit of a tug-of-war since Helms points out a notable flaw, “If you’re a dealer, you think, ‘Why would I want to invest in people if they’re going to quit?”. It’s hard to tell if the turnover is caused by a lack of pay, pressure, hours or any combination of these particular factors.
5%Â – The percentage of job seekers in the 800 person study that said they would entertain the idea of working in the automotive industry. Of that amount,
75% of those people would opt out of doing so if that work was at a dealership. The optimistic factor in those numbers is that Helms points out that interest increases when it is specified the job would not be in the sales department.
28%Â – From 18% for women told they position would not be in sales.
38%Â – From 31% for men who were told the same thing.
Diving Deep Into “Why?”
Pay structure is certainly one of the leading factors. Commission based pay puts a lot pf pressure on sales representatives to produce and alongside lack of proper training (another factor Helms points out) can provide a bad combination.
The most important thing we took away from this whole dilemma is Helms’ point that this all may affect the customer experience, stating that, “We know this negatively impacts the consumer experience and morale of staff”. Being that the sales position is so integral in making sure a dealership works the way it should and the customer leaves happy, it can an extremely difficult task to juggle for dealership owners and managers.
Sales representatives are in charge of not only selling lot inventory, but also potentially purchasing a customer’s trade in. Being that Trade-In Solutions doesn’t operate the retail aspect of car selling, we are able to focus solely on making sure not only are our customer’s vehicles are purchased for a price they are happy with but that enjoy their experience while they are here.
