Why Training is Important________________________________Vol.2 | Issue 2 | Febuary 2006
So — you have leads, a website, a CRM/ILM, and everything else under the sun that needs to be purchased for an Internet Sales Department ... Now What?
The one thing that ties your products, people, process, and promotions together is often the very thing that people overlook: training. How many times have you not used all the features of time-saving or performance-enhancing tools like your website, lead source provider, CRM/ILM or the DMS at the dealership, simply because people were never properly trained? Has anyone ever reviewed with you the reports and statistical information their products produce?
My recommendation is to utilize training to take advantage of all of the features that come with the products you purchased. Ask your vendors about the training they offer to help you and your staff get the most out of the products' advanced features and reports. When you hire new people make sure that experts train them. Often times, the training from vendors is free or at a very low cost so there really is no reason not to be getting the most from your products.
If you're on the fence about training, consider that people who are good at what they do, tend to like what they are doing. If your employees like what they do, they will stay longer. Training your staff so that they become well versed with successful sales techniques will not only help you retain employees, but it will also make those folks more productive. How much time is wasted and how many opportunities are lost when employees are left to figure out how to sell a car or set an appointment all on their own? Those opportunities are what pay for training; it is money you can't afford not to spend.
Having a solid process or operating procedure and teaching it to everyone breeds consistency. It takes the art of selling more cars for more money and converts it into an exact science. It creates better CSI and gives you a baseline to evaluate performance of your dealership and employees. If your staff is trained on what to do, in addition to when, how and why to do it, then selling is no longer a "guessing game." It is a consistently executed formula from the results that are based on the averages at your dealership.
One of the most important training areas is on how to handle promotions. Set aside some time with each new promotion to review the information with your employees. Many promotions are designed to create up-sell opportunities and very few times is the sales force trained on how to up-sell an advertisement. Training your staff on how to use your promotions to create excitement and interest will result in more cars being sold. There is a lot of money at stake — a dealership with 10 sales people and a $50,000 monthly budget translates into about $5,000 worth of promotions per employee. Make sure they understand and utilize your promotions as you have intended.
So if Now What is the questionthen training is the answer when you want to ensure the right mix of Products, People, Processes and Promotions. Please stop by booth 4342 at NADA to view one of our free 4P training sessions and to register for your free 4P Dealership Analysis.
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