Far be it for me to talk about a dealer’s need for training, but here I am, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. One constant recently has been dealership owners speaking about how COVID made their staff lazy, but now that it’s over, dealership sales will get back to the way it was by staffing our showrooms with dedicated, trained salespeople. This is right and wrong. Yes, they need to be trained and retrained. No, it’s not over. I bristle when I hear people describe the COVID era as being “over”. Somebody better tell COVID because I still see it dragging people away from work on the daily, each with a complaint that their newest strain was worst than last time’s. Maybe we should just say, “since how COVID impacted production through chip shortages” because I maintain, it has not gone away.
The overall sentiment is not incorrect, though. It was far easier to be a salesperson when inventory levels were low, incentives were non-existent, and customers were paying over MSRP on the daily because they had no other choice. But that was short-lived, and the mindset is short-sighted. (Most) OEMs returned to jamming lots full of what they want them to sell, getting aggressive with their incentives, and reeling from the fact that they too jacked up their base MSRPs beyond what many in a tough economic climate can afford. One thing most assuredly didn’t change since COVID and that is the shopper’s desire to find reasons not to visit a dealership, or at least, do all their due diligence before they do, whether it be building out a deal online in advance of their visit, or having it delivered to them, yes indeed, customers got used to that, and smart dealers kept it ingrained into their offerings. The need to try never ended.
Dealership sales is back to requiring a salesperson to put in work both in their effort and their word tracks. It also is forcing dealers to get back to fishing. Sure, “if COVID still existed” (see how stupid that sounds), we would be in the driver’s seat. It was like fishing on a lake stocked with fish, and you’re the only one on the water. No matter the bait, fish would bite. You could use the cheapest grub or the jankiest plow jockey, you were going to hook someone. That is not the ocean we fish in today. We need to have the best materials, the most enticing bait (read, marketing and website), and a darn good fisherman on the pole to reel in today’s discerning customers. The days of sitting on a boat and having fish jump in willy-nilly without even casting a line is past us, and your team needs to be skilled (and trained) at bringing them in if dealership sales are to grow. Get back to teaching them to fish.
For that reason, consider training. Realize COVID isn’t over, only how it impacted our (lack of) effort levels and production. Customers still want the easy way to purchase, and if your dealership isn’t structured to offer them that experience, or your team isn’t trained to facilitate it, you’ll have an empty showroom. We need to get back to being fishermen (is “fisherwomen” a phrase? If so, that too). We need to recognize what lures them in has changed, and it will require more of us to get them to bite. Your dealership sales count on it. If your team isn’t trained to put in the work, they shouldn’t be out on the water.
