Why Would The Best Sales Professionals Choose The Automotive Sector?,,,, (UK Dealer Article)

As we continue to publish our articles focusing on this year, a conversation we had recently with a young sales professional has forced us to change the order of publication; due entirely to the fact that it stopped us in our tracks and made us think, “Hold On They’ve Got A Point!” 

Not only that, it is a point that should resonate with everyone in the Automotive Sector, especially those running franchised dealerships and/or those in charge of securing the future succession plans within businesses, and it is an issue that we have covered many times in articles such as those listed below; 

Do Successful Used Car Professionals Exist For Franchised Dealers? 

A Pivotal Piece Of Used Car Business Development Advice!,,,, And For Free!,,, 

However, this was so shocking that we felt it needed to be revisited again because the question asked of us was as follows, and we quote; 

I Want A Career In Sales But From What I’ve Seen The Automotive Sector Is The Last Place I Should Go!,,,,, Am I Missing Something? 

Now before you all get upset and dismiss this sentiment, it is a very important point for everyone to consider because it was voiced by a young professional looking to plan their future and their professional development plan in sales, and it brings home how many manufacturers and their franchise partners are now looking for technology to drive sales and then enter a “Race To The Bottom” in terms of the quality of the sales professionals they look to acquire. 

So we decided to look at this issue in finite detail; every one of our associates has a successful new and used car sales career behind them and across all sectors of the market; those who take the time to look at my profile will see that I started my sales career with BMW in the late 80’s, my co director at Autoformance, owned a business retailing in excess of 10,000 used car s per annum during the same period, so I think it is fair to say that we are sales professionals at heart. 

So we asked ourselves one simple question; 

If It All Went Wrong, Would We Go Back To A Sales Career In The Automotive Sector? 

Now when we explored this and looked at the options, we began to understand why young sales talent, and by this we mean genuine talent, are not considering a career in the Automotive Sector. Now in order to start this process of understanding I think it is important to start with how successful sales professionals think and what it is they are looking for in a role, because if you understand what makes a successful sales professional tick, you can attract the best talent. So let’s appreciate just what the DNA of a successful sales professional looks like, in terms of their abilities and their personality, and we can assure you that the successful sales professional will include the following personality traits and skills; 

• They are big personalities, so are not shrinking violets to manage. 
• They are mercenary in their approach and are driven by monetary rewards.
• They know that they can sell anything; the mistake employers make is in not realising that this is true. 
• In their minds they are effectively self-employed, so do not need managing; this is an important point to grasp so don’t over think the management process. 
• They look for products in demand and environments with effective operational systems and accurate information flows to leverage. 
• They will look to leverage customer information and data to secure sales.
• They are not “Battery Hens” so don’t put them into this environment; they will work in ways that you don’t recognise, just because you don’t recognise their working patterns does not mean that they are not the most effective and productive. 
• 6:00 – 9:00 AM is a very productive time for the successful sales professional, who has completed 3 hours of following up, emails and other sales related work before the rest of your staff have finished their first coffee, so don’t drag them into a pointless sales meeting every day. This time is necessary to continue building the sales funnel of opportunities because for the rest of the day, guess what; their diary is full of appointments! 
• They know their place in the world and know their worth! Sales is a progressive career and they will always be looking to move on the next challenge, so make the most of them whilst they are there and ensure you are producing the professionals to replace them when they eventually leave. 
• In fact, begin to question why a sales professional hasn’t moved on after 3 years! 
• Success should dictate that they are the highest paid professionals in the organisation; do not baulk at this when this happens, try to focus on the money they are making you, not what you are paying them! 
• Rather like a sports team; the teams with success at their core attract the best talent and the best talent will never be part of a team that doesn’t share their ambition and ability to succeed! 
• They are not interested in reducing profit margins due to ineffective management of the product; it takes just as much skill to sell a car with no profit in it as it does one with a big margin. If they wanted to deal with “Cost of Franchise” issues they would be on a path towards being a Dealer Principal, so try to appreciate that sales professionals will not sell cars without reward! 
• A demo that they can lease themselves and a low basic salary are not reasons for genuinely successful sales professionals to join your organisation; in fact the majority of successful sales professionals don’t want a demo, (and the associated personal tax liability), and would also take a higher commission structure, foregoing a basic salary. 
• You are not doing them any favours! The successful sales professional tends to not put down roots, they are not afraid to embrace new challenges and can secure a new opportunity within 24 hours.

Now we are not sure that many franchised dealer networks or the associated parent manufacturers look to actively employ people with these personality traits, in fact we can’t think of the last time we met a sales professional with these traits in a franchised dealership, or a manufacturer’s organisation. 

As covered in greater detail in the previous articles listed above, a lot of franchised dealer networks have gone for the polo shirt wearing customer handling role, in terms of their sales departments, delivering the absolute best in customer service, paying people on the basis of their customer satisfaction reviews and listen; we get this, for your new car model in buoyant new car markets, when you have generated desire in the product and are at the beginning of new and exciting model launches, this can work and be a way to reduce staffing costs. 

Unfortunately, this is the staffing model for when the sun is shining, not when the skies darken, and more importantly, this will not be the staffing structure you require to grow used car retailing and secure your new car trading model; something covered in numerous articles and too big a subject to go over in greater detail again here. 

So when we looked, what did we find? Well it was shocking; in most franchised dealer networks today, (not true for all but certainly the majority), the employment landscape is as outlined below, so please take some time to digest because then you may begin to understand why your business and the Automotive Sector as a whole, is not attracting the very best sales professionals. 

• Although basic salaries have increased, (slightly), OTEs have actually come down since the 80’s for successful sales professionals! 
• This leaves the Automotive Sector paying successful sales professionals at half the salary they can achieve in other sectors, especially the technology sector. 
• Most franchised dealer networks are too reliant on the new car model and are losing control of this business to tech disruptors. 
• This leaves sales professionals with too many masters! Ask yourself a question from their point of view; just who is in charge, the manufacturer, their employer who owns the dealership or those working at tech disruptor platforms like Carwow? 
• Too few of you are successful at used car retailing, leaving earnings potential at the mercy of the cyclical cycle of the new car market, economic cycles and too vulnerable when product ranges age. 
• There is far too few programmes of personnel development that can take those wanting a career, on a development path that is fit for purpose; no manufacturer in the UK has a used car career development scheme that is fit for purpose! 
• The problems only get worse for those wanting to progress into management roles where the salary disparities with other sectors are even greater. 

So there you have it! A snap shot of the industry and how you are trying to attract the best sales talent. For those of you, (almost undoubtedly not from a sales background), who are now in positions of seniority and decision making and feel that technology will come to the rescue, be warned, technology is not the answer, it is just a tool to be utilised by the best human beings you can attract to your business. 

Unless the tide is turned and you begin investing in people again, for most there will be severe consequences; having dispensed of important operational skills such as stock disposal, used car stock acquisition and used car business development, many reading this article are not going into the current trading conditions with the expertise required to survive and then continue to grow. Sadly, in some cases, there is a tangible employment model of envy present, where people in positions of seniority actively don’t want to pay sales professionals what they are worth; most recently experienced when we were discussing plans for growing a business with the owner only to hear them say; “I don’t like sales people!” 

Now to put this into context, this was a dealership with massive problems with overage used car stock and sales rates falling off a cliff; interestingly all the sales executives had come from a non-selling background and were not being professionally developed! In reality unless attitudes change at the business, and quickly, without deep pockets and the ability to write off about £150,000 from the value of its used car stock holding, it probably will not survive what is coming to the automotive sector. 

Another thing that is interesting is how other sectors allow their sales professionals to work and we wonder who in the Automotive Sector will be brave enough to embrace the working environments that some sales professionals work in now. Many sectors paying far higher salaries than the Automotive Sector have looked at associate models for sales teams and embraced flexible working at home and around the business. They have grasped that as the work-life balance necessities change, so have working environments and the traditional model of expecting sales professionals to be tied to desks for 10 hours is looking a little like a public school from a Charles Dickens novel. 

But one step at a time, the sector as a whole is missing and not developing the skills required to succeed in the used car sector, on top of not attracting the best talent, so sooner or later something must change. Unfortunately few of you are likely to be able to draw on the skills, experience and foundations required to deliver this change, and moving forward you must either attract the best talent, be developing the best talent or preferably looking to do both alongside each other. 

Now we appreciate that finding genuinely successful used car sales and business development professionals is very difficult for both manufacturers and their franchised dealer networks but luckily help is at hand. If this post has resonated with you and you would like to know more about our used car business development consultancy and training programmes, because you would like to partner with an organisation of professionals who have faced the challenges of fast paced evolutionary markets and know how to develop a successful and profitable used car business on your behalf, (in order to keep your new car and total business objectives growing and on track), then we would very much like to hear from you. 

The owners of Autoformance have owned and run successful used car operations and been at the forefront of the development of approved used car programmes for a host of manufacturers and their franchised dealer networks. For an exploratory conversation regarding our services and how we can develop bespoke used car business development and consultancy programmes on your behalf, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Used Car Business Development Directors; Andrew Banning at ajb@autoformance.com or Malcolm Thomas at mgt@autoformance.com 

Alternatively please feel free to call me on 07796 260261. 

For more information about our services please visit our website at www.autoformance.com 

Andrew Banning. 

Used Car Business Development Director.