Why professional dealership training is critical for your success
One of the core responsibilities of dealership leaders is to hire great people to ensure that their staff contributes to the store’s profitability and success. There is no single formula to achieving that. However, professional dealership training plays a crucial role in attaining mutual growth and success. Furthermore, in the era of microwave mentality, shoppers want a new kind of buying experience. They look for convenient options to buy vehicles and lightning-fast response time. The customers depend on your sales team to complete the purchase, and you depend on them to meet your revenue goals. Therefore, dealership teams need tools and skills to keep up with the changing customer behavior while improving the PVR and performance of their dealerships.
You need to build a winning team—a team to support your business objectives and growth.
This is where professional training comes into play. Comprehensive professional dealership training of your personnel opens the door to reaching new heights.
Let’s look at some of the key reasons why professional training is essential for your dealership staff.
1. Better understand shoppers’ needs
A critical step in selling is understanding what your customers are looking for. Often, customers either aren’t clear about what they need or don’t really know what they want. Efficient sales personnel need to be trained to ask the right questions, listen, and tailor products and services to assist customers satisfactorily. Furthermore, with the proper training, the Sales and F&I personnel can correctly identify customers’ unique needs and present vehicles and products to suit their habits and needs. In addition, training also guides sales teams to effectively offer related products to increase the value of a sale. Thereby, growing the dealership’s profitability while raising customer satisfaction.
2. Influences your sales team’s efficiency
Sales and performance training help your staff build skills needed to close more deals faster. When you hire a salesperson, they are often either fresher with minimum experience or have learned through their experience over time. A data-based approach to understanding your employee’s potential and characteristics would help provide customized training. This keeps your staff updated, aligned with goals, and helps them learn proven selling approaches such as consultative over transactional methods.
3. Hiring for a replacement can hurt your business
Employee turnover is a huge problem in dealerships. Hiring for a replacement can cost 33% of an employee’s salary and may include costs such as:
- recruiting cost—ads and job portals fees
- cost of interviews—time of your human resource
- post-interview cost—check reference and backgrounds checks
- cost of employment—relocation expenses
- cost of business loss—because you didn’t have the right people to do the work
- efficiency buffer time expenses—to let the new employee learn and settle in their new role
Great dealerships work hard to maintain their staff’s satisfaction. It is cheaper to keep your employees motivated and productive than finding and hiring a new employee. Training plays a critical role in achieving this goal—it helps employees attain professional growth and reduces turnover.
4. Enhance your customers’ experience
When dealerships do not have a strategic employee training and development plan in place, it leads to inconsistent store experience. With comprehensive training, your sales team can transform into friendly, knowledgeable, and trustworthy people customers need to complete their purchase.
5. Maintain professionalism and build a stronger relationship
Positive personality, effective communication, building rapport, and professionally presenting oneself all count when it comes to selling. Dealership reputation and growth are influenced by improving how your sales team conducts themselves in front of your potential shoppers. Training your staff regularly is key to achieving success and increasing profitability.
6. Learn People’s management skills
Manager’s training is another essential aspect for running a dealership successfully, as management skills require deliberate efforts and abilities. Leadership directly impacts employees’ retention and development, reducing turnover rates and contributing to the dealership’s success. Training helps managers learn how to lead teams and optimize efficiency and profitability.
7. Maintaining compliance
Let’s face it, the regulations and laws change frequently and vary even at the local level, so keeping up is not easy for F&I managers. Dealerships can be held legally responsible for lapses in compliance. However, the largest share of compliance responsibility falls on the shoulders of the F&I department. To emphasize, proper training and compliance audits are the best ways to ensure that your team members are up to date with regulations and maintain compliance.
8. Acquire the correct understanding of responsibilities and goals
Without professional training, the responsibilities and goals of the dealership personnel may be unclear. Furthermore, clear goals and streamlined processes define a solid automotive retail business. It can be attained by strategically training the staff. After all, training is what separates your dealership from the competition.
9. Obtain product knowledge
F&I managers often provide customers with information such as the difference between a vehicle service contract (VSC) and extended warranty and GAP coverage. Similarly, a Salesperson helps customers understand the specs of the vehicle. Without professional training, it would be challenging for teams to gain complete control of the selling process, handle objections, and close the deals.
On the whole, professional training for dealerships staff is key to overall success. With that in mind, the PRO team has helped auto dealers find the right fit for essential functions and train employees for significant productivity improvements. In addition, our comprehensive F&I and Sales training has shown proven results in raising employees’ efficiency increasing sales and profits. Contact us to get custom solutions to grow the profitability of your unique dealership.