The Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown that women only make up about 21.4% of all employees at auto dealers. These numbers, however, do not match up with other driving and purchasing trends.

For example, in an analysis conducted by Frost & Sullivan, it was found that 51% of all licensed drivers in the U.S. are women. Even more surprising? 80% of car buying decisions are influenced by women. Road & Travel Magazine believes that number is even higher; they say that women control 95% of all auto purchases.

“When buying a new car, women are practical, but they also tend to associate the purchase with aspirations of freedom and independence,” said Frost & Sullivan’s Partner and Global Director Sarwant Singh in a press release about the company’s study.

So, if more women are driving than men, and they are also playing a major role in car buying decisions, why aren’t more auto dealerships creating a more female-friendly experience?

Do auto dealership customers want women selling cars?

Women are major decision-makers when it comes to purchasing vehicles, but at the end of the day, do customers want to buy from them?

CNW Marketing Research has found:

• 39% of women would rather deal with women in the car showroom
• 10% of men would rather buy from other men
• 13% of women prefer to deal with men
• 11% of men want to deal with women
• The remaining customers are indifferent about the sales representative’s sex

An article from Wards Auto notes that women like buying cars from women — they trust them, and they speak the same language. The article also recommends, along with other industry experts, that a dealership sales force should be about 30% women; there should also be women in the finance and insurance departments as well.

Success of all-female dealership staff shows benefits of women selling cars

An auto dealership in Victoria, Texas — Victoria Auto Smart — has made headlines due to its unique, all-female staff. The dealership never intended to hire only women, but after a while, they realized that the accident was working out just fine.

“People are always surprised when they see it’s all women who work here,” said Jessica Peinkofer, sales manager, in an interview the Victoria Advocate. “We get that all the time.”

The dealership believes they are popular because they can understand their customers’ needs, and also relate to female customers. They prioritize relationship-building — asking about things such as dogs, babies, and families — to pinpoint what the customer is indeed looking for. A Great Dane and a car seat won’t both fit in a Fiat 500. The women aren’t pushy, and they realize choosing a car can be a long process.

Women selling cars = overall increase in profit

Car dealerships don’t do a great job communicating with women, and that shows in the 74% of women who say they feel misunderstood by car marketers and salespeople.

“The auto industry today is in trouble, and automakers are struggling so hard,” said Jody DeVere, president and CEO of Ask Patty, a site staffed by women car experts who advise other women on car purchases and service. “Yet they’re only doing lip service to women in terms of marketing and selling. When what they need to do is change, and create an environment where women don’t equate buying a car or getting it serviced with going to the dentist.”

There’s no way around the facts: About 95% of the 20,000 auto dealers in the U.S. belonging to the National Automobile Dealers Association are male. The customers, however, are not predominantly male.

When auto dealerships prioritize hiring women to sell cars, they may finally realize that the old “boys club” model is just that — old. The realization will come in the form of more happy customers who appreciate relationship-driven service and feel like their voices are being heard. And, in this social media age, when customers feel valued, they let everyone know — which means more profit for dealers and a better overall reputation in the community.

Hiring More Women in Dealerships: Breaking the Mould

It’s interesting to note that the problem of female underrepresentation in car sales is not because of a lack of interest from women. Women are not just interested in buying cars; they are interested in selling them too. According to Deloitte’s Women in Automotive Industry report, 88% of women would be interested in a career in the auto industry if it were more inclusive.

The auto industry and dealerships, in particular, should focus on hiring more women, given the rising trend of women becoming primary consumers. Women have the potential to bring a refreshing change to the auto sales floor, transforming the current, more traditional ‘boys club’ model into a new, diverse and progressive space.

Why is there a need for more women in car sales?

The industry requires women in sales roles because they bring a different approach to sales and have a greater understanding of the desires of female customers. Women are often more empathetic, intuitive, and less aggressive in their sales techniques, and these qualities can contribute to a more comfortable buying experience for many customers, particularly for women, who often feel alienated by the current male-dominated sales environment.

Addressing women’s needs in car sales

When women are present in the dealership, they often create an environment that allows customers to feel less pressure and more at ease. They encourage buyers to take their time, understand their needs, and make the best decision for them without feeling rushed or pressured.

Women salespeople also have a better understanding of the features that appeal to women. From safety features to in-car technology, seating configuration to storage capacity, they have a unique understanding of these needs, leading to a better overall buying experience.

Creating a More Inclusive Dealership Environment

Building a more female-friendly environment is not just about hiring more women. It’s also about promoting inclusivity in terms of dealership design, marketing approach, and customer engagement.

Dealerships should be more focused on creating a more relaxing, friendly, and non-intimidating environment. There should be a play area for children, a comfortable waiting area, and a more welcoming atmosphere overall.

Marketing strategies also need to be geared towards women. Instead of the usual adrenaline-fueled commercials, they should focus more on the practical aspects of car ownership. They should highlight safety, reliability, and fuel efficiency – aspects that are more important to women.

Lastly, the engagement approach should be altered to meet the preferences of women. Women prefer to deal with salespeople who take time to explain things to them, who are respectful and considerate, and who don’t undermine their knowledge or decision-making abilities.

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Peter has a reputation around town as a savvy dealership business owner. He’s the top-selling auto dealer in his county, is known for his inventory of high-demand vehicles, and the customer service scores for his employees are off the charts. In addition to that, he spends a pretty penny on all types of advertising and has become a bit of a local legend for his one-of-a-kind television commercials.

From the outside, Peter appears to be doing everything right. He’s the envy of other local dealership owners; they all wonder what he’s doing to make so much money.

The truth? Peter’s profits are abysmal. He wants only the best for his dealership business—the best cars, employees, advertising—and he’s willing to spend big money to make that happen. Unfortunately, he’s spending too much, and his expenses aren’t in sync with his gross profits.

He likes to reason that, “You gotta spend money to make money!” but he has to get a grip on his expenses before his business implodes.

Your situation may not be as dire as Peter’s, but if you think there’s room to trim your dealership costs, you’re probably right. Even if you think your input versus output is a well-oiled machine, it’s certainly worth your time to look at your books and see where you may be able to reduce your expenses–you could be very surprised.

Where to start making your dealership business more profitable

“Someone in your organization has to get into the weeds with your expenses…if not, you are clearly leaving as much as 25% on the table day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year,” writes Doug Austin, founder and President of StrategicSource, Inc.

First, look at a month-by-month income statement for the last year of business. This spreadsheet will allow you to compare your sales, cost of sales, gross profits, and expenses. Do you notice any trends?

Now, you’re going to want to start digging deep into your expenses. These costs should be separated into two different groups because not all expenses are created equal. You’ll have:

1. Variable expenses

Expenses directly related to sales and inventory carrying costs. These should change proportionately to your sales and gross profits.

Types of variable expenses may include floor plan interest, demo expense, delivery expense, advertising, personnel, employee benefits, absentee wages.

2. Fixed expenses

These expenses remain pretty consistent month after month.

Types of fixed expenses include office and shop supplies, credit card interest, legal, postage, repairs and maintenance, insurance, utilities.

Once you’ve narrowed down your expenses for the last year, don’t just skim over the numbers to see if everything “looks good.” You need to take each category, one by one, and evaluate the money that was spent and why. If you’ve never done this before, you’re probably going to find a lot of areas that you could easily reduce without affecting your normal flow of business.

Dealership business expense categories with room to trim

Where you ultimately choose to reduce costs will depend on your individual dealership, but here are some common areas where others may cut back:

1. Advertising

Advertising is essential when you’re running a dealership, but it needs strategic management. You can’t just throw money into commercials, print ads, and pay-per-click ads without also measuring results and ROI. You love producing your TV commercials, but you may find that the numbers aren’t adding up and they simply aren’t bringing in the amount of business they need to.

2. Personnel

Don’t go firing anyone, but an easy area to save money is by watching how much overtime your employees are clocking. Have management sign off on all overtime before it goes to payroll. Also, be smart about who you hire. Dealerships tend to have a lot of turnover, and that gets expensive–try to minimize that as much as possible by taking the time to hire the right people.

3. Office and shop supplies

How can you reduce the cost of supplies if you need them to do business? Two simple ways are to shop around for discounts and keep supplies locked up at all times–appoint specific employees to be keyholders. Employees can sometimes get sticky fingers, especially when it comes to office supplies–“who’s going to miss an envelope?!”–but the costs add up over time and can impact your bottom line.

4. Inventory

Those used cars sitting on your lot cost you money every single day. A 60-day rule on your lot could help (though it should preferably be 30 days) so your inventory keeps moving, but your money doesn’t.

You’re going to find that by taking the time to review your expenses and tightening the purse strings a little, your dealership business profits will vastly improve without too much effort.

5. Revising Vendor Contracts and Streamlining Business Processes

Another practical avenue to explore for cutting costs is to renegotiate your vendor contracts. Be it the IT support services, janitorial services, or vehicle maintenance equipment, there’s a good chance that you can find a more competitive rate than what you’re currently paying. By leveraging the prospect of a long-term relationship, you may be able to negotiate better terms with your current providers, or switch to a cheaper vendor that can deliver the same quality of services.

Streamlining your business processes is another great way to cut costs. By identifying inefficiencies and redundancies in your operations, you can devise methods to increase productivity while reducing overhead. For example, using dealership management software can automate a lot of tasks, minimizing errors and freeing up valuable time that can be better utilized. Digitalizing your documentation process, for instance, can help save costs on paper and printing, as well as make retrieving and sharing information more efficient.

6. Reevaluating Marketing Strategies

Digital marketing presents a cost-effective alternative to traditional advertising mediums like television commercials or print ads. According to Google, 95% of car buyers use digital as a source of information. Hence, shifting your marketing efforts towards channels like social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and email marketing could yield substantial savings.

Moreover, digital platforms offer advanced analytics tools, allowing you to track the performance of your campaigns and fine-tune your marketing strategies based on data-driven insights. By focusing on high-performing channels and eliminating underperforming ones, you can significantly reduce your advertising expenses while still reaching your target audience effectively.

7. Investing in Employee Training and Development

While this might seem counterintuitive, investing in your employees can lead to cost savings in the long run. Properly trained employees are more efficient, make fewer mistakes, and provide better customer service, leading to more sales and less waste. Additionally, providing opportunities for growth and development can increase employee loyalty and reduce turnover, which can save significant costs related to hiring and training new employees.

8. Reducing Energy Usage

Energy costs are another area where you can potentially save. Implementing energy-saving measures like using energy-efficient lighting, insulating your buildings, and encouraging employees to turn off equipment when not in use can lead to substantial savings over time. Investing in renewable energy sources like solar panels can also yield significant returns in the long run, and they’re beneficial for the environment too.

9. Implementing Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance of your dealership’s equipment and infrastructure can save you from costly repairs and replacements in the future. Regular maintenance can prolong the lifespan of your assets and ensure they’re running at optimal efficiency. This can be as simple as regular oil changes and tire rotations for your demo vehicles, or timely servicing of your HVAC systems and other utilities.

Driving Profitability by Streamlining Car Dealership Expenses

Reducing dealership expenses isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about optimizing your resources to achieve the best results. With careful analysis and strategic planning, you can significantly reduce your expenses without compromising on the quality of service you provide to your customers. This way, you not only improve your dealership’s profitability but also its sustainability in the long run. Remember, every penny saved is a penny added to your bottom line.

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Even the best salesperson can fall short of targets if they’re not organized. If you’re a sales manager, strategies for helping disorganization are crucial to employee success and retention.

Handling disorganized staff can be a significant hurdle to overcome as a sales manager. Strategies to address disorganization, however, can help a struggling employee become successful. Indeed, the initial burden of disorganization often does fall on a manager to help rectify, though, in the end, the employee needs to do the bulk of the work. Still, having managerial support is undeniably important.

Not all sales manager strategies for dealing with employee disorganization will work for everyone. Still, if employee success and retention are hot topics for your business, you may find it to be worth the investment of your time and perhaps a little money to get the employees you believe in on track.

Not sure where to begin? Here are a few helpful sales manager strategies that address employee disorganization and give all of your teams a chance to succeed.

5 Sales manager strategies for getting your team organized

1. Time management training

Often, disorganized employees have more trouble with their time than they do with actually keeping their notes and records in order. By offering time management training, you’ll empower employees to take control of their calendars and ensure that they’re making the most of their days by prioritizing, re-prioritizing, and sticking to a schedule rather than being all over the place. Some employees may need refreshers on this as well, so it could be a good thing to offer more than once a year unless you’re a very small business. Either way, revisiting this kind of training even once a year may help eliminate disorganization.

2. Take advantage of technology

Using a CRM tool like AutoRaptor is a tremendous help with staff organization, and may be one of the best sales manager strategies for eliminating disorder. Software like ours not only allows for clean, easy management of client profiles, including notes, contact information, and regular updates, but you can also do things like automating tasks, which give your employees more time to focus on other areas where they need to get organized. Using this technology will surely bring about improvement in most disorganized staff members. If it doesn’t, you’ll know that the problem runs deeper than the surface and may require more aggressive interventions.

3. Morning huddles

If your business is small enough, have a morning huddle with all staff members so you know what each person is working on. This also allows each of them to think about their priorities for the day and how they’re going to tackle all they have to do. Some people may push back on this, but as far as sales manager strategies go, this approach can bring about much success, especially if you help each employee understand the value of the huddle. Even if people don’t feel they need it, if they understand that one of the points is to help their colleagues improve, they may become more engaged and help you bring about more success from other staff members who’ve been falling short.

4. Create a foundation for universal organization

Getting people organized is tricky because, among other reasons, everyone has a different organizational style. Some people organize themselves very well, and some don’t. While the ones who like to do things their own way may find this intrusive, it can be helpful to set a universal standard for how you’d like to see your team members organized each day. Ask them to update project plans, schedule out their days in their calendars, share each others’ calendars so everyone can see who’s up to what, etc. This gives structure to those who need it and increases accountability, which can help motivate those who struggle with staying on task.

5. Create individual performance plans

Finally, suppose none of these sales manager strategies prove effective in addressing disorganized employees. In that case, it may be time to create individual performance plans for those who are falling short of your expectations. Don’t present this as a warning or a threat to end their employment; instead, use it as a tool and resource for struggling employees to fall back on. It should include a timetable for expected results and measurable goals an employee can take to achieve those results. These plans can be hard to deliver, but they can often help people turn around quickly and be more successful at their jobs.

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Why you need to get your dealer forms organized and what you can do about it right now

“I’ve just never been an organized person.”

“I try to keep my office organized, but I get so busy, and things pile up.”

“I have an awful memory. I tell myself I need to fill out a specific form ASAP or print out some new ones, but things seem to always slip my mind.”

Do you use these excuses to explain why your dealership’s business office and dealer forms are so disorganized? These reasons may work in your personal life, but in business — especially in an industry as regulated as the auto industry — you simply can’t afford to write-off being scatter-brained as an unfortunate, unfixable trait.

“Organized people are not born; they’re built,” says John Trosko, founder of OrganizingLA, speaking with Fast Company. “The people who emerge as ‘organized’ use a variety of tools and methods to accomplish their goals and priorities in life.”

Does it really matter if your dealer forms are organized?

The short answer? Yes! The longer explanation? Keeping dealer forms organized isn’t just a nice way of keeping the business office neat and clean—being organized saves the entire company time and money. Organized dealer forms help you:

Prevent funding delays.

After you’ve sold a financed vehicle, you’re out that money until you submit the proper paperwork and the finance company sends you what they owe you. If you’re not using a checklist the banks provide, you don’t know who’s in charge of handling the forms, or you’re rushing through and making errors, it’s going to take longer to get paid.

Streamline the process for customers.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers for a minute. They’ve found the car of their dreams, they’re approved for financing, and they just want to seal the deal and drive their new vehicle home. But then they end up in your office. Your desk is piled high with folders and stray dealer forms, and you just can’t seem to find what they need. Being disorganized in front of customers can make them second-guess their decision to buy from you, or leave such a bad taste in their mouths that they tell their friends, family, and the online review community about the experience.

Stay compliant.

This is no surprise to you, but compliance is everything. If you can’t keep your business office and dealer forms organized, there’s a much greater likelihood something is going to fall through the cracks, and you’ll be faced with a possible compliance violation.

Keep floor plan auditors happy.

When a floor plan auditor makes a surprise visit to your dealership, you need to be ready to give them whatever they need. If you don’t have one person in charge of audits or have titles organized and readily available, your audit experience probably won’t be a great one.

Getting dealer forms organized

Organization isn’t a magic formula, though. Here are a few ways you can get your business office on the right track:

Don’t put the entire overhaul on your shoulders. If organization is not your forte, there’s nothing wrong with making it a group project. Have a business office meeting, tell the team what you’re going to discuss ahead of time, and ask them to think of ways to streamline and organize your dealer forms. In brainstorming together, you may come up with solutions no one would consider individually.

Can you categorize forms? Look at all the different dealer forms you use and figure out if you can categorize them and keep them in different groups. For example, you could group forms according to where a customer is in the buying process, so you always know where to look for what you need.

Think about where you can go paperless. With all of the digital technology available, it’s amazing to witness how many dealerships haven’t gone paperless yet. It’s not going to be an option for every type of dealer form, but do some research into what exists and what your dealership can afford. Instead of having multiple filing cabinets, stacks of papers, and countless folders, you can streamline everything and go digital.

An organized business office is essential for any dealership that wants to succeed. By taking the time to organize dealer forms and get internal processes in order, your business office will be more efficient, professional, and a happier place to be.

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Plus, 8 sales consultant interview questions you should never ask

Poor hiring practices are one of the primary reasons that the turnover rate is so high in auto dealerships, and why so many dealerships are losing money every time a salesperson walks out the door.

“Most dealerships have a better process for buying office supplies than they do for hiring people,” said Adam Robinson, CEO of Hireology, speaking with Automotive News.

What can your dealership do to attract, hire, and keep the right team members?
It all begins with the type of sales consultant interview questions you ask prospective employees.

Time to hire an auto sales consultant? Interview questions you need to ask (and a few you shouldn’t)

Before launching into these sales consultant interview questions, think about what types of answers you’d like to hear based on your dealership’s culture and needs. If your dealership is high pressure with an intense selling atmosphere focused on making money, you may want a candidate’s answers to be more money-driven. If you run a family dealership where long-term customer relationships are a priority, then you may want to look for customer-focused answers that align with the core values of your business.

1. Why do you want to be an auto salesperson?
2. Did you play sports or compete on any team in high school or college?
3. What is your approach to handling customer objections?
4. What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment in life thus far?
5. What are your biggest weaknesses on the job—and what steps have you taken to address them?
6. Sell me something.
7. Do you have experience using an automotive CRM? If so, how have you used the features to your advantage?
8. What motivates you to make a sale?
9. What are three adjectives a former manager would use to describe you?
10. What are your favorite questions to ask prospects?
11. How do you keep up with industry trends?
12. What are your long-term career goals?
13. What do you find most rewarding about working in sales?
14. How comfortable are you with cold-calling?
15. How would you describe your sales technique?

While you’re asking the great sales consultant interview questions listed above, you should also avoid the following questions because they’re either inappropriate or just plain illegal.

1. What country are you from originally?
2. Do you have children? Or are you planning to?
3. This job requires long hours, as well as nights and weekends—do you have reliable childcare arrangements?
4. How old are you?
5. (Speaking to a woman) Our sales team is 100% male right now. How do you feel about working with all men?
6. How many sick days did you take last year?
7. How tall are you?
8. How much do you weigh?

Steer clear of any questions that could make people uncomfortable or that could potentially point to discrimination of any kind.

Looking beyond sales consultant interview questions

Asking the sales consultant interview questions in person shouldn’t be your only measure for hiring a new employee.

Look a little closer at cover letters and resumes.

How is their grammar and writing style? Are there spelling errors? Poorly formed sentences? Is the tone too casual? Remember that a salesperson is likely putting their best foot forward when writing their resume and cover letter — if their writing style leaves a lot to be desired, imagine what their emails to customers might look like.

Evaluate their telephone skills in a phone interview.

Before bringing someone in for an interview, conduct a 15-minute phone screen to get a feel for their verbal skills and how they convey their personality over the phone. Salespeople spend a lot of time on the phone, so if they can’t capture your attention, they probably won’t capture your customers either.

Watch body language during the in-person interview.

They’re saying everything you want to hear, but how are they saying it? Are they looking at you while they talk, or looking down? Are they gesturing appropriately with their hands, or are they nervously wringing them? Do they appear calm and in control, or is the right leg vibrating nervously?

An all-around good salesperson will be so much more than someone who has all the right answers to your sales consultant interview questions, but that’s certainly a good place to start.

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Blaming the lack of motivation entirely on your dealer staff? It may be time for sales managers to look in the mirror.

In the latest management meeting at your dealership, how were those sales numbers looking? Were you happy with them? Or, like many other sales managers around the country, did you see a lot of room for improvement?

It’s normal to want to achieve more sales and higher profits—that’s why businesses exist, after all. However, do you find yourself and your fellow managers blaming dealer staff motivation—or lack thereof—for the less-than-stellar numbers?

According to a Gallup study, which looked at workplaces in 142 countries, only 13% of employees said they are engaged at work. 63% of employees said they are not engaged, which was defined as lacking motivation and less likely to invest discretionary effort in organizational goals or outcomes. The other 24%? They were classified as “actively disengaged,” which was even worse—they were unhappy, unproductive, and likely to spread negativity to coworkers.

If your management team is blaming this lack of motivation on the employees themselves, though, that frustration is misguided. Your dealer staff isn’t just inherently unmotivated — there can be many reasons, several of which may trace back to you, your fellow management team, and the way you’re running the dealership.

Where’s the disconnect happening? It’s time to look at some of the reasons your team may be uninspired and apathetic at work.

Get to the root of the motivation problem with your dealer staff

Why can’t your team seem to find the drive to care? Here are seven possible reasons:

1. They don’t feel appreciated.
How does your dealership thank employees for jobs well done? Your staff is only human — they know they’re getting paid to do a job, but they still crave some positive reinforcement. Aside from regular “thank you’s” and pats on the back, think about what you and your management team can also do once in a while like surprise lunches, team-building field trips, or monthly birthday parties.

2. Your advertising efforts are sub-par.
Your salespeople are relying on you to help them get a steady stream of qualified leads through that front door. If they’re working their tails off to prospect, but you still won’t create a free Facebook page or invest money in digital marketing efforts, they’re going to get frustrated and ultimately, unmotivated. If you won’t optimize and prioritize your advertising budget, why should they bother?

3. There’s no organization or support for the sales team.
In a study from Staples Business Advantage, only 21% of respondents said their business supplied them with the latest technology. Workers productivity is directly linked to the tools you provide, so it may be time to take a hard look at your current CRM — if you even have one. Is your sales team just flying by the seats of their pants to keep things organized? Or do you have a state-of-the-art automotive CRM that streamlines everything and helps them stay organized and feel connected?

4. Your current systems and plans aren’t perceived as fair.
If you were a salesperson, would you be happy with the way leads are distributed? How about the current commission and bonus plans? Be honest. Consider seeking the feedback of your dealer staff to find out how they feel. Let them take an anonymous survey so they aren’t afraid to be honest, and ask them a) if they think these plans are fair and b) if they don’t, what would they propose?

5. They feel like their voices aren’t heard.
It can put a damper on employee motivation when your dealer staff feels like their opinions don’t matter and no one is interested in listening to them. Actively solicit employee feedback on a variety of topics, let them run sales meetings sometimes, and keep those lines of communication open.

6. The turnover rate is depressing.
Turnover is notoriously high in auto dealerships, and watching friends leave regularly can be hard for employees. Some parts of turnover are unavoidable, but focus on what you can change and improve. Make it clear that employee retention is a high priority for your dealership and work hard to keep those people.

7. You don’t support their professional development.
Even if your employees like their positions, there’s always that underlying desire to get better. When you offer professional development opportunities and skill-building activities for your dealer staff, you’re putting your money where your mouth is and showing them you care about their careers.

Employees are burning out. They’re doing more work and feeling stressed out and underappreciated. Figure out the situations within your dealership that may be holding your staff back from excellence, and make an effort to prioritize their happiness.

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Make your job easier and your customers happier by following these simple rules for proper business office etiquette

F&I Managers are important leaders in nearly every auto dealership. On any given day, you can find them trying to complete deals, boost profits, overcome customer objections, finish (error-free) paperwork quickly, and keep up with compliance on all fronts. The job can be hectic and high-pressure, but also incredibly rewarding.

If you’re an F&I Manager, none of this is a secret to you. You know how busy you are and how tough your job can be. However, are you doing certain things that are making your job more difficult? Is there a chance your business office etiquette is responsible for the objections, distractions, and awkward conversations that make work more difficult?

F&I managers: How to improve your business office etiquette

Don’t think of these tips as more things you have to add to your “to do” list. They’re meant to serve as helpful reminders of how small changes can make a big difference.

1. Create a professional environment.

When you’re busy all the time, and there’s a never-ending stream of paperwork on your desk, it can be tough to stop and look around for a minute. You need to, though—and take a good hard look at your office. Is your office representing you accurately to customers and employees?

Make sure your space is clean and keep the piles of paperwork to a minimum. Decorate your office appropriately and create an environment that reflects how you want your customers to feel or respond to you.

2. Stay away from high-conflict topics.

It’s good to have strong opinions about things like politics, religion, and civil rights—but when it comes to proper business office etiquette, leave your opinions at home. Keep the conversation light, friendly, and professional. Also, avoid any “negative talk.” Even if you’re trying to bond with a customer over a common gripe, you don’t want them to develop the perception that you’re anything but upbeat and optimistic.

3. Avoid offensive smells.

How often do you heat up last night’s leftovers to eat at your desk? Or run outside for a smoke break before meeting with a customer? You may not think twice about things like this, but offensive smells (like re-heated curry chicken or cigarette smoke) can leave a bad taste in your customers’ mouths.

Don’t just avoid offensive smells, though—think about how you can make your office smell better. Smell can have an enormous subliminal impact on a person’s purchasing decisions, so if you can get the right scent in your office, you may just start making more money, too. Bonus business office etiquette tip: Don’t eat in front of customers. It’s unprofessional.

4. Don’t make your customers wait.

Some F&I Managers like to pretend they are the great and powerful Oz and force customers to wait to meet them in person. You sit in your office and shuffle around paperwork and eventually, give the salesperson the go-ahead to send the customer to your office. Cut it out and instead, think about how you would want people to treat you in the same situation.

Walk to the salesperson’s desk to introduce yourself to the customer and shake his or her hand. Let them know upfront what you do and what you’re going to help them accomplish. Offer to get them a drink or snack, since F&I paperwork can take a little while. The bottom line? The basis of good business office etiquette is always respecting your customers’ time.

Business office etiquette extends beyond the dealership walls

Some F&I Managers think the post-sale follow-up is only for salespeople, but it’s just polite to keep in touch. Use your automotive dealership CRM to create email templates and set up ways to follow up with your customers. Make sure they’re happy with their financing and any add-ons they purchased, and ask if there’s anything else you can do to help them. Remember, a new car is an enormous purchase and a big commitment, so just to receive that little follow-up note can make quite a difference for a customer.

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Protect your investments and your inventory with proper vehicle title storage

You spend plenty of time and money making sure the inventory at your auto dealership is in tip-top shape. Your team is always cleaning cars, making repairs, taking care of dealership insurance, and finding just the right light for a quick photo shoot. You don’t want those vehicles to sit on your lot for too long, but during their short stays, you baby them and guarantee your investments are well taken care of.

So why haven’t you prioritized proper title storage yet?

Sure, titles don’t sell cars. You don’t take a picture of a title, post it on your website, and get calls from interested customers asking about “that nice-looking title!” A vehicle’s certificate of title, however, is the legal document that establishes ownership. If someone wants to buy that red Mazda6 you’ve been trying to sell for months, and the title has magically disappeared into the black hole of your dealership, you’re certainly going to be in a bit of a predicament.

Vehicle title storage requires planning and organization

First and foremost, if your dealership doesn’t have a title clerk yet, hire one. Managing incoming and outgoing titles and registrations is a full-time job that requires a great deal of detail. Your other dealership employees already have plenty to do and worry about—don’t throw such an essential mix of tasks on a random person’s desk.

When it comes to title storage, consider a solution that will realistically work in your dealership. Keep these points in mind, though, no matter what:

1. Proper title storage should offer protection from fire and water damage.
2. Titles should be organized in one safe place.
3. If more than one person is handling titles, consider implementing a sign-out process.

It’s not uncommon to keep titles in a fireproof, waterproof filing cabinet or safe in the title clerk’s office. If you have a sign-out process, maintain the list on the safe or filing cabinet so that in the event the clerk is not in the office, they’ll still be able to keep tabs on where every title is.

In addition to keeping your titles protected and accounted for, suitable title storage can offer your dealership additional benefits. In the day-to-day operations of your dealership, you’ll likely notice an improved general workflow that wasn’t there before; making small changes can have a significant impact.

When your financing bank comes by to do a floor plan audit, you’ll quickly appreciate another benefit of organized title storage. Having quick, easy access to every title on the auditor’s list will make the entire process go much faster—and the bank will appreciate (and take note of) your efficiency and organization.

What can happen if you don’t have proper title storage

You already know titles are essential. You can’t sell a car if you don’t have the title. And if you don’t have a title—either because it was lost or damaged by someone in your dealership—you’re on the hook for getting another one.

Before you can sell the vehicle with the lost or damaged title, your title clerk will need to apply for a duplicate title. This requires filling out paperwork, and either visiting the DMV or mailing the application in. You will usually get the duplicate title much quicker if you go to the DMV, but the visit itself can take a lot of time out of the clerk’s day. Either way, this is all extra time that the now unsellable vehicle is sitting on your lot.

Additionally, without a title clerk keeping titles organized and safe, there’s a greater chance your dealership will face various penalties. For example, most states have regulations in which you must file the title application for a customer within 30 days—if you don’t, you may be fined. If your dealership doesn’t have someone organizing titles and establishing processes, you might be fined far more often than you’d like.

Of course, some states don’t require titles and instead use a “bill of sale” or other documents. No matter what state your dealership operates in, though, it’s always a good idea to keep these documents all together, safe from harm, and easily accessible.

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Automotive dealer management teams have a direct influence on sales and customer experience, so make that impact overwhelmingly positive.

We’ve all got bad habits: nail biting, eating junk food, spending too much time on social media…we’re only human, after all. No one wants to deal with these things forever, but as long as your bad habits aren’t hurting others, they’re yours to face when you’re ready.

Bad habits at work, though? They’re another beast—one you need to conquer if your business, employees, and customers are going to thrive.

When it comes to less-than-favorable automotive dealer management habits, they tend to form slowly over time, or you inherit them when you start at a new dealership. Whether problems at your dealership are the direct result of your automotive dealer management style, or are just totally ingrained in your dealership’s culture from past managers, you can’t let them continue any longer.

6 Common bad habits of automotive dealer management teams

1. Incentivizing salespeople to be sleazy

In the auto industry, it’s always been a struggle to battle negative stereotypes of salespeople, but we’ve come a long way. Don’t contribute to the problem by encouraging your sales team—whether directly or indirectly—to be pushy, dishonest, and greedy. How can you prevent this from happening? Prioritize customer experience over making crazy amounts of money and hitting impossible sales numbers.

2. Disqualifying customers by how they look

You and your salespeople may think you can spot a great customer a mile away based solely on how they look, but guess what? That’s discrimination. And often, inaccurate. Someone who walks in wearing a blazer may need to dress up like a job interview because they know their income or credit isn’t great. Meanwhile, someone in a t-shirt and jeans with disheveled hair might walk in knowing they don’t need to impress because they can pay in cash. Think about it! Not only should you discourage discrimination based on what someone looks like, but you should also actively encourage your team to treat all customers equally. Everyone who walks through your door deserves the same exact quality customer service—period.

3. Sloppy hiring practices

Turnover in dealerships is notoriously high—39 percent, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association—and you likely feel constant pressure to get warm bodies out onto the showroom floor. It can be hard to break this habit, but stop hiring out of panic. If you take a little extra time to find the right person, do a background check, and provide thorough training, you’ll likely find your new hires are staying longer and doing better work than the random Joe Schmo guys you used to find on Craigslist.

4. Collecting data, but not using it

You love technology, and you’re so proud of the digital marketing and sales work you’ve done in your dealership. You’ve collected all sorts of data—newsletter open rates, webpage bounce rates, followers on Twitter, phone leads, and more—but what are you doing with it? Using impressive numbers to create PowerPoint presentations? Don’t just collect data and brag about it; take those numbers, analyze them, and use your findings to make your business better.

5. Ignoring your expenses

It’s no secret that you usually have to spend money to make money, but if you’re spending more than you’re making, your dealership is probably in a bit of a pickle. Automotive dealer management should always be trying to grow the business and increase profits, but you could be leaving a lot of money on the table if you aren’t actively managing expenses as well. Take a good look at where every single dollar in your dealership is going, and if something doesn’t make sense, cut back and make changes.

6. You still don’t have a CRM

You can hire the best auto salespeople in the world, but if you aren’t giving them the tools they need to succeed, you’re doing your dealership a great disservice. Invest in a CRM that was created for the auto industry to take control of lead management, the sales process, daily work plans, tasks, reminders, email marketing, and reporting.

Take the first step toward better habits today

Breaking bad habits is hard. Experts like to say it takes 21 days to make a change stick, but truthfully, it can take even longer. Don’t try to do a total 180 immediately—choose one bad habit to work on first, figure out if there are some underlying causes contributing to the issue, commit to making a change, and allow for slip-ups.

The process may feel slow, but just wait. Your team will notice positive changes, and there’s a good chance you’ll observe a ripple effect that will eventually run through your entire dealership. All good things are worth waiting (and working) for, so stay the course, and you’ll reap the rewards in time.

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Auto dealership accounting isn’t just about the bills you have to pay—it’s the money you’ve earned as well

Don’t you love the incentives offered by auto manufacturers? These spiffs help your direct marketing efforts, light a fire under your salespeople, and pull in some sizable amounts of cash in the process. If you’re like most dealerships, factory incentives are the largest receivable for your entire business.

But when it comes to these prime money-makers, are you taking full advantage? Or are your auto dealership accounting processes leaving thousands of dollars on the table?

An article in Dealer Magazine, “Unpaid Incentives: What You Don’t Know Is Hurting You,” shines a light on problems with auto dealership accounting and large overage balances on dealerships’ factory receivables incentive schedules. You’re doing some of the work to cash in your incentives, but you may not be doing everything necessary to get what you deserve.

Two types of factory incentives and two ways to get them

In the world of manufacturer incentives, you’re likely looking at two different kinds on a regular basis:

1. Cash incentives

You have a fixed amount of time to sell certain cars eligible under a marketing campaign. You’re paid an incentive for each eligible car sold, and sometimes if you exceed a sales target, you’ll get a higher discount per vehicle.

2. Dealer holdback

Depending on the manufacturer, you get back a percentage of the MSRP or invoice price after a particular vehicle is sold. Manufacturers like Ford and Chrysler will usually do about 3% of the car’s sticker price.

Marketing and selling those targeted vehicles is only the first part of the game, though. Once you’ve made the sale, you usually have to actively pursue the money you’re owed. The manufacturers can’t make it that easy, right? Depending on the manufacturer and the rules of the incentive, there are a couple of ways to initiate that payment:

1. You file a claim

Once you’ve checked the eligibility of a vehicle, you submit a claim against an incentive program. This is done online, and you’re able to check the claim status as well. Once the manufacturer settles the claim, you get paid.

2. The manufacturer manages everything

Instead of you actively submitting a claim, in this scenario, the manufacturer takes note of eligible vehicles sold, calculates payments, and issues them to your dealership.

The incentive process may seem pretty cut and dry, but it’s not. Too many auto dealership accounting offices aren’t staying on top of incentive programs, and the money is sitting on paper instead of being of value in a bank account.

The money your auto dealership accounting department is missing

The article in Dealer Magazine cites the biggest mistakes costing you money are unclaimed incentives, unresolved rejections, and chargebacks that aren’t researched and reversed. How does this happen? The author reveals a few primary ways:

1. Putting someone inexperienced in charge

Incentives are complicated and shouldn’t just be handed off to any interns, part-time workers, or temps that have no clue what they’re doing. The amount of money you could be making (and missing) is far too great to put it in the hands of someone who doesn’t have extensive experience.

2. The person in charge leaves

You did the right thing and had an experienced, senior staff member in charge of managing incentives—but then they retired or got a new job, and you didn’t have a Plan B in place. Incentive management is a weekly task, so for every week you don’t get someone new in that position, you’re losing money.

3. There’s no ownership or accountability

The controller or office manager needs to be involved, and there should be weekly or bi-monthly meetings to review balances and delegate ownership. Schedules must be fully and accurately reconciled every single month to make sure as many incentives as possible are being paid.

The bottom line is that at least one employee needs to be in charge of the incentives program and staying on top of every single minute detail. Any unpaid balance over 60 days old is a concern to follow up on right away. And if your dealership is raking in more than $200,000 in incentives, you may want to consider investing in an outside professional who can keep everything compliant and every dollar possible in your pocket.

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