Apathy is something that I encounter frequently when gathering information for a help wanted ad. More often than not, I ask some basic questions, get some basic answers and my contact at the dealership gets back to work. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the nature of our industry and I understand that most managers simply don’t have a lot of time to spend with an “Advertising Guy.” But how much extra time are we talking about here? 3 minutes, maybe 5, aren’t those 5 extra minutes worth it if they generate say 10-15 extra interviews? Which could end up producing your next super star salesperson that sells 20/month and creates $40k plus in gross profit! For that matter, is it even a question of time? If you truly believe in your store and are truly excited about the direction that your dealership is headed it should pour out of you during our conversation, and should take very little coaxing on my part.
My goal as an Advertising Director with AutoMax Recruiting and Training is to generate as many quality job applicants as humanly possible in a relatively short (5-10 days) time period. In order to do this I need to get people EXCITED about working at your store. But I can’t do this unless YOU are excited about your store. You need to sell me on working at your store, so I can sell job applicants on a career with your dealership.
Now I know a lot of you are probably thinking, “You’re the advertising experts, it is your job to get people in here.” And you are right that is our job, but you can’t send someone to war without a loaded gun. Our advertising is STRONG, the strongest in the Industry, but it is only as effective as the information that I use to build your ads. It doesn’t matter how many people your message reaches, if the message isn’t loud and clear. And the message should be, “APPLYING FOR THIS CAREER WILL CHANGE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!”
So to quote Jerry Maguire, “Help ME, Help YOU!” Let’s work together and change some lives!
Good post Joe as what you say is true and meant to inform and not as a gripe. What stands out to me is what you said about if a person is truly excited about their dealership it should just flow. My concern for them is a question of how much does this type of apathy spill over to a potential customer. To be sure, we will definitely excel helping them in their process to hire salespeople, etc. Your question is one to raise the bar. How many top quality applicants do they never see? That is really the heart of the issue.
The old saying is really true. “You want to sell 100 more cars hire 100 salespeople” Well for sure no one wants to load up the floor with that many! Joe is correct hire 5-10 more and you will have some super stars that can bump up your bottom line over 100k more with proper screening and training and getting the right ones to want to work at your store is the benefit and what Joe knows best how to do best! Spend 3-5 minutes with Joe Lockerd and you will see.
PS New sales people will make your other salespeople have to pick up there game.