Pub. 5 Issue 1

13 Issue 1 2019 • More than 60 percent said that they were less likely to buy a car from any dealership that hadn’t created a complaint resolu- tion process. • Almost 75 percent preferred making their complaint by phone instead of over the internet. Having a compliance officer clearly has two benefits: • It either prevents legal problems or solves them while they are still small. • It improves the dealership- customer relationship. • Train the dealership’s staff. Many dealerships do spend time training staff, but the main focus is on making the monthly sales numbers so manufacturers and management will stay happy. Employees sometimes come and go quickly, meaning they take any les- sons they’ve learned with them when they walk out the door the last time. The result of running a dealership this way is a bad one. No dealership can be as profitable as possible if it is only focused on short-term gains. However, there are two ways to improve the situation: 1. Good employees are valuable, and the longer they stay with a dealership, the more valuable they become. Treat them accordingly. Celebrate their length of service and their successes. Give them opportunities to develop their skills so they can become even better. 2. Train employees so they know what to do in order to keep the dealership compliant. (The compliance officer, of course, should be front and center when it comes to teaching employees about compliance.) Make sure you provide reasons for employees to stay with the dealership. Review employee performances, and have bench- marks for salary increases and promotions. Everyone should be involved in internal quarterly audits. The goal should be to work together as a time to find problems and solve them. Training sessions should be for newemployees and for continu- ing employees. To bemost effective, training should bemandatory, brief, and have a certificate of completion to display for those who have participated. Employees don’t need to lose a lot of time when they could be selling again, but a short, effective message will help them make incremental improvement over time. Provide online classes as well as in-person classes. Use in- formation gained from the internal quarterly audits to improve what’s being taught in the classes. Displaying the certification lets potential customers know about the training. According to one sur- vey, 73 percent of customers are more comfortable at dealerships where completed certificates are being displayed. Ongoing training should include the following: • Teach employees to empha- size follow-up tasks. Following up on tasks will help employees be more organized and it will also help them to be more productive. • Have employees study what exactly a lead has already researched. When an employee is knowledgeable about a potential customer’s needs, it becomes much easier to talk with that customer so that it’s clear the customer’s needs and wants are understood. • Work on phone skills. Keep phone records and use them to identify the employees who would benefit from a little additional training in this area. • Be aware of the customer’s budget. The size of the car payment is only part of what the potential customer should be thinking about. The total price is also im- portant. If you think a third party can do a better job of training em- ployees than someone in-house, then hire the third party and have them make suggestions about how to improve training going forward. Put your dealership association to work Dealership associations, like theGreater Los AngelesNewCar Dealers Association, have one purpose: helping dealerships make the best possible decisions. They have the energy and resources to stay on top of any legislation that affects the way a dealership works, and they also have the muscle that comes fromdealerships coming together in order to lobby the legislature when necessary. Automotive compliance is difficult, but it is a necessary part of doing business. By paying attention to compliance, you can avoid the pitfalls (and consequences) of noncompliance. That is a worthwhile goal. 