April 2021 Featured Team Player
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Over 50 years of combined success in the automotive advertising world allows us to share our indisputable knowledge with dealers out there, who are just getting started or still figuring it out. Follow our lead. We make market leaders.
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Employee turnover at automobile dealerships is currently running at an almost 40 percent annual clip. Year after year, this number has continued to grow and the issue is especially serious in the sales department. This information comes from a recent Dealership Workforce Study presented by the NADA, the organization representing the interests of dealerships selling new cars and trucks.
The topic of employee turnover is always a hot-button issue with car dealers nationwide. Despite the average weekly income for all employees at new-car dealerships rising to more than $1,300, it’s always difficult to retain staff members, especially salespeople who are, ironically, among the highest paid of all. The employee turnover rate with the sales force is so prevalent, nearly half are terminated within 90 days of hire!
There are several reasons for the severity of this staff retention issue. First, some dealerships have the mindset that their salesforce and entry-level people are “expendable” – so if they leave or are fired they’ll just find someone to take their place. Second, many people don’t like the long hours they often find themselves working. For example, even though sales consultants working 50-60 hours per week predictably earn more than their counterparts working 40-45 hours, the extra money doesn’t seem to be worth it to many of them.
Bearing in mind that it costs a great deal of time and money to interview, hire and train new employees, what can be done to help lower this shockingly high employee turnover rate?
∙ For starters, it helps to refrain from having too many people on the sales floor at the same time. If a dealership overstaffs, it can be frustrating for a salesperson who recognizes that the amount of foot traffic isn’t sufficient for everyone to get opportunities to make sales.
∙ Second, take the time to properly train your new employees. Online courses alone are not enough. If they don’t know how to present your products – and themselves – to customers, they won’t be successful.
∙ Third, give them consistent feedback. If you want them to improve, show them you care. Give them the help they need to do their best.
∙ Fourth, be flexible with scheduling wherever possible. This is especially true if you have a younger workforce.
∙ Finally, try your best to create career paths for valuable staff members interested in sticking around for the long haul.
Just as with most other businesses, attracting and retaining the best employees creates an atmosphere that is pleasant and comfortable for customers and staff alike. How does that atmosphere compare to the one you’ve created at your dealership?
What’s the best way to get customers to visit your Website? Knowing your audience profile (who they are, where they’re coming from, how much time they spend on each of your Web pages, what devices they’re using to find you, etc.) is half the battle to achieving a successful online advertising campaign.
The other component is making your customer base aware of you and getting them interested enough to look for your dealership on the Internet. It has always been our experience that radio is the most cost-effective way to do so, no matter which of the four types of Website traffic you use. Let’s take a closer look at each one and how radio directly impacts them.
Direct Internet Traffic: This is the easiest of the four to define; it’s when someone hears your radio spot and is compelled to go directly to your Website to review an offer they’ve just heard. You can clearly understand how this happens and why it occurs often.
Organic Search: This is similar to Direct Traffic; however, the customer arrives at the Website in a slightly different manner. When a potential customer is motivated to look for the dealer website but doesn’t know the exact address, they type in the keywords that lead them there. But ultimately, the result is the same.
Paid Search: While it doesn’t operate under the same premise as Direct or Organic, Paid Search is still dependent upon someone first searching for you or your product/service. Again, outside motivation is needed, same as above.
Referrals: Even though radio doesn’t have a direct effect in this case, when a dealer saturates his market with radio impressions, it creates awareness for the brand. This, in turn, causes traffic on review sites and, ultimately, increased traffic at the dealer’s website.
Recent advancements in software allow dealers to run specific reports that can accurately measure the results of each type of Web traffic. A lot of dealers miss this opportunity because they don’t immerse themselves in available data. But if you take the time to learn how to run these informative reports, you’ll quickly notice the undeniable parallel between when your radio ads run and the times there are significant spikes in radio impressions – proof positive the ads have the desired effect. (Note: If you don’t, you should seek help finding the right marketing mix for your store.)
Online advertising should always be part of a dealership’s marketing strategy. But it should not consume the lion’s share of your ad budget because, while it is perfect when you are retargeting your audience (reminding those who have shown a willingness to visit your Website), it is not effective when it comes to people who are not familiar with your dealership or its online presence.
JKR Automotive Advertising: The car dealer ad agency.
A return to normal has slowly begun and will continue gaining momentum in the coming months. This study prepared by Nielsen at the beginning of the month indicates Americans are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It allowed surveyed individuals to fall into one of the following three categories based on how they generally feel about the current situation and what their mindset might be for June: Wait and See, Proceed with Caution and Ready to Go. As you can see from the graphic below, things are looking up.
“With 39 states beginning to relax restrictions imposed to diminish the spread of the coronavirus, many Americans are ready to pick up the pieces and get back to their previous lifestyles,” the study shows. Better still, most of the “Ready to Go” crowd are from an attractive demographic for business and advertisers alike – 25-54 individuals with kids ages 2-11 – who typically make $100,000 or more and work outside the home. They indicate a readiness to spend, including many who included automotive products/repair among the items they plan to purchase in the near future. They also say they are 67% more likely to go to a car or truck dealership than they were during the height of the pandemic.
Ready or not, a return to normal is just around the corner. Until it happens, consider how you’re reacting to today’s economic climate and see which category best describes you.
JKR Automotive Advertising: The car dealer ad agency.
