Who is the best sales training company for car dealers?
- September 1, 2020
After more than two decades in the auto industry there are a few things that seem to be consistent. One of those things is turnover. When I say turnover, I’m not just referring to salesperson turnover. In this article, I’m referring to sales training turnover.
When I started in sales I had no training, just a stack of brochures, a phone book and a lecture about not letting people leave the dealership without a T.O. (turnover for those that are unfamiliar with the acronym). The second store I worked at made me watch ASTN (American Sales Television Network) all day for the first two weeks. I searched Google to see if they still exist but if you want to see this old school fun, check out this link https://youtu.be/K6ZglFr2H5E or click the image below.
None of the so called training I got in the first two stores helped me at all but thankfully the third store turned me on to quality info with Grant Cardone back in 1995 and that’s where it all finally clicked.
Key things to consider
Today there are quite a few quality companies to choose from and let’s face it, the sales process is pretty much the same as it has been forever: Greet them, find out wants and needs and build rapport, demo the product, write them up, present figures, handle any objections or concerns, close the deal, follow up.
When it comes to finding the right sales training company for your dealership it really will boil down to a couple simple things:
- Are you looking to create training based on a process you already have in place?
- Are you looking to implement a proven process from someone else?
If you already have processes but don’t have them formally laid out on paper or don’t have someone who can present the training to your team, you’ll need to find a company that can help make that happen. Expect the cost to be higher as they will be doing a lot of custom work to frame your content in, plus they have to learn your processes if they’re going present it like they know it inside and out.
If you’re looking for ready made content that is proven and time tested you may want to consider the companies below. Whether you prefer in person training or virtual training there are a lot of variables to choose from so your job as a leader is to spend time asking all the questions so that you can find out which one is right for you, your team, and your customers.
People forget that ultimately the training is for the consumer.
Buy Training for the Consumer
When you’re choosing an automotive sales training company, consider the way that they are dealing with you. How are they negotiating with you? Are they dropping price to get the deal? Do they feel natural or rehearsed? Are they pushy? Do they seem sincere? Whatever feelings they are creating in you will be relayed to your sales team and ultimately to your customers. If your trainer comes off pushy, that’s what your sales team will be absorbing and it will reflect to the people who come in to buy from you.
Choose the flavor you prefer and stick with it
Once you pick the right training company, commit to being on the program for at least a year. Many dealerships “try” training, they don’t see an overnight success so they drop it in 2-3 months. Training is designed to serve consumer which means it is designed to keep them coming back. Obviously they won’t be back in 2-3 months so if you really like the trainer and the process, plan to stick with it for a year or more so you can really have your entire team embrace it. As an added note, sales people are used to the on again off again training so every time you change, it’s damaging their confidence in your decision making.
Here are the automotive training companies we’d recommend you check out
Click on the links below to learn more about each company and what they do.
Automax Training and Recruiting
More than one great training company
At the end of the day there are many great sales training companies and most will share very similar information. It all comes back to who has the style that will best serve your customers and your team so that everyone will have a better experience.