Old Horses for New Horses and Killing the BDC, from Dealer Refresh.
When asked today “what is your biggest challenge?”, the vast majority of Dealers will say…“finding qualified sales associates!”
Unfortunately, most Dealers don’t have a clear idea on how to find the right sales candidate for today’s marketplace. Compounding the problem is that they employ an old school compensation plan.
The majority of Dealers are still looking for people who are like their “old horses” – high volume sales people who’ve been with the store for a number of years and don’t feel comfortable trying to adjust to a new type of customer.
Yesterday’s skill sets created their outstanding success. They were highly persuasive – bordering on confrontational. Dealers rode these “old horses” to outstanding financial success.
But times have changed. There is more to sales now than the still-valuable skills to confidently approach strangers and make yourself immediately welcomed. Those “hearty handshakes” will always be appreciated, as is the ability to look strangers directly in their eyes. But …