866.947.8533
Attention Dealership General Managers:

Hiring the Right People Isn’t an HR Problem.
It’s Your Problem.

Chapter One

Employee Turnover is Rampant in the Dealership Industry.

It’s an open secret.
It’s hard to hold on to employees.
In 2016, employee turnover at dealerships in the United States increased by 3% — from 40% to 43%.1
That means in a single calendar year,
nearly one out of every two employees left dealerships for greener pastures.
Unfortunately,
most GMs don’t realize how bad the turnover problem really is.
According to the 2016 NADA Workforce Study,
DPOs and general managers reported an average dealership turnover rate of 22%.2
So, as a GM, you may not even realize the full effect that heavy turnover is having on your dealership.
And we all know that to have a better-running dealership, we need to hire — and retain — the best talent.
But Good Talent Is Hard to Find.
Especially millennial talent…
Many of whom are
Energetic
Digital-Savvy
Motivated
And Resourceful
And retaining good talent is even harder.
Most Dealers
Think the most important trait in a candidate is familiarity with their DMS.
So, they keep looking for the
same old candidates…
with the
same old skills…
that they think are mandatory…
But, by keeping their talent search so narrow,
Dealers miss out on the opportunity to hire great talent, with equally important skills:
 
Organizational
Time Management
Leadership
Accounting
Administrative
Skills
…and of course, a strong work ethic.
by missing out on bringing in people with these valuable skills, in favor of those who simply have DMS knowledge…
Dealers are
Missing Out
on the opportunity to hire people with valuable skills
who are a good fit for the position
and the company culture.
People who will be worth the investment in onboarding and training…
Because they will be more likely to stay.
“The difference between a mediocre dealership and a great dealership is the strength of its people.”
— Adam Robinson, CEO, Hireology3
Additional Resources

See how hiring is impacting your dealership.

 Watch the Webinar >

Learn how to start hiring better, not more.

Watch the Video >
Chapter Two

Staffing Problems are a Money Problem.

If you think your staffing challenges are hurting your
efficiency,
wait until you see what they’re doing to your
bottom line.
According to the NADA Dealership Workforce Study, turnover will cost the average dealership
$7.5K in gross profit… per employee.4
And the average annual turnover for a dealership is
43%.5
Across our industry, turnover is costing us
$8 Billion a year!6
Want to see how much it could be costing you?
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Turnover could be costing you as much as
$
per year.
Turnover is expensive.
Research shows that turnover costs dealerships an average of $439,000 annually for training, recruitment and unemployment.7
Furthermore, it can leave your dealership
Playing catch-up.
 
Your Sales Staff
Your Office Staff
Your F&I Staff
Your Service Staff
Feels the pressure
And as a result,
Your customers feel the pressure.
And your customer-service ratings…
Go
Down
And then so do Your earnings.
Most GMs simply delegate talent hiring and retention duties to the HR department.
But as you can see, decisions involving people — in a people-centered business — are too valuable to be ignored by ownership and top management.
Chapter Three

Employee Retention

You know this bit of staffing common sense:
Salespeople may be a little more likely to come and go…
But the back office needs to
Stay solid.
So, when you’re hiring for critical office roles like:
Accounting
Administration
Customer Service
And Fixed Ops
You need to attract new talent that will grow with the dealership.
Employees become most productive after three years on the job. Unfortunately, the current dealership employee lasts just 18 months to 2.4 years.8
To be more profitable, you need people who will stick around long enough to:
Absorb and contribute to the company culture
Learn the institutional ins and outs of your business
Develop expertise in their roles
Feel like they’re making a difference
…so they can
Work more efficiently, fit in better with the company culture, And help you be more profitable.
Ask yourself:
How many
enthusiastic
educated
skilled
motivated
potential candidates did you pass over…
because they didn’t have experience working with your
outdated
hard-to-learn
non-intuitive
clunky
DMS?
Did the thought of training them to use it just not seem worth the effort? After all, even people you’ve had on staff for years don’t know how to use it fully. And in your current system there’s plenty of opportunity for errors…
when they’re working with information related to sales and F&I, commissions, tech time, service, and ROs.
And since, in your current system,
errors are hard to fix,
who does it usually fall on to fix those errors when they occur?
You, that’s who!
So, no wonder
you passed over that promising candidate…
Because it was easier to just hire somebody who
knows your old DMS.
Even if they
lack other skills
you sorely need your employees to have
so they can be more effective teammates, fit in better with the company,
stay longer,
and help reduce costly staff turnover.
Additional Resources

8 Keys for Hiring & Retaining Staff at Dealerships

Download the Infographic >

A Dealer Principal’s Guide to Hiring and Retaining Talent

Download the eBook >
Chapter Four

Don’t Let the Need for Outdated Skills Hold Your Hiring Hostage.

Today’s generation of candidates is primarily made up of Digital Natives.
They’re good at working on screens.
They’ve been figuring out how to use different types of software solutions most of their lives.
So…
If your DMS is built with modern technology and is intuitive and easy-to-use,
your new hires will be able to learn it a lot faster — and more effectively.
What does that mean for you?
You have more choice in who you hire, as well as more opportunity to create the office culture and customer experience you want. With the obstacle of long, painful DMS onboarding no longer an issue, your employees can start doing what they’re REALLY good at —
that much faster.
They’ll be happier
…and stay with you longer.
You’ll be happier
…because you’re not constantly trying to find new hires to replace them.
“I want my staff focused on taking care of the customers. I don’t want them struggling with the DMS.”
— Bert Hodge, General Manager, Heritage Ford, Corydon, Indiana
Watch the full case study >
Chapter Five

Dealertrack is designed for today’s talent.

Stop passing over great potential new hires
Because you don’t want to train them on an outdated, hard-to-use DMS.
Get them onboarded and working faster and more stress-free with Dealertrack.
Dealertrack DMS is rated the #1 easiest-to-use DMS by Lieberman, an independent research firm.
What does this mean for your dealership?
Efficiency
With Dealertrack, employees spend less time figuring out how to do their work — and more time doing it.
Accuracy
Fewer redundant and meaningless processes and actions means fewer opportunities to make errors.
Error Tolerance and Forgiveness
When mistakes are made, they are easy to fix. So, your employees can get back to work faster.
Better Staff Retention
Employees spend more time being engaged with their jobs and using their true skills — rather than wrestling with an outdated DMS.
Less DMS stress + better job satisfaction = longer tenure!
When your dealership uses an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use DMS like Dealertrack, you can build — and keep — the staff you want…
And reduce costly, disruptive employee turnover.
Ready to smash through hiring obstacles — and be able to hire the people you really need?
Call a Dealertrack representative at 866.947.8533, or submit your information below. We’ll be in touch shortly.
Sources:
  1. “NADA Dealership Workforce Study.” NADA. Accessed November 13, 2018.
  2. “Study: The Impact of Turnover on Dealer Operations.” DrivingSales.
  3. Wilson, Amy. “Employee turnover costs dealers billions: Managers experiment with new ways to attract the right people.” Automotive News. January 23, 2017. Accessed November 13, 2018.
  4. Wilson, Amy. “Employee turnover costs dealers billions: Managers experiment with new ways to attract the right people.” Automotive News. January 23, 2017. Accessed November 13, 2018.
  5. “NADA Dealership Workforce Study.” NADA. Accessed November 13, 2018.
  6. Wilson, Amy. “Employee turnover costs dealers billions: Managers experiment with new ways to attract the right people.” Automotive News. January 23, 2017. Accessed November 13, 2018.
  7. “Study: The Impact of Turnover on Dealer Operations.” DrivingSales.
  8. LaReau, Jamie. “Dealership turnover squeezing profits: NADA study spotlights struggles in recruitment and retention.” Automotive News. October 3, 2016. Accessed November 13, 2018.