Automotive Sales Training … Some Basics

For Free > Auto Sales

JRC Training Solutions

310.398.1341

Automotive sales training can be defined as a collection of those things which are done to help a sales consultant or sales team member gain mastery in the skills, concepts, behaviors, and attitudes that will enhance their expertise in influencing prospects to make positive vehicle purchase decisions. The fundamental purpose of automotive sales training is to improve an individual’s sales performance, create value for the customer, and increase profitability at the dealership.

Automotive sales training concentrates on how salespeople and potential customers interact. It’s a process which provides the information, tools, resources, and techniques that help sales team members learn what they must know to persuasively present the dealership’s products (vehicles, financial services, and so on) in terms that customers will understand and respond to.

Automotive sales executives and top sales trainers agree that to be highly successful automotive sales training programs must be linked with the dealership’s key business goals. To establish that connection, each member of the dealership sales team should be able to answer this question, ‘‘How should we sell to best meet the conditions of today’s automotive marketplace?’’

As we all know, today’s complex and highly competitive automotive retail environment is undergoing rapid and dramatic change. For example:

New technologies/growth of the Internet.
Proliferation of non-traditional retailers.
Consumers are more knowledgeable, sophisticated, and demanding.
Changing customer profiles/demographics.

Some dealerships have been able to provide sales training which addresses the question posed above in a way that is easily understood and communicated throughout the dealership. Others, to their misfortune, have not. Creating this unity of purpose and message through sales training isn’t easy. But doing so provides a dealership with a tremendous competitive edge.

There are basically four types of automotive sales training, each with its advantages and limitations.

Team-based sales meetings. These typically are led by the sales manager. Use sales meetings to provide:

A forum for information transfer, problem solving, and motivation.
Alignment between what the dealer principal/management expects and what is actually happening on the showroom floor.

Interactive group workshops. These typically are led by a professional sales trainer or other qualified facilitator. Use group workshops to provide:

Opportunities to learn new selling skills.
Opportunities to role play (practice) new selling skills in a supportive and controlled environment.
Constructive feedback from peers and session leaders.

One-on-one coaching/mentoring. This is where a senior person takes a less experienced or less successful colleague under his/her wing on either a formal or informal basis. Use coaching/mentoring to provide:

Maintenance and reinforcement of selling skills that have been learned in workshops or sales meetings.

Joint sales sessions with customers on the showroom floor. Use joint sales sessions to provide:

A highly effective way for top performers to model successful selling techniques.
Real-time feedback in real-world sales situations with customers.

Using a blend of training types increases your sales training ROI. Using them effectively increases your sales success rate, profitability, and customer loyalty.

For a broader/deeper perspective on these and related topics, check out:

	Using Sales Training Best Practices To Increase Sales
	Developing Performance-Based Sales Training To Increase Sales