[matkoenig]

I can't tell you how many dealers across the country have said to me: "It's hard to find quality sales people now days."

This really strikes me as odd since I have always believed, and still do, that great sales people aren't born, they're trained.

I'd like to check in on dealer and salesperson perceptions when it comes to the value of sales training and where they think the most helpful areas are in today's age.

I'd like to find out:

Are dealers investing in sales training for their people anymore? (I don't mean setting them up in front of a 25 year old Joe Verde VHS set but I mean real interactive training sessions).

If so, what type is working for folks the best? In house with dealership having training staff or current managers leading it or are they sending folks out to workshops by Joe Verde and Grant Cardone?

Is anyone having good results with things like web based training on a regular basis?

If dealers are not investing in training; what are the reasons you're hearing today? Is it because they think it costs too much or because they don't want SP to be out of the building because they can 'miss an up'?

Basically the core question is do dealers see value in training anymore and if so what is it really worth to train and groom a high quality salesperson these days?

If dealers are no longer willing to invest in training their people, do SALESPEOPLE see enough potential in themselves to invest in their own training in today's economy?

I'd love to hear the thoughts of your community on this issue.

[Andy Decker]

I'm very new to the auto industry and sales in general. I've been very proactive in learning as much as I can about the industry and sales in general. My numbers are on a steady rise, my first month in the car business I moved 2 units, since then I've averaged 8-10 cars a month, still far off from where most of the top producers are but I feel accomplished.

I've come to learn that the turnover rate in automobile sales is very high, and I'm a firm believer it's because when the managers are doing the hiring they are looking for someone who is automoatically going to sell 15 cars/month opposed to looking for the right caliber person who has the ability to learn and grow.

The first dealership I went to sent me to a three day training seminar with their corporate recruiter, he covered things such as the "silent walk around" the "four square" and "Would you like to take delivery on Tuesday." I don't think that is selling.

I agree when you say good sales people aren't born but trained, I don't believe that EVERYONE can be trained. You need to look for the correct caliber of person in regards to sales. A successful salesperson should be williing to learn on their own and not rely on their managers for training (although the mangers should still be training). As salespeople we are in business for ourselves with someone else, you cannot approach the notion of running your own business by relying on someone else to teach you to do it (hopefully you do have someone there who will guide you and mentor you along the way). In the same token you cannot expect someone who you are in business with to do all of the work themelves, nor can you rely on anybody else to teach them.

Thats my $.02 + a grain of salt