Why You Should WANT Gen Y Workers in your Dealership

[Stan Sher]

Very insightful...I guess I am a Gen Y worker. My characteristics are not the same. I'm not spoiled and I'm a very hard worker. Some sayni was born 10 years too late with how my mind thinks and music taste lol. Ut have many of the characteristics of a Gen y employeentoo because I am engaged.

 

[JQ]

One last comment -- wondering how many Y'ers would agree or disagree.  Worked with a young gal (and I adored her, really still do).  I remember her telling me about how she had been out the night before, but forgot her smart phone in her hotel room, and was lost without it -- didn't know what to do at the bar.  I thought -- wait a second -- you're at a bar!!  But then I think of that picture above...   And now I'm thinking about my old intern, who's now on the floor, just started.  Love the kid -- bright, energetic, warm -- and very sociable on Facebook.  But he has a hard time looking people in the eye, and forget about a firm handshake. 

Where are the people skills for this generation?  And how will the very necessary interpersonal and people skills get developed when sooo much of their "social" interaction really isn't "social" at all?

One thing is not arguable: through all the changes and tech this and internet that, this is and remains a "People" business.  How will Y cope?

 

[Joe Pistell]

Hmmm JQ... I see a trend?

I wrote:
"...In my travels, Gen Y's are self absorbed, running from boredom by living
in a 2D world.  They live by staring into hand held screens passing
around "he said... she said" drivel to their peers and missing the sweet
sounds and opportunities of the 3D world swirling around them."

 

[Bryce Naron]

Note: We do have 3D phones now :P

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Nice response Bryce! I like it.
Jeff Kershner
Founder | DealerRefresh

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[Joe Pistell]

hahahahaha...  Gotta love Bryce!

 

[autosocial]

 

 Some interesting points here, especially in regards to the
topic of people skills. As to whether Gen Y possesses people skills, I think it
depends on how narrowly you define the term. Does my generation value people
skills? More than any other generation in history. Social media elevates relationships,
connection and communication from a workplace incidental to an almost sacred
status. But, do we define people skills as a pumping handshake and aggressive
eye contact? Not really. Many of us see these as phony “salesman” mannerisms
designed to distract. Instead, we focus our relationship-building efforts on
mastering a new monster: online etiquette. Social media has a downright
high-schoolish set of norms associated with it: cadence, terminology,
etiquette. The do’s and don’ts of online conversations are unforgiving and ever-changing,
yet my generation deftly absorbs and evolves to adopt them all: first, fastest,
and most fluidly. Because social media offers such critical mass, is on the
public record, and reaches an almost limitless audience, there’s a case to be
made that Gen Y’s got people skills on steroids. Obviously in-person skills are
still critical and when used correctly, eye contact, articulate speech, good
posture etc are key professional tools. And yes, in some cases, my generation could
use a refresher course. But, I don’t think the fact that we spend a lot of time
online makes us antisocial hermits-quite the opposite. Judge us not by the
heartiness of our handshake but by the vastness of our contact network, haha.

 

[JQ]

Amen, Joe!  http://www.youtube.com/user/ToyotaUSA/?x=venza

I wonder if Y knows they are being (gently) teased here?

Jade's last post beautifully illustrates your point.  They think that cyber-social is "real," and that they are on some sort of stage where all the world is watching and all the world "cares." 

To even suggest that eye contact and a firm handshake are "phony salesperson mannerisms" says it best!  I don't think I could ever say anything that makes our point better than that.  Wow.  I didn't realize it was that bad. 

 

[Fh Kibbles]

As someone who is on the cusp of Gen X and Y, I see a bit of both sides here. I work in an office full of Gen Y'ers around 23/24, who have yet to develop a sense of real accountability and lack experience to back up the talk. While I commend the enthusiasm and creativity my co-workers have, it cannot substitute for real world experience in many instances and it's us "old timers" who are barely pushing 30 who have come in to save the day on a number of occasions.

I know they think they're super guru ninja rockstars just out of college because they were great students and their parents told them so, but the entitlement for promotion is sometimes just too much for me. I've heard complaints time and time again about why they haven't been promoted yet...and they've been in the job two months...and it's their first job ever out of college...and they haven't been able to prove success. But their mom, dad, parents, and teachers told them that they will rise quickly in the world because of their awesomeness! I'm not picking on Gen Y, but it's one of the thing that needs to be taken into account when hiring them. If they don't get that promotion or gratification fast enough (or that challenge to substitute) they are going to move on to someone else they think will rise them through the ranks faster.

There is no doubt that certain brands would benefit hugely from Gen Y in the dealership...MINI, Subaru, Scion, and other "young" brands that have a cool factor that the 50 something GM is just not going to be able to recreate. If your dealership culture can incorporate this Gen Y attitude into your dealership I think you'll be more successful in the long run. If you do business as usual then you might find more headaches from both sides as frustration mounts.

 

[dealerinsider]

Ouch, seems like a lot of hate against the Gen Y'ers on this blog and some very ignorant comments.
 
Jade is absolutely right.  I work at a dealership and run circles around these guys. I answer phones, I walk the lot, I wait on people in the front, I will do it all to not be bored with my day.
 
Think we can't carry a conversation or look someone in the eye? I have seen the world through the internet, I know what Shaquille O'neal is doing right now, I just saw a Bald Eagle swoop down and steal a fisherman's fish off his reel, I have every piece of information at my fingertips, I see news you can't even read in your daily newspaper because it only comes 2x a week. Tell me I can't strike up a conversation to anyone about anything and I will prove you wrong. Generation Y can relate to anyone and talk about anything that might strike up a solid conversation and build trust with a customer.
 
I would like to see a graph on the amount of vehicles purchased per year based on age.  I would have to imagine ages 30-70 take up the majority of these sales, especially the later half of that range who have money saved, great credit, pension plus social security and would hate to be in a vehicle without warranty. In my experience, it is so much easier to build trust with these people and get them to like you. With all of the technology on cars now and in the near future, who better to explain the technology? Tell me how many 40 year olds in dealerships can type 65 words a minute?  Tell me how many 40 year olds are comfortable receiving and sending texts back to customers...throughout the day, on weekends, at night because we are ALWAYS available, 24/7?Tell me how many 40 year olds can navigate through different systems and webpages as fast as Gen Y? We can run circles around these sales people who have been doing the same thing for 20 years. We bring fun and excitement to dealerships that 99% of people are too afraid to come into because of the old "car sales" techniques. 
 
On top of these reasons, and so many more, think about the type of competition a 23,24,25 year old would bring to the table. Do you think the salespeople who are use to sitting at their desk, waiting for repeats/referrals, and once in a while getting a fresh up would like to see someone new to the business, younger, faster, fresher, more qualified (assuming they graduated college) running circles around them?
 
And if you think I don't know what I am talking about... I am 24, graduated college in finance, make more money than 90% of the customers I sit down with in new car sales, work for one of the largest, most innovative dealerships in the nation, and will climb the ladder of success faster than any of the employees working at the dealership. The car business is a gold mine for kids my age. Dealerships must begin to recruit this generation if they plan on staying competitive in the future. We have totally new ideas from the usual norm, can explain every bit of technology simply, can work 2x faster and harder and create ways to make things easier, and can help transform dealerships to the fastest growing type of car sales... the internet. Car dealerships haven't even seen what will happen with online sales and any type of social media, they have only had a small taste in the last 4 years.