I recently met some ‘nubies’ to the motor industry, fresh faced and eager they told me how they had applied for a job as a sales executive with a large, well respected dealer group and, after a lengthy and detailed selection process, had been offered places with a variety of franchised dealers within the group.
All of the new recruits were bright, enthusiastic and keen to learn, and learn they would, the dealer group had invested significant amounts of money into creating a 12 month training and development programme that would see them spending short periods of time in aftersales, parts, accounts and the workshop to ensure they had a well-rounded understanding of how the dealership worked before entering a career in sales.
They explained how they had already attended a three day induction course and that the next 12 months would see them receiving a further 2 days a month of training on everything from sales process to product knowledge.
Their training plan sounded very comprehensive and also no doubt quite expensive with almost 30 days of their first year I hoped the investment would pay dividends.
But what of their longer term training and development? What would happen once those first 12 months were completed? The chances are that their development plans would depend on the franchise they worked for; some would get ongoing training whilst others, I feared, would receive very little.
I continue to be amazed at the lack of training that many dealership staff receive, muddling on, trying to do a good job, with little in the shape of help or support.
But when things do go wrong (a poor mystery shop result, a dip in CSI or a letter of complaint from an angry customer), then it’s a different story. Quickly the wheels are in motion, a course is booked an eLearning module is started, the problem must be solved. The manager is quick to point the finger of blame.
And this is when I despair; training is too often seen as a sticking plaster, rather than an early intervention to avoid the problem in the first place. Staff are sent on courses to solve problems that have been present and diagnosable for months but have been ignored because the patient isn’t complaining and the illness is not life threatening.
But as any doctor will testify, prevention is better than cure. The professional manager needs to train their staff before problems becomes chronic, spotting the signs before the situation becomes inflamed. Training can, at the best of times be expensive, intrusive and on some occasions even ineffective. Time out of the dealership costs money and as most delegates will also testify is very rarely followed up on when they return to base, a cursory ‘how did it go’ from their line-manager representing the extent of any de-brief.
But I was heartened after a recent exchange with a delegate on a training course. He explained that he and his manager had sat and looked at the training curriculum earlier in the year and that they had chosen the course because they thought it would help him. The course, one on vehicle handover, was supported by an eLearning module which he had already completed. And before attending the course he and his manager had agreed some learning objectives and, like all the other courses he had attended, he would also have a debrief with his manager when he went back to work.
I was impressed, it sounded like a pretty sensible way of proceeding. ‘Do you go on many courses?’ I asked. ‘Not really’ replied the delegate, ‘only ones that we think are going to be useful. But I do get training every week’.
Intrigued by this response I delved a little deeper. ‘On a Tuesday we do skills training in the showroom, its only about half an hour but we practice all sorts, it could be walk around presentations, or telephone calls, it’s different every week. And on a Friday we have a product quiz in the morning meeting, its only 10 questions….and whoever gets the lowest score writes the product quiz for the following week. It’s really good fun actually’
Here was a dealer that understood the value of training. It wasn’t viewed as something for nubies, or a sticking plaster for problems, it was part of the dealers culture. Over the course of the year each sales person would receive the equivalent of 26 hours of training, about the same mount you get during 4 days of sitting in a classroom, in addition they would be asked over 500 product knowledge questions.
All this without leaving the dealership, paying a trainer or completing an eLearning module. This was hands-on, practical training, defined by the dealer, delivered by the dealer and focused on the needs of the individual.
I don’t mean to put any trainers out of business, I believe that the need for external training is probably more so now than ever before thanks to broader model ranges and increases in technology…… but what I would advocate is that dealers also begin to take some control (and responsibility) for developing their own staff. Not just during those first honeymoon months when those nubies join the business but also during those second, third and subsequent years when they should be at their most productive.
No one should know better what the shortfalls and development needs of their staff are than the people that manage them, so rather than viewing training as something that happens to their staff I think it’s time that managers viewed it as something they did with their staff. It may become a darn site more effective as well as a hell of a lot cheaper.
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