Best Car Dealer Staffing Processes To Follow

As a car dealer, you already know that having reliable team members at your dealership matters. Not only do you want to make sure customers are happy with the way they’re treated, but you also need to be sure your employees can continue to bring in revenue and inventory. 

Without the inventory to sell, your dealership won’t grow the way you want it to. That could mean facing an uncertain future. Fortunately, finding staff for car dealerships and training quality employees doesn’t have to be difficult. Here’s what you need to know. 

The right employees make all the difference 

Whether you’re looking for a new automotive appraiser, salesperson, service technician, or other team members, the right person for the job can be a game-changer for your dealership. Thinking about finding staff for car dealerships might feel stressful in the beginning, but there are some best practices you can follow to make it less complicated. 

Then you can put your focus on locating the best people for the job instead of worrying about just finding people who may be interested in becoming a car appraiser or working with your dealership. In other words, take the time to locate and wait for the right people. Not everyone who applies is a good fit. 

In order to get the best employees, though, you have to give them an incentive to work for you. If they don’t see the value in what you’re offering, they’re not going to be interested in applying to your dealership. They also might not feel like they have the qualifications, but a lot of people just need some training. 

Before you hire people because you’re short-staffed, think about the kind of employees you want and need. You’re looking for people who are dedicated and who want to work with you to make your car dealership better. You want more than just employees. You want team members who will be with you for a long time. 

A solid job listing is the first step 

To start out with finding staff for car dealerships, don’t hesitate to use all the tools at your disposal. After all, having quality employees you can trust and rely on is one of the best ways to acquire more inventory. Good employees provide good information on cars you’re considering purchasing and can encourage trade-ins. 

To locate those employees, you need the right job listing. Any good listing should make finding staff for car dealerships much easier. Why? Because it showcases exactly what’s needed to be successful in the role and what you’re offering to a would-be employee. 

Anyone who’s considering becoming a car appraiser, service technician, salesperson, or another valuable employee at a dealership needs to know what’s in it for them. While you’re looking for trusted employees, many potential employees are looking for a career with a dealership they can trust to treat them right. 

If your dealership’s job listing isn’t upfront about the details, the people who reply to it aren’t likely to work out if you hire them. With a good listing, though, you can avoid that and attract good candidates for any open positions you have. 

Dealerships need to hold interviews 

Another important part of finding staff for car dealerships is holding interviews. You can talk to people who respond to your job listing in person or over an online meeting option like Zoom. You could also hold a “hiring fair” for a few hours one day and have people come in if they want to interview for the job. 

A lot of how you handle the interview process will be based on the number of positions you need to fill, how quickly you need to hire someone, and how many people you’d like to interview to find the right fit. Someone who’s committed to becoming a car appraiser, for example, could be a great choice if you need more inventory acquisition. 

As you conduct interviews, look for: 

• The past experience an applicant has 

• How eager the applicant is to learn 

• What kind of training and education they have 

• Whether they’re a team player 

• If they have an interest in technology 

Asking the right questions matters for success 

When you find someone interested in becoming a car appraiser, or someone who wants to work in your service department or as a salesperson, you’ll need to find out more about them and their goals. You also want to talk about their experience. Asking them about their education, where they’ve worked before, and where they see themselves in a few years can give you a lot of insight. 

Since becoming a car appraiser is a great way to help your dealership, having potential employees who are interested in that field could help you see big benefits. With the right support for inventory acquisition, you can also give those appraisers and others in your dealership the tools they need to be more successful. 

It’s not always easy to know what to ask during an interview. Someone without a lot of experience may have the kind of personality you’re looking for. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the right option for your sales or service department. You need a mix of experience and personality, along with someone who’s receptive to training. 

Quality employees improve the customer experience 

If you have employees interested in becoming a car appraiser or working another type of specific job at your dealership, you can guide them with tools from Kelley Blue Book. Make sure your employees are: 

• Helping customers find a new car they love 

• Encouraging customers to get a trade-in value on their current vehicle 

• Using tools and techniques that provide a fair valuation 

• Showing customers the trusted resources they use 

• Working with customers on a fair deal for everyone 

As you’re focused on finding staff for car dealerships, don’t forget that the tools your staff has to work with are going to be equally important. That way, your employees can accomplish more and keep your dealership running smoothly. This is especially important for inventory acquisition because you can’t sell what you don’t have. 

Help your staff give your dealership what it needs 

Along with finding staff for car dealerships, you want to make sure the staff you choose is properly trained to work together efficiently. For example, becoming a car appraiser is great, but only if they work closely with your service professionals to look over the cars. If they aren’t notified of cars that come in or can’t get close enough to them, they aren’t going to be able to do their jobs efficiently. 

Having the knowledge of trade-in values and being able to compare vehicles accurately will give your appraisers the support they’re looking for. In turn, those appraisers can work with your salespeople and service professionals to provide a great experience for all your customers. Whether someone wants to trade in their car, or they’re just trying to sell it outright, valuation and inventory acquisition are critical for the success of your dealership in the long term. 

We know it’s not always easy to manage a dealership effectively and keep it growing for the future. We’re here to help with opportunities for inventory acquisition and much more, so you can create and use processes that work.