Dave Robison is owner and managing partner at Automotive Dealer Personnel, a Massachusetts-based dealership recruiting and staffing firm that has been in business for more than two decades.
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With the contraction in the number of dealerships the past few years, and the sales slump that we're just now recovering from, is there a glut of available job seekers in the dealership market?
I wouldn’t say there is a glut of good people. There's always a paucity of good people to fill spots with good dealers. There are always a fringe group of job hoppers, and I'll get a resume from a guy that will show he was at one place for three months, another for nine months. There's no lack of those people who will spend short periods of time at many different dealerships. It's hard to find well-established, stable people with all the qualities that the better dealers are looking for.
Is recruiting for fixed-operations positions different than recruiting for the sales floor?
Fixed-ops is sales, in a broad sense. You are either selling cars and making small margins, or you're selling parts and service and making large margins. So many dealers grow up through the sales department that they don’t have a good solid understanding of fixed operations. They even call it the back-end — just the language they use is dangerous. They think all the glory is in selling cars and having giant numbers to put on the board when you go to your dealer meetings.
There's no real difference in how you go about soliciting people. You still look for stable people with good objectives and good qualifications, and if you can't find them out there you have to grow them on your own.
I will tell you that right now dealers are screaming for technicians. A technician who even knows where his toolbox is shouldn't have a problem finding a job, because those guys are in high demand. They're harder to come by, because dealers may be looking for a Toyota master technician, although most dealers shouldn't fill their shops with A category technicians, because it shifts the cost basis of running the service department.
Are there any particular challenges unique to some of the new foreign nameplates that are expanding their dealership base in the U.S.?
I don't see a big difference because there's only so many different ways you can do something. The basics are still the basics. You have to greet a customer with a friendly expression and take good care of them and answer their questions honestly. It's the same in the service department. The dealers want stability, somebody with a background in their particular position, and to make sure they don't lie, cheat or steal.
