I was recently speaking to a friend of mine, a GSM at a store in Tallahassee, about how much the industry has changed. We discussed the changes in the sales force that have occurred in the last several years. “I remember when we (the salesperson) use to do it all. There was no such thing as an F&I departments. There was no such thing as a ‘Closing Manager’. Salespeople knew how to sell!” Then there was some sort of reference to the ”good old days” as he smiled in fond remembrance and began to shake his head in mild disgust and disappointment.

His words hit me very hard. As a prominent and successful manager, I know that he has acknowledged the value of what F&I, and a successful management structure have brought to the industry and the bottom line. However, I can’t help but notice how, in so many of the dealerships that I have visited, there are very few real salespeople. I mean, every store has employees that they call salespeople, but it seems that there are fewer and fewer salespeople that can actually sell!

Why is this? What has caused this revolution of malaise and indifference? Being the President of a company dedicated to creating solutions for sales and processes in the automotive industry, it is very difficult for me to admit, that I believe that technology is partially to blame.

In reality, it is not really technology’s fault. It is the idea that technology will fill in all the gaps that your salespeople are missing, that it will completely automate customer follow up and customer service for you, that it will solve all the problems of your dealership; that it can, and that it will sell. Kind of similar to pushing a calculator across the desk to a customer and saying, “Meet our F&I Manager.”

Technology cannot sell. It can only assist in organizing both the process and the person. It can help provide better information by way of reports and statistics, which can be used for training and process development, or even define strategic marketing. But, it is not a replacement for the salesperson. It, by itself, can write the letters and make the phone calls and find the information that sells. It cannot relate to the customer. Only a person can do that. Technology is only a tool. Recently, however, it by no fault of its own has been given a much greater burden that it is neither worthy or capable of.

Use technology to enhance and streamline your sales processes. It can be a virtual assistant, like a calculator. It can help you to do your work faster, and possibly even with more accuracy. But you have to use it to get something out of it. Otherwise, it will just sit there on the desk. It will lay there dormant, and do nothing. If it is unused, it is useless.

The automotive industry is a business of relationship building. Those that are successful here are those that satisfy their customers by creating a connection with them. This rapport is founded in the mutually beneficial arrangement of: Supply customers with services that are valuable to them at a fair price, and they will buy them. Simple right? Selling is all about customer service. But this idea seems to be lost on many. At many retail locations service could be the farthest thing from anyone’s mind. They do everything to close the deal and little to make a sale.

A true salesperson doesn’t only close this deal, but creates a customer for life. And, because the customer has been sold and is now happy, he will refer others to enjoy the same experience. A salesperson uses technology as a tool, as an assistant. But, the salesperson knows that he, or she is the one that must make the deal happen, and doesn’t rely on others to handle daily situations. A salesperson sells.

The last survey that I saw said that in the course of a lifetime, the average person will spend approximately $360K on automobiles and their maintenance in a lifetime. A person that can sell a customer will maintain that customer’s business and gain others in the process.

The salesman is not dead. He is just harder to find and fewer in number…and hopefully teaching others what he knows.