Do you have a high turnover rate at your dealership? One dealership might help improve your store

Sort of the way Ray Skillman Auto Group did (back in 2014) when they were seeking product specialists for their 10-dealerships in Indianapolis. Auto News reports, the task was pretty much straightforward: replace traditional sales consultants with salary-based product specialists.

But to find those product specialists, the Ray Skillman Auto Group first had to overcome some bias from the local university. When the auto group sought out college grads, university officials said they didn’t want their grads getting into the car business. So, Skillman hired Hireology consultants out of Chicago.

Well, two years (and a rigorous hiring process later) …Skillman now employs 52 product specialists. Among the 52, ten are women…a higher percentage than they employed before. And, the group has higher percentages of college graduates and military veterans.

On top of that, Auto News reports the sales turnover rate is less than 20 percent…down from more than 50 percent before the new model was adopted. The national average of turnover at dealerships (according to a NADA study in 2015) 72%.