How car dealers can stay ahead of the curve with a solid business strategy

Today on CBT News, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by Shawn Hays, Co-Founder of Sales Hustler and General Manager of Carter Myers Colonial Chevrolet in Richmond, VA. Hays has built a large audience of car dealers under the title Your Car Guy on Facebook. Hays has spoken at numerous industry events on simplifying the car-buying experience. 

Hays begins the conversation by looking back at 2020, recapping some of the key takeaways from an unforgettable year. 2020 was Hays’s first year as a GM which provided him with plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. He says the biggest learning point from the year was the importance of staying ahead of the curve. Car dealers must have an awareness of the direction of the industry around them. Car dealers and general managers that hesitate to make crucial business moves will start to fall behind their competitors. 

Hays said he designated employees to gather as much new-car inventory as possible last year. The strategy behind this move was to stay ahead of other automobile retailers who were eventually going to be looking for those vehicles down the line. He said this set his company up for success when the nation’s inventory count began to dwindle away. 

Hays then goes into the type of sales professionals that are needed in car dealerships today. According to Hays, the modern salesperson doesn’t need to change, but the sales training does need to change. Oftentimes, the performance of the salesperson comes back to the leadership and direction they received from their trainer or sales manager.

Hays concludes the conversation by discussing the difficult challenge of managing struggling team members. Hays says he tries to offer as much training as possible. However, if the employee continues to fall behind, he makes the hard decision to let them go. Hays says that employees that hurt company culture need to be let go so they don’t bring down other team members in the car dealership. 

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