Automotive Sales Manager

Description

POSITION SUMMARY

The Sales Manager creates and maintains the image of the dealership through advertising and is a prominent presence within the dealership, interacting continually with sales staff and customers. It is the responsibility of this manager to accurately plan and forecast sales, to develop annual sales goals for the dealership as part of an annual business plan, and then to constantly monitor the dealership's sales in relation to the plan, revising the plan when appropriate. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Sales Manager to hire and develop the sales staff for the dealership and to ensure customer satisfaction. In sales situations, this manager helps to complete the sale, balancing the needs of the customer, the salesperson, and the dealership. Importantly, the Sales Manager is responsible for the training, development, and motivation of the sales staff and serves as a role model for them.

As the manager responsible for new vehicle sales, this manager must know all of the variables which will affect the business plan, including supply, demand, profit, competition, promotion, pricing, manufacturing issues, insurance rates, and finance rates. He/she must be able to take measures to compensate for the unexpected.

Functions:

• Supervision, Training, and Development
• Sales/Marketing
• Customer Relations
• Operations
• Interdepartmental Relations
• Profit Management
• Inventory Control

Work Orientation Factors:

• Many customers contact.
• Much contact with people in all dealership departments
• Much paperwork
• Requirement to perform more than one task at once.
• Much analytical work
• Work with high dollar amounts
• Long hours

What the Worker is Like

The Sales Manager is a key person in the dealership.  Sales managers in retail sales might become Sales Managers in dealerships, or Used Vehicle Sales Managers or other department managers from within the dealership might advance to this position. In addition, veterans on the sales staff might be candidates, as might managers from other dealerships. Usually, this manager is a "car buff," with interest in and enthusiasm about automobiles. Not only must this manager establish the image of the dealership in marketing, but also, he/she must ensure that the sales staff consistently lives up to that image with a distinctive, proactive customer responsiveness. On the other hand, the person who occupies this position must be detail-oriented—charting individual sales, establishing individual sales goals and dealership bonus plans, and constantly monitoring dealership sales against the business plan. Of course, this manager must be capable of working without supervision, effectively managing his/her own time and workflow.
 

What the Work is Like

While the Sales Manager's job entails considerable "walking around," working with sales staff and greeting customers, the position also involves paperwork—establishing sales goals and working with sales staff to establish their personal sales goals. Other duties include the analysis of current sales figures as compared to plan, the identification of the customer market through market studies, documentation of sales performance by the staff, the writing of letters to customers who have made a recent purchase in the dealership, the writing of advertising for special sales in the dealership, and the posting of notices to fill vacancies on the sales staff.

In addition, the Sales Manager decides on salespersons' competitions and on product promotion and pricing.

Qualifications

Management/Business Skills Required:

• Ability to establish and maintain good relationships with customers and to exceed their expectations.
• Ability to supervise, train, and motivate sales staff.
• Ability to assist sales consultants in processing or completing sales.
• Knowledge of product and promotion information
• Ability to communicate knowledge of product and promotional information to sales staff.
• Ability to link inventory to marketing plan.
• Ability to conduct sales analyses, comparing sales performance to current sales goals.
• Ability to appropriately display vehicles at the dealership.
• Management skills of leadership including delegation and supervision, organizing and planning, and interpersonal sensitivity Ability to take an interest in staff, including proactively promoting the appropriate development of staff.