Cross-training is a concept that can be seen in almost any industry, including the automotive industry. As Jeff Lupient mentions, cross-training employees not only help in improving the operations of a dealership and elevating customer satisfaction, but it can also help facilitate improved employee development and engagement. Lupient was asked to run his family’s money-losing Infiniti dealership near Minneapolis in 2007. While this job was supposed to be temporary, he actually managed to turn the dealership’s fortunes around by cutting about $100,000 of fixed and semi-fixed costs. As a part of that, he cross-trained employees to do multiple jobs
Jeff Lupient discusses why car dealership employees must be cross-trained
Car dealerships have undergone significant transformations over the last couple of decades. Traditionally, in car dealerships, most employees operated within siloes. For instance, earlier sales associates and finance & insurance (F&I) personnel were relegated to two distinctive teams or departments, with very little interaction between them. In case someone from the sales team did not effectively prepare the customer for the F&I side, the entire process could seem too complicated, and even caused customers to walk away and make their purchase from a different dealership.
The traditional system of pigeon-holing employees into a single role in the dealership hierarchy also led to friction between staff members and created internal dissonance. In many dealerships, the system of creating separate roles and departments did not do much in regards to establishing teamwork or synergy within the business. Rather, it commonly led to dealership employees not fully comprehending the importance and complexities of the work done by each part. As a result, they often end up blaming each other when a promising deal falls through. To avoid such an eventuality, car dealerships must modernize their functions and invest in cross-training employees.
As Jeff Lupient says, training car dealership employees to be well-acquainted with every aspect and step of the car buying process supports the creation of a more cohesive unit. Rather than having employees stick to just one function, like finance or sales, training them to take on responsibilities beyond their role is an effective way to encourage teamwork and make the most of the available resources. One of the key advantages of cross-training in car dealerships is operational flexibility. By training employees to perform multiple roles within the dealership, management can effectively address fluctuations in workload, staffing shortages, or unexpected absences. For instance, a salesperson who is also trained to handle administrative tasks can step in to assist the finance department during busy periods, making sure that customers are served promptly and efficiently. Such a level of flexibility lowers the risk of disruptions in service and helps the dealership maintain its reputation for reliability and responsiveness.
The traditional structure of car dealerships has many inefficiencies, which led to many dealerships to implement a single-point-of-contact model. However, the new system that involves employee-cross training helps merge the sales and F&I roles together to facilitate a consistent, efficient process for car buyers. Such a consolidated role allows one point of contact to show the car, run credit reports, review bank deal structures, as well as get customers in their new cars and on the road as fast as possible.
