Car dealers trying hard to retain staff

New Delhi: The car industry is growing and it is reflecting in the expansion of dealerships. Along with expansion, dealers also face the challenge of retaining quality staff.

The signal is clear - India's car industry is speeding ahead. From just around 15 models five years ago to over 30 now. Selling cars then is no easy job.

The growth in the car industry is well reflected in its dealerships. For instance, the employee strength in a showroom in South Mumbai has grown from 30 people to 100 people in a little over three years.

With over 5000 dealerships in the country, the demand for car sales staff is rapidly growing. And dealerships are not just competing with each other for talent, but also with lucrative job offers from the BPO and consumer goods industries.

More money and better positions are the bait - and they worked in bringing 26-year-old Vikram Dandekar back to this Ford dealership after a brief affair with a Japanese car outlet. Dandekar's return was eased by what he calls a 'significant' hike in pay and the designation of Senior Consultant.

Now he's working hard at retaining team members who may be lured away, by lets say, a high paying BPO job. "It's happening, but people who have passion for cars may go somewhere else but will be back to cars," says Dandekar.

Passion that translates into higher sales for the company. That's way even manufacturers like Ford, that has gone from 6 to more than 100 dealerships in 9 years, are working with delaers to recruit and incentivise people like Vikram.

V Sivaramakrishnan, VP-Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford India says "It takes about three-four new sales consultants to deliver the same number of physical units in a delaership sold versus a five or six year old consultant. So the math is very simple for dealers. Whatever you invest in retention is brilliant in ROI."

In addition to incentivising its employees, dealers are now working out a way to groom potential talent. The Federation of Autombile Dealers Association has tied up with professional institutes to offer six month long training courses with a job guarantee at a dealership.

The pilot programme in Mumbai and Pune begun in January 2006. After all selling cars maybe tough! But keeping the sellers back is even tougher.