Ron Baus on Staffing Challenges Due to Covid
Transcript
Sean : I want to sort of go back and chat briefly about sales and service staff. Have you found that you can do more with less personnel? Like a lot of dealerships?n
nRon : So my sales staff, when we brought them back? You know, they were, that was kind of like, you know, every month or so, like, oh, we have, I think, what is it 655 days on the floor? You know, but what I did like about that was, you know, there was a lot of complacency prior to COVID, you know, there’s a lot of bad habits, there was a lot of, you know, just too much comfort. And so, you know, when you’re laid off, and, you know, you don’t know what’s going to happen one day, the next one, you get the call back to come to work, or you kind of take your job a little more serious, you know, there’s no room for error, because quite frankly, if you’re going to be the same person, you were prior to this, I don’t need you.n
nI don’t care how long you’re with me, it’s a new day, you know, fortunately, or unfortunately, however you look at it. So my staff when they were coming back, I think that, let me just say this, I had to have a good staff, that’s not what I’m not saying, it’s just that I noticed we’re just taking the roles more seriously and responsibly. So I was kind of fortunate that, you know, management, you know, pretty much stayed intact.n
nFinance department is always a challenge, trying to get the right person in there. You know, it’s amazing, when you look at that position, and what it entails, and what the responsibility is, and that’s our heartbeat, that’s where everything’s got to be slowing, you know, these cross tu2019s, I’s dotted, because you got to get to cash flow, you know, so, again, we’re just kind of a small, you know, small place. So, the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. n
nAs for service, service, you know, stayed intact, you know, through the, through the pandemic. There was, again, same thing, a little bit of complacency with some guys, and we just weren’t bringing the back, you know, now, the, the text for the most part, pretty much everybody stayed intact that way, obviously, we have a big challenge with getting technicians, there’s a big deficiency with that. n
nAnd I forget, there was a statistic that said something like 9500 were exiting the business and only 2500 were coming in. So there’s a big difference between, you know, a need for technicians. So that is the challenge, you know, even today, I think they, you know, and part of it too, is sometimes we don’t have the solution to fix something because it’s a software issue. If that becomes a challenge, or a quality control issue, there’s things that we have messed up, you know, and, you know, just try to get in front of it and go from there. But those are the challenges I think, right now. If you were to ask me, I would say service is just talent, it’s just a challenge because there’s a you know, there’s the talent has been minimized. That makes sense.n
nSean : It’s like the pie is growing and as far as the need for service, but there’s less pie to eat. You know, it’s kind of interesting. And it’s funny that I was actually eating at a restaurant in New Jersey about eight months ago and our server was a female waitress and she was like, I’ve always wanted to be a service technician and I was trying to save up money to become one and and then and then I had my mom got sick so I had put all the money savings to give to her and I was like, Why do you need money to become a technician? And she says to me, well, because I gotta go to school you know, trade school for it. So I was like, huh, I don’t know if you do. So I was told I was coaching a service manager named Andy the following day and I was like, dude, do you only want technicians that have been to trade school? And that led into a whole convo about, u201cno like we’ll train and we’ll take a C-tech and train them here from the ground up and they can save their money. n
nSo we ended up hiring her. She’s now a C-Tech and they’re quickly doing oil changes and stuff there and she loves it. I have a funny picture she her while she was on the job training while I was still there. She popped the filter off and oil went all around me. It was like a scene from Pulp Fiction where he shoots the and then every bullet like the oil was all around me and not one drop on my suit. I thought the dealer was gonna have to buy me a new suit but didn’t happen butu2026nn
nRon : So my sales staff, when we brought them back? You know, they were, that was kind of like, you know, every month or so, like, oh, we have, I think, what is it 655 days on the floor? You know, but what I did like about that was, you know, there was a lot of complacency prior to COVID, you know, there’s a lot of bad habits, there was a lot of, you know, just too much comfort. And so, you know, when you’re laid off, and, you know, you don’t know what’s going to happen one day, the next one, you get the call back to come to work, or you kind of take your job a little more serious, you know, there’s no room for error, because quite frankly, if you’re going to be the same person, you were prior to this, I don’t need you.n
nI don’t care how long you’re with me, it’s a new day, you know, fortunately, or unfortunately, however you look at it. So my staff when they were coming back, I think that, let me just say this, I had to have a good staff, that’s not what I’m not saying, it’s just that I noticed we’re just taking the roles more seriously and responsibly. So I was kind of fortunate that, you know, management, you know, pretty much stayed intact.n
nFinance department is always a challenge, trying to get the right person in there. You know, it’s amazing, when you look at that position, and what it entails, and what the responsibility is, and that’s our heartbeat, that’s where everything’s got to be slowing, you know, these cross tu2019s, I’s dotted, because you got to get to cash flow, you know, so, again, we’re just kind of a small, you know, small place. So, the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. n
nAs for service, service, you know, stayed intact, you know, through the, through the pandemic. There was, again, same thing, a little bit of complacency with some guys, and we just weren’t bringing the back, you know, now, the, the text for the most part, pretty much everybody stayed intact that way, obviously, we have a big challenge with getting technicians, there’s a big deficiency with that. n
nAnd I forget, there was a statistic that said something like 9500 were exiting the business and only 2500 were coming in. So there’s a big difference between, you know, a need for technicians. So that is the challenge, you know, even today, I think they, you know, and part of it too, is sometimes we don’t have the solution to fix something because it’s a software issue. If that becomes a challenge, or a quality control issue, there’s things that we have messed up, you know, and, you know, just try to get in front of it and go from there. But those are the challenges I think, right now. If you were to ask me, I would say service is just talent, it’s just a challenge because there’s a you know, there’s the talent has been minimized. That makes sense.n
nSean : It’s like the pie is growing and as far as the need for service, but there’s less pie to eat. You know, it’s kind of interesting. And it’s funny that I was actually eating at a restaurant in New Jersey about eight months ago and our server was a female waitress and she was like, I’ve always wanted to be a service technician and I was trying to save up money to become one and and then and then I had my mom got sick so I had put all the money savings to give to her and I was like, Why do you need money to become a technician? And she says to me, well, because I gotta go to school you know, trade school for it. So I was like, huh, I don’t know if you do. So I was told I was coaching a service manager named Andy the following day and I was like, dude, do you only want technicians that have been to trade school? And that led into a whole convo about, u201cno like we’ll train and we’ll take a C-tech and train them here from the ground up and they can save their money. n
nSo we ended up hiring her. She’s now a C-Tech and they’re quickly doing oil changes and stuff there and she loves it. I have a funny picture she her while she was on the job training while I was still there. She popped the filter off and oil went all around me. It was like a scene from Pulp Fiction where he shoots the and then every bullet like the oil was all around me and not one drop on my suit. I thought the dealer was gonna have to buy me a new suit but didn’t happen butu2026nn