Your dealership sales consultant job descriptions can have a significant impact in helping your team attract and hire qualified talent. The goal of any job description should be to get prospective job applicants excited about the possibility of working for your dealership.
Given a spike in unemployment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of job seekers are now in the market looking for their next opportunities. With effective dealership sales consultant job descriptions, you can reach top talent from both inside and outside the retail automotive space.
To help your team write effective dealership sales consultant job descriptions, we’ve outlined some best practices for you to follow below. Reference this guide as a blueprint as you craft job descriptions for your sales consultant roles or any other job openings at your dealership.
Job Title
When writing your dealership sales consultant job descriptions, use shorter job titles with one to three words – such as simply “Sales Consultant,” “Sales Representative” or “Digital Sales Specialist” – as concise titles have the highest apply rates. Also avoid using language that references sign-on or relocation bonuses, as this may cause your dealership sales consultant job descriptions to be flagged as spam by search engines or job boards.
Company Overview
You should lead any job description with information about your dealership and its core purpose. Explain why it’s a great place to work and for employees to grow their careers. Also, now more than ever given the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, make sure to address your commitment to employee and customer safety either in your company overview or elsewhere in the job descriptions.
Here are some ideas for additional content to include in the company overview section of your dealership sales consultant job descriptions:
- Company history – When was your dealership founded, and what makes it unique?
- Company location – Where is your organization based?
- Culture – What is it like to work for your team? How many employees do you have on staff? Are you family-owned? Customer-focused?
- Awards – Have you been recognized as a top employer either by the retail automotive industry – such as Automotive News “Best Dealerships to Work For” – or by the local community?
- Community involvement – What kinds of charitable work does your dealership foster and support?
- Career growth – What types of career path opportunities are available to employees across departments at your dealership?
Here’s an example of the company overview we share with Hireology candidates in our job descriptions and on our career site:
Hireology was founded on one simple (but powerful) idea: Hiring the right person matters.
In the past ten years, we’ve grown from a startup to a market-leading organization with 200+ team members and an award-winning culture that makes Hireology a truly amazing place to work.
Do you have the drive and determination to join one of the fastest growing companies to help redefine recruitment marketing software?
Benefits
Beyond exciting top talent through the company overview section of your dealership sales consultant job descriptions, it’s also important to answer the “What’s in it for me?” question for candidates with a comprehensive list of benefits.
A key piece of the benefits section of your dealership sales consultant job descriptions should cover details on your dealership pay plan. Many job seekers have been hesitant to apply to traditional dealership sales roles in the past due to the high-commission structure and risks associated.
Given the shift toward digital retailing, many dealerships are rethinking their pay plans to attract a new pool of candidates who might not have otherwise been interested in dealership careers.
Here are some examples of what you can include in the benefits section of your sales consultant job descriptions:
- Details on your pay plan – Commission-based? Guaranteed base salary plus incentives?
- Insurance (medical, dental, vision, life insurance)
- Discounts on community events
- Volunteer opportunities
- Business partnerships (including gym membership discounts and wireless discounts
- Professional development your dealership offers (paid training or other certifications for employees)
- Career paths and growth opportunities
- Vacation time
Responsibilities
Clearly define the role and its responsibilities in each of your dealership sales consultant job descriptions, as this section can further excite qualified talent, while weeding out some prospective applicants who aren’t a fit. As you’re writing, break out responsibilities into concise bullets. Successful job descriptions use bulleted lists for about one-third of their content.
If you haven’t updated your dealership sales consultant job descriptions in some time, now is a better time than ever to give content a refresh. While online car sales have become more common in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has made digital retailing even more prevalent, as many dealers had to temporarily pause operations on the sales floor. But even as social distancing guidelines are lifted, consumers will continue to demand a digital-first car buying experience.
With digital retailing, most consumers complete extensive online research before contacting or walking into a dealership. As a result, the car sales process is now less about negotiation and more about fulfillment. And your employees are ultimately the only thing standing between customers and a final purchase decision, meaning you need to hire team members who are more focused on driving a top-notch customer experience than focusing on a sales push
See below for a sample list of responsibilities you can leverage for your job dealership sales consultant job descriptions:
- Promote and seek out opportunities to deliver a top-notch customer experience
- Work directly with our employees and customers to develop relationships and help to enhance the sales process
- Exhibit consultative selling skills – assist customers in selecting a vehicle by asking questions and listening carefully to their responses
- Offer assistance or direction to any customer who enters the dealership
- Stay informed about new products, features, accessories, etc., and be prepared to explain their benefits to customers
- Perform high-quality, professional demonstrations of new/used vehicles
- Report to the Sales Manager regarding objectives, planned activities, reviews, and analyses
- Follow-up with buyers to ensure successful referral business
Requirements
While some dealership roles require certain certifications or previous experience, you should also focus on preferred competencies, rather than simply direct required experience. Due to the increase in job seekers on the market, now is your opportunity to engage talent from outside the retail automotive space, and with the right training, outside talent can end up being some of your top performers.
Below, we’ve outlined some sample requirements for you to consider in your dealership sales consultant job descriptions:
- Enthusiasm and high energy throughout the sales workday
- Friendly, customer experience-focused personality
- Strong customer service, communication skills, computer and basic math skills
- Self-starter mentality and ambitious spirit preferred
- Interest in training additional sales associates once you get up to speed, and working in a team environment
- Clean driving record & valid driver’s license
- Available to work flexible hours and weekends
- Eager to quickly learn new product in’s and out’s, eager to improve
- Professional, well-groomed personal appearance
- Previous dealership or sales experience preferred but not required
- High school diploma or general education degree (GED)
Equal Opportunity Statement
Before concluding your dealership sales consultant job descriptions, make sure to add an Equal Opportunity Employment Statement. Here’s an example: “We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.”
Simply including this statement at the bottom of your dealership sales consultant job descriptions and on your career site can help improve your search results and reach more qualified candidates as a result.
Additional Best Practices for Your Dealership Sales Consultant Job Descriptions
As you’re building out the content for each section of your dealership sales consultant job descriptions outlined above, keep the following job description best practices in mind:
- Keep your job descriptions short and concise – between 400 and 800 words is ideal.
- Add location, hours and salary information to the body of the job description instead of job title.
- In your company overview and throughout your job descriptions, include “you” statements, so prospective applicants can picture themselves as members of your team. For example, “As a member of our team, you will…”
- Make sure the language in your job descriptions is inclusive. For example, avoid using pronouns such as “he” or “she” so you don’t unintentionally overlook a key portion of your potential labor pool. Only 34 percent of dealership employees are women and in some cases, women might choose not to apply to open dealership roles because job descriptions are targeted toward men.
Job descriptions are a key piece to any effective hiring strategy. With the right dealership job descriptions, you can attract and engage top talent, speed up your overall time to hire and get the right employees in place quickly to support the best customer experience possible. For additional tips on writing effective job descriptions across roles at your dealership, read our resource, “Top 50 Job Descriptions in Retail Automotive.”
