Most dealers and managers we speak to hate recruiting. They don’t have the time to get resumes, review them, sort and sift through the candidates, bring them in, interview them and then select the right candidates to bring on board. Even then, it can be pretty hit or miss as to whether the person you bring on board will be a superstar or super bust.
And that’s with just about any job in the dealership.
The truth is that recruiting is a HUGE time-suck for all parties involved.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. In the next three posts, we’re going to lay out a simple system you can implement in your dealership to start easily and efficiently finding the right candidates for your team.
Step 1: Write An All-Star Ad
If you’ve been following us for any amount of time, you know that the ad you use makes all the difference between success and failure. And it’s no different with recruiting.
Many businesses use canned copy to create short, to-the-point recruitment ads, but we do the opposite. We use all of our marketing know-how to create a compelling ad that not only sells the company but also sells the position.
You are no longer bound by the word limits of newspaper classified ads. Now that recruiting has gone digital, you have the opportunity to sell your jobs with powerful ads. Here’s the secret recipe for creating a recruitment ad that will attract high-level players.
Test Different Position Titles
One thing that we’ve discovered over the years is that the title you assign to a position has a huge impact on the people who apply for the job. Often, by tweaking the job title, you can open up a whole new pool of prospective employees.
Also, some job titles pull better candidates than others. For instance, in our experience “Customer Care Representative” results in higher quality candidates than “Call Center Rep”. So toy with your job titles until you find the position title that gets the best response.
Use A Strong Headline
As with any ad, the headline is critical!
A good headline will pull the reader into the ad. If the headline doesn’t catch their attention, then they’ll never get to the next line of your ad. So start with a strong, benefit-oriented headline.
You want to use a statement that will pique your prospect’s interest and pull them into your ad. Something they can’t resist.
Talk About The Benefits Of Working At Your Dealership
All great ads center around creating a buying preference through discussing the benefits of choosing one store or business over another. Creating a recruitment ad works in much the same way. You need to create an employment preference. Give them a reason why they should want to work at your dealership over any other place.
Talking about health benefits and payment spiffs are a great way to start, but what else do you offer your employees that make your business a great place to work? What will make your dealership stand out above the rest?
Some things to think about are work/life balance, a fun work environment, growth potential, etc.
When you combine these techniques, the result will be a recruiting ad that attracts the attention of the highest quality candidates in your area.
Check back next time for Step 2 of recruiting MVPs: the interview process. Step 2 will help you pick winners and get them productive fast.