Pros
I have over 20 years of management experience, including hiring, training, and human resources. I have an Associates Degree in Applied Science, and a Bachelor Degree in English. I have certification from Cornell University for Customer Service and Management, HVAC refrigeration, and professional sales and marketing certifications from radio advertising, sales and marketing research in various companies. This is the first time in my career that I experienced a severe lack of professionalism, a cut-throat sense of sales approach, and an intense lack of training associated with the trade. I was witness to a lack of disregard for company policies and company standards. I was witness to a continued undermining of untrained/ unseasoned sales consultants from senior sales consultants and middle management. I observed several individuals that did not clock in and out accordingly to their assigned shift. I witnessed no objection from management from staff that came to work when scheduled off. Often those individuals would NOT clock in and out for those added shifts. No one was held accountable for clocking for shifts. No one was held accountable for taking advantage of company policies. I was personally advised by middle management that it was better on the commission if one did not clock in and out for particular shifts. I was advised that if one came in on their day off, they would not clock in and out for their shifts to off-set their commission base. “If you want a bigger commission, don’t clock in and out for your whole shifts,” I was advised. “If you work over 40-hours, just clock the 40 hours. Anything more than that you can get back on your commission.” There is a menagerie of wrong-doing and underhanded, back-stabbing business dealing within the car sales industry. Although I consider myself a fair and compliant person, I know there is serious potential for being jaded. I would not align myself with anyone that had negative attitudes, and constantly had to watch how business was handled by some of the sales consultants. While I was working with a client and his brother, I had the opportunity to make two deals. The older brother wanted to trade in his vehicle, while the younger brother wanted to buy a car. I had spend possibly 20 minutes with both brothers. When the time came to test drive a car for the younger brother, I drove the vehicle to the front of the dealership and found that a senior sales consultant had asserted himself into the deal. Further, while I was on a test drive with the younger brother, he stole the deal for the older brother. This sort of undermining constantly went on at the dealership. There is a particular point that needs serious addressing when it comes to handing new sales consultants. There is a “sink or swim” mentality that happens immediately at the dealership. Every 4 weeks a “new batch” of people are interviewed, and “hired.” This means there is no end to the sales consultants. Since there is no real training involved, other than the introduction to the automotive sales industry by a colorful and flamboyant trainer in Chantilly, new sales consultants do not have an opportunity to receive an valuable training when it comes to handling proper sales paperwork, or addressing management and clients. Unless one has a strong sense of “cold call” sales structures, there is a lack of follow-through on all potential new consultants. Most questions are not addressed, most consultants that are NOT assertive, do not get the opportunity to get proper training. “Shadowing” other sales consultants is not effective and often the sales consultants that are being shadowed are less than a year (and in one case, only one month as a sales consult), and often the paperwork aspect of the business is NOT addressed unless one is in the middle of a “deal.” There is no hands-on approach to consulting, and though ALL sales consultants are held accountable, they are often too weak in training to get a handle on proper procedures. However, there is no standard operating procedure when it comes to sales consultants. Senior sales consultants get better management backing than inexperienced sales consultants. There is no commonality set between sales. Example of sales comes from 2 separate clients paying 2 different amounts on exactly the same vehicle at exactly the same time. This is before the clients move into the business offices to complete their purchases. Inexperienced sales consultants do not get the same incentives as senior sales consultants. I suspect this system in age-old and the dealership (Pohanka included) does not care if there is mockery, ridicule, or undermining going on between sales staff as long as the dealership gets rich.
Cons
There is a serious lack of professionalism from senior sales consultants. Often, there is a hierarchy from one particular sales consultant that made most (if not all) the rules. Often, if said consultant was in the management office (as he was more often than at his desk), he would tell other sales consultants how to do business. If said consultant was in the office at the time a new sales consultant had a question about doing business, said consultant would answer instead of management, and was not redirected from management. It is a very clear indicator that suggests the top sales consultants are catered and preened while more inexperienced sales consultants are not given opportunity to get further sales or training. The infrastructure inside the management office takes special interest in senior sales consultants, including the said consultant that reign’s lord supreme over all others because said consultant makes more sales than anyone else in the business. The special treatment of said consultant has much to do with how management allows the consultant to handle business, including handing deals to the consultant, as well as turning a blind eye to the stealing of deals from more inexperienced sales consultants. Since the “Phone Up Desk” was moved closure to the management office, it allows one to by privy to the “Extreme” staff. There is a group of three women (ONLY) that handle the dealing of individuals in the service area. Since this “Extreme” structure is not new to how Pohanka does business, I will explain the how one can take advantage of certain deals. Of the three females that take care of “Extreme” one is having an affair with one of the senior sales consultants. The fact this senior sales consultant is still married is not important. His moral compass is already eschewed from how he receives special sales deals from the “Extreme” female he is currently philandering with at the dealership. If the “Extreme” female gets an appointment from a potential client that has had service and looking to trade in his or her vehicle, she immediately informs the potential client to ask specifically for the senior sales consultant that she is bedding. That means this senior sales consultant continuously gets appointments from the “Extreme” side of the dealership, as well as combing the CRM for opportunities that may have been overlooked by less seasoned sales consultants. Since there is a serious conflict of interest involved in the philandering, as well as felonious sales activities dealing between the “Extreme” female and the married senior sales consultant, making a verbal observation to management was difficult and poorly handled by management. Management informed me they were aware of the affair, and alleged they had a handle on the doling out the “Extreme” sales. Consideration needs to be addressed with the “Phone Up” clients. Since the Internet department has their infrastructure for sales, Internet sales consultants should not be allowed to handle incoming calls for the dealership. Since the “Phone Up” opportunities need to be handled by “floor” sales consultants, there should never be opportunities for Internet sales consultants to supersede in the incoming calls from potential clients. However, if there is no “floor” sales consultants sitting at the “Phone Up” desk, after 3 rings, the “Phone Up” calls will divert into the Internet sales office. There is a specific phone that rings. Considering the top Internet sales consultant has that particular phone at their desk, special consideration must be addressed with handling incoming calls. Since said Internet sales consultant receives all calls from absent “Phone Up” “floor” sales staff, said Internet sales consultant has rerouted all incoming calls to their personal cell phone. That means all calls diverted to the personal cell phone are handled by the top Internet sales consultant. The continued aberrant behavior from senior sales consultants is not addressed by management. Often management is not aware of how insidious senior sales consultants are to inexperienced sales consultants. The top sales consultant that has more special privileges from management constantly berates inexperienced sales consultants, is belittling, condescending, pretentious, and menacing. While in training recently for the HRV, a senior sales consultant told me that a sale that handled the day before belonged to him. Further, he stated that it was my responsibility to hand over that sale to him since he had previously sold vehicles to that particular client. The senior sales consultant was abrupt and vilifying toward me in the company of everyone in the training room. All other sales consultants heard his disparagement, and he wanted to make sure everyone heard him scorn me for allegedly stealing a deal from him. Since it was in my best interest to maintain decorum, I refrained from explaining to the senior sales consultant that if the client had requested him directly, he would have received the deal, or even half, if he had been in the CRM. However, after the training, I went through the CRM to check on the last sales from the client. The particular senior sales consultant had NEVER sold that client a car, and it was only a matter of him making a statement, and using me as a target to get his point across that allowed me to understand how he handled business. Further, after a week, said senior sales consultant, removed my name from several clients I had placed on “Long Term Follow-Up” and added himself as primary sales consultant. Further, he phoned several clients that had instructed NOT to call, and all were clearly marked accordingly in the CRM.