JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

With many Baby Boomers close to or already in retirement and older generations well into their golden years, Generation Y appears on the cusp of being the most influential in the auto market.

Being able to recruit the educated young professionals in this age group more effectively may help dealerships overcome what The Manus Group said has been a big challenge in today’s market — retention.

“One of the biggest generational challenges facing dealers today is how they can more effectively recruit and market to Gen Y,” dealership consultant Mark Rikess said in his report titled “I Don’t Understand Your Generation.”

He added: “Due to their sheer size, this group in the very near future will dictate dealership profit and loss as the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers ride off into the sunset.”

The term "Traditionalists" refers to those who have lived through World Wars and the Great Depression, according to officials.

The Manus Group basically boiled its recruitment advice down to a few key elements for dealerships to hone in on when approaching potential employees from Generation Y: quality of life and stability, professional transparency and using innovative training technology.

Beginning with quality of life and stability, the group emphasized that Gen Y tends to prefer a “better balance of life and career.” Interestingly enough, providing such amenities can prove to be beneficial performance-wise for this group.

“Dealers must determine methods for creating a 40-hour work schedule with at least one weekend off each month. Flexibility can be achieved by staffing according to traffic flow,” Rikess noted.

“Our research shows that 70 percent of sales occur in 30 percent of the overall time the sales department is open,” he added. “By staffing the showroom and prep center according to customer demand and employing lower cost staff, sales people can sell more cars in fewer hours.”

Touching on financial security, which is also important to these young professionals, Rikess suggested a pay structure other than solely using commission.

“The traditional pay plan based on gross with random spiffs will not attract quality Gen Y sales people who have never sold cars. They would rather be paid $14 per hour to work in sales at a Best Buy or Apple Store than take on the financial risk of a straight commission pay plan,” he stressed.

“Gen Ys, in particular, do not have the thick skin required for aggressive selling, having typically grown up in a coddled environment where everyone is a winner (ala youth soccer),” Rikess continued. “A pay plan that provides a good training salary, typically $2,500 or more for two months and then provides a combination of salary and compensation per unit sold (not gross) with bonuses works well.”

Moving along, Rikess delved into the importance of professional transparency for this group. One way to get this going is through posting employment information on dealership websites. Alex Schoeneberger, who is the product marketing manager for Kelley Blue Book company CDMdata, offered his take, as well.

He said it would be helpful for dealers to also post on the websites information about job responsibilities and expectations, compensation and benefit plans as well as sales training programs. The most important item to include would be career growth and development opportunities, Schoeneberger stressed.

Next up, officials emphasized the importance of quality training in attracting younger employees.

Citing data from the book “When Generations Collide" from Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman, officials noted that just 3 percent of Traditionalists claim they have left a job because there were not enough training opportunities, while 15 percent of Baby Boomers said the same. For Generation X, that number is up to 30 percent.

The Manus Group also shared what author Cam Marston had to say in the book “What’s in it for me? Workforce.” According to Marston, Gen Y employees typically perform better if they have a definitive understanding of their position and overall career outlook.

Sharing what he believes are some differences between corporate training programs and those often found at dealerships, Carfolks.com executive team member Mark Dubis noted: “Employees of the Container Store, where they sell empty boxes, go through an average of nine interviews before they are hired and receive over 200 hours of training before they are allowed to be on their own speaking to customers in the store.

“They also get about 160 hours of training on an annual basis after one year. Compare that to the forty hours of training a new car salesperson gets before they can talk to a customer about that $35,000 vehicle,” he continued. “And I forgot to mention that a retail sales person in the Container Store gets a base salary of approx. $44,000 a year, plus benefits and a 401(k).”

Rikess chimed in, noting: “Gen Ys want to be part of a team, and your training program should acknowledge that want by teaching about other departments.”

Offering his perspective, PCG Digital Marketing chief executive officer Brian Pasch suggested dealers implement today’s communication technologies into sales training.

“One aspect to attract Gen Y into the automotive industry [is] for job roles that include digital marketing and social media and not just sales,” Pasch stated.

Sharon Hill — senior analyst with AIM Group, which provides consulting for interactive media and classified advertising — said dealers can benefit by going over exactly how technology can drive business leads.

“Talk about your Internet sales department, your live chat, your digital tools and vendors, etc.,” she suggested. “Say, ‘This is an opportunity to put to good use not only your top-notch sales skills, but also the social networking and digital communication gadgets and processes you already know so much about.’”

Sharing some more insight, the president of auto sales and marketing solutions provider VIP Autos Live Bobby Compton emphasized: “I have faith that this generation is equally capable of being as great as the best of negotiators of the past, if not better when trained to do so. Technology is definitely on the Gen Y’s side.”