To many, the term "business development" brings images of a busy call center - and to some, the headaches associated with trying to make the BDC really work. From another angle, developing your business is best accomplished through building a team of career-oriented salespeople. There is a tremendous difference between a career-oriented salesperson and a salesperson spending his entire career in the car business. Unfortunately, as I travel across the country from dealership to dealership, I see too many of the latter.

Finding the Career-Oriented Salesperson

Do you remember the first sales training class you ever attended? Your trainer said, "We are going to give you a desk, a phone, an order pad, and this will be a tremendous career opportunity for you." In many stores, this is the extent to which the concept of "career" is mentioned. Therefore, your store will likely have to foster a career-oriented mentality. But how is this accomplished? Here are some practical ideas:

• When interviewing every potential new hire, whether he be a "green pea" or "old pro," you need to clearly define the concept of business development. That is, every employee on your team should understand that your dealership is not interested in the next walk-in that wants to buy a car. You are interested in working every lead from every possible source (floor, phone, Internet, service, etc.) and selling them not one car, but the rest of their cars for life. Your team must be committed to this ideal.
• Ask the "old pro" about his book of business. How many customers are they bringing with them? If they stare at you with some dazed look in their eye, they probably haven't kept accurate records of their owners. This will show how important, or unimportant, renewal business is to them.
• Make it a point to tell new sales associates that they will be assigned previous owners. A major part of their job will be to build a relationship with these customers.
• Remember the critical role sales management plays in "business development." Anyone can desk deals, but the sales manager that builds the careers of his team and teaches, preaches, and measures "business development" is the manager that will turn the most units each month - bank on it.
• Don't be afraid of a challenge - some of the best meeters, greeters, benefit sellers, and closers in the country simply have not been given the opportunity to practice true "business development." They may have worked a fast track store, where they relied solely on new ups to make a living. With the proper tools in place, I am convinced that you can teach an "old dog" new tricks!
• Is your dealership the place to be? When showing your store to potential sales associates, be sure to show them the tools you offer that place emphasis on "business development" and career building. This demonstrates your interest in their long-term success. The right CRM, for example, has many times been the requisite tool for a manager to accept an offer. The same CRM may serve to bring and keep a career-oriented salesperson as part of your team.

Keeping the Career-Oriented Salesperson

• Believe it or not, money is not necessarily the key factor. A feeling of "family" that promotes job security for those who are proactively developing business is equally or more important.
• Inclusion, or being part of the policy and decision making process, even on a small level, can be a tremendous deterrent to having your "business developers" walk out the door.
• Flexible scheduling is perhaps as important to some salespeople as anything. If you really want them to feel like entrepreneurs, you must be lenient in this area.
• All too often, dealers and managers are guilty of assuming that all salespeople want to become managers or dealers. When talking with salespeople about their future and their goals, talk to them about their "renewal business," not about how great a manager they might make some day.

By all means, keep the call center in your effort to promote business development, but don't neglect the point at where developing your business matters most: finding and keeping a career-oriented staff that will sell cars for years to come.