Answer extracted from the Car Dealership Guy Podcast — listen to the full episode below.
Why are sales professionals the toughest position to hire for in automotive dealerships?
Sales professionals are the hardest role to fill because dealerships remain locked in outdated coaching and training methods that no longer work for today's salespeople. The industry continues applying approaches that succeeded in the past, but new hires need fundamentally different development strategies to thrive.
The core challenge isn't finding candidates—it's adapting the organization itself. As David Zuniga explains in the episode, dealerships must fundamentally shift how they coach, develop, and train incoming sales talent.
The mismatch occurs because veteran managers often default to the methods that got them to their current position. What worked for them in an earlier era of dealership sales simply doesn't resonate with new hires entering an industry that has transformed. This generational gap in training philosophy is at the heart of the sales hiring crisis.
Adjusting Your Approach to Set New Hires Up to Win
Zuniga, who manages nine salespeople at Performance Auto Group's Kia dealership in Denville, New Jersey, emphasizes that dealers must actively redesign their coaching style to match how new salespeople learn and perform best. The old playbook no longer guarantees success.
This isn't about lowering standards or abandoning proven sales fundamentals. Rather, it's about recognizing that the delivery mechanism, the motivation triggers, and the feedback loop all need to evolve with the workforce. Dealerships that continue forcing yesterday's training model onto today's recruits inevitably watch them leave for competitors or industries where their development feels more relevant.
"Every day the first person we have to close is ourselves. What did we come here to do today?"
David Zuniga — General Sales Manager, Performance Auto Group. With over 15 years in automotive sales, Zuniga has progressed from the sales floor through business development center operations, sales desk management, and closing roles. He now leads a nine-person sales team and in-house BDC at the Kia dealership in Denville, New Jersey, where the store sells 130–140 units monthly across new and used inventory.
Interestingly, Zuniga also reveals specific tactics his dealership uses to retain and develop salespeople effectively once they're hired, a practical complement to solving the initial recruitment challenge.
Key takeaways
- Sales is the hardest position to hire for because dealerships apply outdated coaching methods to new talent.
- New salespeople require different training methodologies, coaching styles, and development approaches than past generations.
- Dealerships must actively adjust their internal systems to set incoming hires up for success, not force them into legacy processes.
- The mismatch between old-school sales management and modern salespeople directly drives turnover and hiring difficulty.
See also
How can dealership salespeople improve their performance by preparing mentally before customer interactions?
What happens between opportunities is critical to success. Mental preparation builds the confidence that customers actively look for when entering a dealership.
What soft skills should car dealership managers prioritize in training their sales teams to gain competitive advantage?
Soft skills—mindset, attitude, grit, and persistence—create the real competitive difference when developing salespeople, rather than focusing solely on product knowledge.
Should dealerships follow OEM-recommended maintenance intervals or adopt more frequent service schedules?
Factory-recommended maintenance intervals should guide dealership service schedules, ensuring alignment with original equipment manufacturer specifications.