Most dealerships continue to employ the unemployable and try to train the un-trainable.

The process used by most dealerships when hiring detail employees is to hire experienced detailers. One of their standard interview questions includes, “Which two days of the week begin with T?” If the interviewee answers “today and tomorrow,” the dealership hires them.

In most dealerships, the detail manager usually hires employees for the department. In most cases, this person is not much of a manager. Instead, he is usually the best detailer. They might know how to detail, but most do not have a clue how to manage employees, let alone interview and hire proper personnel.

Even if the service fixed operations manager does the hiring, do they know what they are looking for in a detailer? Usually, all they are looking for is a warm body. After all, it is just the detail department. If the owner does the hiring, what criteria does he use in determining who to hire? Normally, all they are looking for is someone who knows how to detail.
Employing the “Unemployables”

The typical detailers that are hired are most often “unemployables.” They work in detailing because that is the only place that will hire them. They might get hired working at a carwash or get a job washing dishes, but even today’s modern carwashes won’t hire the typical detailer because they tend to be transients, with all types of social problems and a jaded work history.

Let me ask dealers this question: Would you hire the people in your detail department to work in your dealership? Most dealers or general managers that I ask say no. My question is, why hire them in your detail department? Look at all the reasons you would not hire these people to work in the dealership. These reasons are why you have problems in the detail department.

In my experience operating retail detail centers and consulting for dealers, the typical detailer comes with so much baggage that no company will hire them, except organizations that do not have high standards. Is that you?

If you established a few simple standards before hiring detail employees, such as a valid driver’s license, a good driving record, prior job references, a high school diploma and drug testing, you would find that most of them could not even meet the aforementioned criteria. In fact, if these conditions are presented in an advertisement, most will not even apply for the job.

If you keep hiring these “experienced detailers”, you will continue to have the problems you have always had. You will never move beyond where your detail department is now. There is no opportunity for growth with these types of people. In fact, you are lucky if the typical detail employee will stay with you for more than a few months.

Training the Un-trainable

Many readers might be saying, “You are wrong, I have a couple of really good, hard working men that have been with me for years.”

Yes, that can be true in many cases. Many dealership detail departments have a few good employees. You want to get these employees to grow and improve, get work done faster with better quality and produce more cars per day, right?

Then, you hire a detail-training consultant to provide an advanced detail-training program for these good employees.

The problem is, unless the trainer tells the detailers what they want to hear, they resist everything he tries to teach them. Most do not want to change anything. They want to keep using the same chemicals, following the same procedures and using the same equipment. They fear change. They resist it, and in most cases, go right back to what they were doing after the trainer leaves.

If you think that bringing someone in to train your existing detail staff for improvement will work, think again. They will not change, unless you threaten them by holding a 2 x 4 over their heads. That might not even work; they might just quit.

What Do You Do?

The obvious answer is that you should not hire detailers or anyone with detail experience. If you do, you will have an unemployable, un-trainable employee who will be in control of your detail operation.

Hire people with good values, and you can teach them the detailing skills they need. Like a great coach once said, “There is only one way to have a successful team: First, you must get discipline; then teach fundamentals; then you can teach them anything.”

And that is what you must do with your detailing department. You must have employable and trainable people who will respond to discipline. Then you teach them the techniques they need to know about detailing. Finally, you will have a productive team player and employee.

Completely inexperienced individuals can be taught to detail vehicles in no more than three days, and they will know more and do better work than the typical experienced detailer.

We have proven this all over the world with the employees that we have trained. Those who know nothing but have a willingness to learn can learn.  Those with prior experience always want to revert to what they think they know.