You’re looking for more and better salespeople. You’re looking for more and better used cars and trucks for your inventory.

The reality is, there is no simple fix for either one of these problems.

If you think hiring a rock star buyer will solve your inventory problems, you may actually make them worse. If you think hiring a full-time trainer or recruiter will suddenly fix your staffing problems, that probably won’t work out the way you think either.

Of the two, the recruiter/trainer will probably help more than the buyer. But make no mistake — these are the two toughest problems facing automobile dealers, and there is no magic solution where you flip a switch and it’s done.

Finding great people is a full-time, never-ending job. Just like coaching. Great coaches are always scouting and recruiting. If you’re waiting for the perfect ad to bring you your next superstar, you may be waiting a long time.

If you’re counting on the next job fair to deliver ten future sales stars, you’re in for a very long day.

It doesn’t work that way.

If you only hire when you “need” people, you will never find the people you need.

You and your managers should be recruiting every day — your customers, the salesperson at a retail store, your neighbor, the waiter at lunch, the enthusiastic hostess at a restaurant. One of the best General Managers I know started out working at Wendy’s.

I like college graduates, not so much for what they learned, but because they proved they can stick to something. But many of them don’t see selling cars as a step up. The real opportunity is often with the person who feels like they missed the boat and is looking for their big chance. Someone with a year or two of college, maybe a sports background — someone who knows how to get knocked down and get back up.

Now let’s talk about inventory.

Finding used cars is the same story. There is no single source that will solve your inventory problem. Trades, service customers, mining your database, auctions, online auctions, for-sale-by-owner, street purchases — you have to leave no stone unturned.

But here’s the big mistake dealers make:

They only look for cars when they need cars.

When you do that, you end up buying a lot of cars you don’t need.

Finding people and finding inventory are not events.

They are daily disciplines.

When you dabble in hiring and buying only when you’re desperate, it’s like plowing a field uphill with a mule. But when the entire management team accepts that recruiting people and sourcing inventory is part of their everyday job, your odds of success go way up.

It still won’t be easy.

Everybody wants easy.

It’s never been easy.

It will never be easy.

Stop looking for easy.

Start looking for people.

Start looking for used cars and trucks.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs