Recent industry statistics show the highest turnover in dealer sales staff ever recorded. Salespeople, candidates, trainees - they're all dropping like flies.

Is the sales profession dead or dying? Is the click of a mouse replacing personal sales skills?

For years, being a salesperson has been a questionable profession, slightly more highly regarded than being a member of Congress.

Willy Loman, the central character in Death of a Salesman, displayed the worst characteristics of a salesperson and reinforced the stereotype. Like it or not, car salesmen became the epitome of that stereotype.

That's why my parents were so disappointed in me.

I can remember their reaction when I told them I was dropping out of college in my senior year to sell cars. They were shocked and dismayed.

I soon became a top producer; I bought my first home, got married, had a family and then started my own company. Selling cars was the best career decision I ever made. Selling cars helped define my life, it's who I am.

We need good salespeople Today, the term salesman is not politically correct. It’s salesperson. Public dealer groups are trying to attract more women to the auto business. Some are succeeding; some are not.

Yet the shortage of skilled, motivated salespeople still prevails. Trainers, consultants and other groups are being brought in to alleviate this growing challenge. What else can dealers do? What has changed over the last couple of decades that has caused this crisis and how can we respond?

These are great questions with no simple answers. But there are many dealerships that are fighting the tide and winning.

One of the keys is that the successful dealerships respect the profession. It's important to remember that as an industry we are selling the second most expensive thing that most people own with the first being a home. Next to consider is the fact that automobiles are vital to our way of life. We gotta have them; we have to keep them serviced and we like newer ones all the time.

Big-ticket retail businesses will always require professional retail sales staff.

Many factory types and other new age gurus who have never actually worked in a dealership have tried to sell us on the goofy notion of buying cars direct by eliminating the dealer, the salesperson or both.

The Internet is the greatest thing since pockets were sewn onto jeans, but it will never replace the retail dealer much less the retail salesperson. So how do we get the right people?

The AYES have it Great strides are now being made in technician staffing with local high schools and trade colleges. The American Youth Education Systems (AYES) is leading the way in filling critical positions for your fixed operations.

The AYES model is a perfect example of what our industry should do for the front end as well. The front-end sales department is being challenged on many fronts, but it is reinventing itself as we speak.

Smart dealers are doing the right things to grow and keep their sales staffs. Image and perception plays a large role here. When I first started selling Chevrolets in the '70s, Japanese cars were called "foreign" and foreign was perceived as cheap. That image is now 180 degrees from where it started. The opportunity to sell cars and do well is as strong as it ever was, if not stronger. The business model is sound and those in it who believe in the long term and execute new strategies will always prosper.

The truth is that majority of dealership salespeople do enjoy a high standard of living and they don't necessarily work over 45 hours per week. A remarketing and certification of the profession of car sales would yield a similar if not greater result than has been received in the service side of our business. Prestige and opportunity would replace the undeserved image that lingers today.

I propose with the help of other industry leaders forming a national organization and web site that promotes the career of the car salesperson – a rebirth of the profession aimed toward the audience of high school and college students. www.carsalescareerpath.com would educate, inspire and elevate the perception of the rewards and benefits of selling cars.

If you're interested in learning more, contact me at the e-mail address below.