Background checks a must at California dealer group 

Careful hiring practices pay off big for Tuttle-Click Automotive Group
 

“I wouldn’t hire anyone without a background check!” said Rick Volpe, Sales Training Director at Tuttle-Click Automotive for fifteen years and a thirty-one year veteran of the automotive business.

Mr. Volpe’s statement may seem strong considering that the areas from which he hires are neither economically depressed, nor socially challenged. The Tuttle-Click organization, which has owned and operated auto dealerships for fifty-five years, has twenty stores in affluent suburban areas such as Orange County, California and Tucson, Arizona. Nevertheless, Mr. Volpe stands by his policy.

“Unless you have been in an environment with strong background checks, you can’t imagine the difference it can make,” he states. “I want to hire individuals who are focused on selling cars and not distracted in their private lives, or distracting others. Our background screening program accomplishes this for me.”

California is one of many states that license salespeople in auto dealerships. Anyone with a felony or misdemeanor conviction is automatically disqualified. To speed the process, however, temporary licenses are issued right away before the state’s investigation has been conducted. Two to three months later the state may give notice without explanation that a license has been withdrawn. Despite this licensing requirement, background checks are run on all individuals applying for a sales position with a Tuttle-Click dealership.

Selecting a provider

Realizing any program is only as good as its execution, Mr. Volpe was pleased at Tuttle-Click’s selection of InfoLink Screening Services, Inc. (800-990-4473) as its screening provider. InfoLink was chosen due to its superior performance over firms that had previously been tried.

“Having worked with many auto dealerships, we appreciate their special circumstances,” states Barry Nadell, President/CEO of InfoLink Screening Services, Inc. “These include among other having vehicles in stock, access to customer units in for service and maintaining a costly inventory of tools.”

Look for red flags

“We recommend that dealerships do DMV checks to review the driving record of prospective employees,” Mr. Nadell states. “In addition, criminal record checks are crucial in uncovering character-related issues such as theft, violence or DUIs.”

“Our screening regularly turns up people with outstanding warrants and criminal records,” adds Mr. Volpe.

A study conducted by InfoLink in January 2001, based on 1,500 searches from 21 randomly selected California dealerships, revealed that on average 14.2 percent of applicants had criminal records, whether felony or misdemeanor. Misdemeanors sometimes represent felony charges that have been plea-bargained to a lesser misdemeanor conviction. 

Benefits outweigh costs 

“When we first introduced screening into our hiring process,” remembers Mr. Volpe, “we naturally had concerns both about cost and about slowing down the hiring process. However, these concerns were outweighed by the immediate difference we saw in the quality of our hires, both in terms of the caliber of the person and their ethical standards.” 

It is a principle of good salesmanship not to prejudge a prospect by his appearance. Mr. Volpe applies the same principle to hiring. “It’s best to be realistic with yourself and admit that what you see is not always what you get. Some applicants can be very practiced at deception.” 

In one case Volpe recalls interviewing a promising candidate with a surprising past. “To look at the young man,” he states, “you saw a well dressed, well-spoken, personable and upstanding individual. When the background check authorizations were requested, he divulged prior convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and trafficking in narcotics! Naturally, these offenses disqualify a person from holding an automobile sales license in California.” 

Results 

“Once you eliminate this potential for deception with a background screening program you actually gain tremendous confidence as a manager,” states Mr. Volpe, “You know exactly what you’ve got in terms of personnel. You don’t get mysterious and perplexing personnel situations and there’s a lot less turmoil.”  “When you evaluate all the related personnel costs, you realize that screening more than pays for itself,” contends Mr. Volpe. “You may think you can’t afford it, but in reality you can’t afford not to.”  

© 2002 WD&S Publishing