Good recruiting software for auto dealerships has to handle two very different hiring motions at once. The front of the store needs a steady flow of sales consultants and BDC reps who can start soon. The back of the store needs technicians with the right certifications and tools, who are rarely job hunting for long. ATS Mako is an applicant tracking system built for high-volume, multi-location hiring, with native SMS, an integrated email client, AI candidate ranking, AI voice screening, interview scheduling and onboarding in one place. It can also carry your dealer group's brand instead of ours.
The roles dealerships hire again and again
Most dealerships are not filling one-off positions. They are refilling the same seats every month, across sales, service, parts and the lot. Each role has its own applicant profile and its own hiring manager.
- Sales consultants: often career changers from retail, hospitality or other sales jobs. Plenty of applicants, but they apply to several stores at once and go with whoever calls first.
- BDC representatives: phone and text-heavy roles where communication skills matter more than auto experience. Similar volume and urgency to sales.
- Service technicians: the hardest seat to fill. Candidates are judged on certifications, experience level and whether they own their tools.
- Service advisors and parts staff: a mix of customer skills and product knowledge, usually reviewed by the service or parts manager.
- Porters, lot attendants and detailers: entry-level roles with frequent turnover, where speed and simple screening matter most.
Applicants come in from job boards, the dealership website, referrals and walk-ins. Without one system, those applicants end up in personal inboxes, spreadsheets and sticky notes on the sales desk.
| Role | Common hiring problem | How ATS Mako helps |
|---|---|---|
| Sales consultant | Applicants take the first offer they get | Instant SMS outreach and fast self-scheduling |
| BDC rep | Need to judge phone and communication skills early | AI voice screening before a manager spends time |
| Technician | Hard to verify certifications and tools quickly | Screening questions plus AI candidate ranking |
| Porter / lot attendant | High volume, frequent turnover | Bulk actions and automated follow-up |
| Any role, any rooftop | Applicants scattered across stores and inboxes | One branded system built for multi-location hiring |
Speed-to-contact for sales consultant applicants
Your sales team already knows this rule from the lead side: the first dealership to respond usually wins. Applicants behave the same way. A sales consultant who applies on Saturday and hears nothing until Tuesday has often accepted an interview somewhere else.
ATS Mako includes native SMS, so a candidate can get a text the moment they apply. With conversational SMS and automations, you can send a greeting, ask a few quick questions and offer interview times without a manager touching the record. Replies land in the same candidate profile, so nobody has to dig through personal phones.
Sample first-touch text for a sales consultant applicant
Hi {first_name}, thanks for applying to the Sales Consultant role at {dealership_name}. We'd like to talk soon. Are you available for a short interview this week? Reply YES and we'll send you times, or pick a slot here: {scheduling_link} Keep it short, use the store name candidates recognize, and give one clear next step.
For candidates who prefer email, the integrated email client and email automation sequences let you run follow-ups from the same platform. If an applicant goes quiet, automated engagement workflows can nudge them again so good candidates do not slip away while the sales manager is on the floor.
Screening technicians by certification and tools
Technician hiring is the opposite problem. You get fewer applicants, and the details matter. A service manager wants to know the candidate's experience level, which certifications they hold, what makes they have worked on and whether they bring their own tools.
Ask those questions up front on your apply page. ATS Mako's applicant capture and apply pages give technicians a simple way to apply and give you the information you need on the first pass. AI candidate ranking then helps surface the applicants who best match the role, so the service manager reviews the strongest profiles first instead of reading every resume in order.
AI voice screening adds another layer. Candidates can complete a short voice screen on their own time, answering the questions you set about experience, certifications and availability. Your team reviews the results and decides who moves forward. The hiring decision stays with your managers.
Coordinating interviews across managers and departments
A single dealership can have a sales manager, a BDC manager, a service manager, a parts manager and a general manager all hiring at once. Each has a different calendar and a different idea of what a good candidate looks like.
ATS Mako's interview scheduling lets candidates book into available times, which removes the phone tag between a busy manager and an applicant who is still working another job. Every manager sees their own pipeline, and HR or the GM can see the full picture across departments.
When volume spikes, such as a new store opening or a push to staff up the lot, bulk actions let you move, message or update many candidates at once instead of clicking through them one by one.
Dealer group multi-rooftop hiring
Dealer groups face a bigger version of every problem above. Each rooftop hires on its own, often with its own habits and tools. Group HR has little visibility into which stores are keeping up and which are letting applicants sit.
ATS Mako is built for multi-location hiring. You can run every rooftop in one system while keeping each store's openings and candidates organized by location. Group leadership gets one place to see hiring activity across stores, and a strong technician who applies at one rooftop can be considered for an opening at another instead of being lost.
Consolidating also cuts the number of tools you pay for. If your stores currently juggle a job board inbox, a texting app, a scheduling tool and spreadsheets, the recruiting stack cost breakdown shows how to compare that setup to one platform.
White-label branding for dealer groups
Candidates should see your dealership or group name, not a software vendor's. ATS Mako is fully brandable, so apply pages, messages and the candidate experience can carry your group's look. Each touchpoint reinforces the brand customers already know from your showroom, website and service drive.
For groups that run several brands or store names, branding keeps the experience consistent and professional, whether the applicant is a porter or a master technician.
Onboarding new hires before day one
Getting an offer accepted is not the finish line. New sales consultants and technicians can still back out before their first shift. ATS Mako includes onboarding, so you can keep new hires engaged and moving through first-day steps in the same system you used to recruit them. Your managers spend the first day training, not chasing paperwork.
Getting started with ATS Mako
- 1 Map your roles and rooftops List the positions each store hires repeatedly and who owns hiring for each department.
- 2 Set up branded apply pages Build apply pages under your dealership or group brand, with role-specific screening questions.
- 3 Turn on SMS and follow-up Create first-touch texts and automated follow-ups so every applicant hears from you quickly.
- 4 Configure screening and scheduling Set up AI voice screening questions and connect managers' availability for interview booking.
- 5 Add onboarding Set the steps new hires complete before their first day so nothing stalls after the offer.
If your group also hires for other high-volume, location-based teams, see how ATS Mako handles wireless retail store hiring and sales organization recruiting. When you are ready, review pricing or book a demo to see the platform set up for a dealership.
Fill every seat on the floor and in the service bay
See how ATS Mako helps dealerships text, screen, schedule and onboard candidates under their own brand.