The Best Hire I Ever Made

Over the course of my career, I’ve interviewed thousands of people. Some had decades of automotive experience. Some had impressive résumés. Some had sold many millions of dollars’ worth of vehicles.

One of the best people I ever hired had none of those things. In fact, when I met him, he was selling batteries.

Years ago, I walked into a Circuit City looking for AA batteries for one of my kids’ toys. I expected to be in and out in five minutes. A young employee named Ben approached me and asked what type of batteries I needed.

“AA.”

“Sounds like you’re getting batteries for a remote-control toy.”

He was right.

“How often are you replacing them?”

Every couple of weeks.

Then Ben said something I wasn’t expecting: “You probably shouldn’t buy those batteries.”

Think about that. A salesperson was telling a customer not to buy the product he came in to purchase.

Instead, Ben explained rechargeable batteries and suggested buying two sets. One could charge while my kids drained the other. I’d spend a little more that day but probably never need to buy disposable batteries for that toy again.

His presentation on AA batteries was more thoughtful, consultative, and customer-focused than many vehicle presentations I had witnessed from professionals selling $50,000 automobiles.

I wasn’t just sold on the batteries. I was sold on Ben.

But I wanted to know whether what I had witnessed was genuine or whether I had simply caught him on a good day. So, a few days later, I went back. This time, I needed a printer cartridge.

What could be simpler—or less worthy of a presentation—than that?

Ben did it again. He asked questions. He listened. He educated me. He explained the differences. He made a complicated decision simple.

Different product. Same Ben.

That was when I realized something important: Ben didn’t understand electronics. Ben understood people.

And that is much harder to teach.

I asked him if he had ever considered a career in automotive retail. He laughed. He knew absolutely nothing about cars.

I didn’t care. I wasn’t interested in hiring Ben for what he knew. I wanted to hire him for who he was—and who I believed he could become.

Soon after, I did.

In his first year, Ben became Salesperson of the Year. Then he did it again. He became a Finance Manager, then a Sales Manager, then a General Manager. Eventually, the kid selling batteries at Circuit City became Chief Operating Officer of one of the top dealership groups in America.

The cars changed. The customers changed. His responsibilities changed.

Ben never did.

He listened. He cared. He learned. He worked. He earned people’s trust.

And therein lies one of the greatest lessons I have learned about hiring.

We Seek to Fill Positions. We Hire Résumés.

Then we wonder why we can’t find great people.

Too many dealerships begin an interview with some variation of: “How many years have you been selling cars?” “What’s the most you’ve ever sold in a month?” “Have you worked in fixed operations?” “Do you know how to use our DMS?”

There is nothing wrong with experience. But we have confused experience with potential.

They are not the same thing.

Ten years of experience might mean ten years of growth, learning, discipline, and increasingly exceptional performance. It can also mean one mediocre year repeated ten times.

Yet our industry routinely rejects someone with extraordinary raw potential because they have never sold a car, while enthusiastically hiring someone because another dealership already taught them how. Six months later, we wonder why nothing changed.

We filled our position. We hired their history. And got their history.

Meanwhile, extraordinary people are all around us—in restaurants, hotels, electronics stores, aviation, hospitality, the military, and dozens of other industries. They simply don’t have “automotive experience” on their résumé.

Neither did Ben.

Stop Hiring for What You Can Teach

Product knowledge can be taught. A CRM can be taught. Your sales process can be taught. How to complete a repair order or structure a deal can be taught.

Experience comes with time.

But curiosity? Caring? Humility? Work ethic? Integrity? The desire to become exceptional?

Those are considerably harder to manufacture and nearly impossible to teach.

When I evaluate someone, I’m far less interested in whether they already know our business. I want to know: Do they care about people? Are they obsessed with getting better?

Are they curious? Do they ask thoughtful questions? Can they communicate and listen? Are they coachable? Do they take ownership when they are wrong?

Because if I can find those things, I can teach someone the car business.

Stop Conducting Job Interviews. Start Discovering People.

Most interview questions produce rehearsed answers. “Tell me about yourself.” “What are your strengths?” “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

If you want to discover potential, ask questions that make people think.

Here are ten of my favorites:

1. Tell me about the worst day of your life. How did it change you?

2. What accomplishment are you most proud of—and why?

3. What belief have you changed your mind about in the last five years?

4. Tell me about a time you realized you were completely wrong.

5. Who was your childhood hero—and why?

6. If money were irrelevant, what would you spend your life doing?

7. Describe the best leader you have ever worked for.

8. If you could have dinner with any five people, living or dead, who would they be—and why?

9. Finish this sentence: “Here lies a person who…”

10. What feedback hurt the most to hear—but ultimately made you better?

I’m not looking for perfect answers. I’m looking for evidence.

Evidence of character. Self-awareness. Curiosity. Humility. Resilience. Ambition.

What someone reveres tells you who they want to become. How someone talks about failure tells you whether they take responsibility. How they describe a former leader tells you what leadership means to them.

An interview shouldn’t simply determine whether someone can do the job today. It should help you see who they might become tomorrow.

But There Is One More Problem

Finding extraordinary people is only half the equation. You have to become an organization they want to join.

We all played Follow the Leader as kids. The principle hasn’t changed.

A-players will not consistently work for C-level leadership.

If exceptional candidates aren’t attracted to your dealership—or exceptional employees don’t stay—the labor market cannot always be the explanation.

Sometimes the mirror is.

Dealers are no longer competing only against the dealership across town for talent. You’re competing against hospitality, technology, aviation, government, the military, national retailers, and every organization capable of giving talented people opportunity, development, purpose, and a future.

Having the “best culture in automotive” is no longer enough.

Build the kind of culture extraordinary people would choose over any industry.

I walked into Circuit City that day looking for batteries. I walked out having met a future COO.

The difference was that I wasn’t looking at Ben’s résumé.

I was looking at Ben.

I wasn’t looking for automotive experience. I was looking for the qualities experience can never guarantee: character, curiosity, empathy, work ethic, humility, the ability to listen, the desire to learn, and the instinct to put another person’s interests ahead of his own.

Ben already had the things I couldn’t teach him.

Everything else, we could.

Maybe the next great leader in your dealership has never sold a car. Maybe they don’t know the difference between a sedan and an SUV.

Maybe they’re serving you dinner tonight, helping you at a hotel tomorrow, working at an Apple Store this weekend, or doing something completely unrelated to automotive while waiting for someone to recognize what they could become.

The greatest talent is not always the person with the best résumé. Sometimes, it’s the person whose potential everyone else failed to see.

The question is whether you’ll recognize them when they’re standing right in front of you.

Short answer: [one or two sentences that answer the headline outright, before any set-up].

Key takeaways

1. [First takeaway, stated as a finding, not a topic]
2. [Second takeaway]
3. [Third takeaway]
4. [Fourth takeaway]
5. [Fifth takeaway]

By the numbers

The standard to hold

[What has to be true before anything else works. Name the specific platforms, OEM programs, industry bodies or published research where they are not confidential.]

How the best operators run it

[The steps in order. Who owns each one, and how often it happens.]

Comparing the two common approaches

How to choose

This fits you if: [ ]

This does not fit you if: [ ]

Five questions to ask before you commit

1. [ ]
2. [ ]
3. [ ]
4. [ ]
5. [ ]

Red flags: [ ]

The mistakes that cost the most

[Two or three specific, expensive mistakes and what they cost.]

Your next three moves

1. [Action, with an owner and a date]
2. [Action]
3. [Action]

About this guidance

Written by David Spisak from nearly 50 years in retail automotive. Last reviewed [month year].

Short answer: [one or two sentences that answer the headline outright, before any set-up].

Key takeaways

1. [First takeaway, stated as a finding, not a topic]
2. [Second takeaway]
3. [Third takeaway]
4. [Fourth takeaway]
5. [Fifth takeaway]

By the numbers

The standard to hold

[What has to be true before anything else works. Name the specific platforms, OEM programs, industry bodies or published research where they are not confidential.]

How the best operators run it

[The steps in order. Who owns each one, and how often it happens.]

Comparing the two common approaches

How to choose

This fits you if: [ ]

This does not fit you if: [ ]

Five questions to ask before you commit

1. [ ]
2. [ ]
3. [ ]
4. [ ]
5. [ ]

Red flags: [ ]

The mistakes that cost the most

[Two or three specific, expensive mistakes and what they cost.]

Your next three moves

1. [Action, with an owner and a date]
2. [Action]
3. [Action]

About this guidance

Written by David Spisak from nearly 50 years in retail automotive. Last reviewed [month year].

Short answer: [one or two sentences that answer the headline outright, before any set-up].

Key takeaways

1. [First takeaway, stated as a finding, not a topic]
2. [Second takeaway]
3. [Third takeaway]
4. [Fourth takeaway]
5. [Fifth takeaway]

By the numbers

The standard to hold

[What has to be true before anything else works. Name the specific platforms, OEM programs, industry bodies or published research where they are not confidential.]

How the best operators run it

[The steps in order. Who owns each one, and how often it happens.]

Comparing the two common approaches

How to choose

This fits you if: [ ]

This does not fit you if: [ ]

Five questions to ask before you commit

1. [ ]
2. [ ]
3. [ ]
4. [ ]
5. [ ]

Red flags: [ ]

The mistakes that cost the most

[Two or three specific, expensive mistakes and what they cost.]

Your next three moves

1. [Action, with an owner and a date]
2. [Action]
3. [Action]

About this guidance

Written by David Spisak from nearly 50 years in retail automotive. Last reviewed [month year].

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