I'm a baseball man.  I could give up watching all other sports if the season went all year round.  It's a great sport to watch because on any day, someone could literally come out of nowhere and change the season.  As a Lifetime Yankee fan, being around when Bucky "Bleepin'" Dent took the Yanks past Boston to win another series was incredibly satisying.  Seeing it again with Aaron Boone two decades later brought back those same feelings.  Yet, neither one of them will ever be considered for the Hall of Fame.

But, what about Mike Piazza.  Many say he may be one of the greatest catchers who ever played the game.  I personally know sportswriters who insist he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  But, what if the major league team that selected him, listened to the experts who "TEST" potential players before the draft?  That's right.  Every player who has been scouted and considered draft material is fully tested.  According to those in the know, Mike Piazza didn't "Test" well.  In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that his first manager, Tommy Lasorda, did a favor for his personal friend, Mike's dad, Mike's career was over before it even started.  Mike Piazza was the last pick, in the last round, on the last day of the Major League Draft.

When my son was pitching in college, he was scouted and evaluated.  The general rule of thumb was this; the first five rounds are players who experts belive have a real shot.  The rest are chosen for them to practice with until they reach the major leagues.  Mike Piazza, accourding to all the experts, was a million to one shot at ever setting foot on a major league field.  He was tested and evaluated by experts.  How could they possibly be wrong?

Luckily he was seen by human beings who made their living actually by being part of the game.  His coaches and managers in the minor leagues saw him play, perform, and just be himself.  Evidently, they liked what they saw.  They went with hard evidence rather than the opinion of experts.  That's how you find a super star.  You put yourself in the game and get eyeball to eyeball with the individual and judge for yourself.

There are many companies out there with tests you can buy and administer to potential sales people.  Those tests can have a place but, only a select group of very large dealerships can really benefit from their findings. That's because a dealer group running a job fair may have 100 applicants for a few key sales positions.  These tests will eliminate the group down to a manageable level.  Those dealers will miss potential talent, but with large numbers, they'll find enough talent in the mix to staff up.

Dealers who are looking to hire 10 or fewer people need to consider what the test can't possibly show.  How well is the individual tied to the community?  Are they trainable based on initial personality impressions during an interview?  Does the test take into account the dealership personality?  Usually, no.  Then, how can it determine if there is a fit between an individual and a particular showroom?  It can't.

The bottom line is, compare this to the technicians in your service department.  Many of them have tens of thousands of dollars worth oftools in those massive boxes.  Yet, not a single one of them uses every tool on every job.  Nor do they have one tool that does everything.  Testing is a nice tool to have in the box.  But, if you are going to create and maintain your staff based on testing alone, you better get a case of tests because you'll be retesting new candidates on a weekly basis.

Every few years someone comes up with "the answer" to all sales problems.  In the 70's it was the advent of F&I.  Dealers who used F&I were all set.  Then, the 80's came and leasing took off.  Dealers who mastered leasing would never need to retail again.  They would have total control over their inventory and customers.  The 90's brought tiered financing and then sub-prime lending.  Controlling that market was the ticket.  As we began the 21st Century, it was the Internet.  Samrt dealers would be selling cars without sales people and doublin profits.

All of those innovations are incredibly valuable.  But, their value is only as good as te dealer who understands the strength of each one.  They see these additions to the business as important tools in the box.  But, dealers with honest memories will also admit the resistence to each of these as they came along.  So, don't resist testing if you feel it can play a small part in your hiring.  But, don't toss out everything else that you've learned to this point because of this answer to all your prayers came along.

John Fuhrman is the Senior National Trainer for Carolina Automotive Resource Services, a unit of The Dealer Resource Group.  His ten books have reached 1.5 million readers and he has trained sales professionals around the world.  When your dealership needs amazing results when hiring new people, visit http://www.thedealerresourcegroup.webs.com.   ATTENTION DEALERS:  VISIT OUR WEB SITE AND REGISTER TO KEEP UP ON MONTHLY TRAINING SAVING SPECIALS.  Our trainers are ready to show you our "WOW!" factor.  (c)2011 by John Fuhrman - Permission to reprint this post in its entirety, including contact information, is hereby granted.