White Plains Honda is smashing sales records by hiring for energy over experience

Jason Graciano would rather hire someone with zero sales experience and tons of energy than a seasoned veteran who's burned out. It sounds crazy, but White Plains Honda has broken 14 records in the last 16 months and earned top 10 Honda EV dealer status nationally.

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Driving the news: "I don't need somebody that has 32 different ways to close a sale. I can teach that," Graciano told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D'Arc and Yossi Levi. "I want somebody that's good, that has high energy, that has a great smile, and that's personable."

His thinking: You can teach someone about warranties and lease terms in a few weeks. But you can't fake genuine enthusiasm, and you definitely can't manufacture it in someone who's already checked out.

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"We want to do three things. We're going to sell cars. We're going to make money. We're going to have a good time," Graciano said. "A lot of people don't get to have fun. A lot of people don't get to make money. They sell tons of cars or they just make money and don't sell many cars. I want to do all three."

And that energy spreads fast. At White Plains Honda, bells ring when deals close, employees high-five across departments, and Graciano shares daily performance numbers with his entire 111-person team.

Between the lines: When people actually enjoy coming to work, they start recruiting for the dealership.

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"If you take care of your people, and your people have a good place to work, they'll tell their friends. And if you have a good person that's doing a good job, chances are they know somebody else that's a good person that can do a good job as well," he said.

How it works: That referral system has become his main hiring pipeline.

Instead of posting on job boards and hoping for the best, Graciano has candidates calling him because they heard great things from someone already on the team.
Quality people specifically want to work at White Plains Honda (they're not just looking for any car sales gig).

This culture also builds his management bench. Graciano promotes from within, moving people "from sales to management to finance to general sales management to general manager."

These promoted managers already know the systems because they helped build them. They've got relationships with customers they sold to years earlier.

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"My number one focus is to develop people," he said.

Flashback: Paragon Honda’s Brian Benstock took a chance on Graciano when he was 20 years old and new to the business.

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"Having someone believe in you, having someone think that, 'Hey, this kid could do it. I see something special in this kid'—it causes you to have that chip on your shoulder where I have to prove them right," he reflected.

Now he's doing the same thing with his employees.

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"I take it very seriously when I have a team of people where those people's livelihoods, their level of income, what they're able to do to be able to protect and provide for their families—the buck stops here with me."

Bottom line: White Plains Honda demonstrates that when you hire happy people and keep them happy, they solve your recruiting problems, build your management bench, and create the kind of customer experience that drives consistent performance.

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