Latest / Auto Collabs / The Highest Rated Dealership on Glassdoor with Sam D'Arc

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The Highest Rated Dealership on Glassdoor with Sam D'Arc · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  Hey, welcome back from Pakistan. Let's do some taxes, man. [laughs] [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. Michael, I'm so glad that... Is this the first piece of content you've made since you've- Yes...
• 0:16
  come back from Pakistan? The first piece of content since coming back from Pakistan. I don't know what day it is. I don't know what time it is.
• 0:23
  I, I think, I think since it's the first time, I think you need to reach back and grab the hat. All right. There's... If you're not, if you're not... If you're only listening, there is a hat.
• 0:33
  If I were to explain it, I'm gonna disrespect it by explaining it, so I'm gonna let Michael explain it. He's putting it on right now. Okay, I'll explain it.
• 0:38
  It looks like a mashup between a sailor's hat, a mummer's hat, and, um, you might not know what a mummer's hat is. It's a Philly thing. Oh, okay. And, and a headdress. Yeah. Yeah. It...
• 0:53
  So when I arrived in Pakistan, uh, they greeted me, my, my team there greeted me with this hat and a, kind of a scarf and flowers. And, and, uh, yeah, this is something that they would wear to dress up.
• 1:08
  It's kind of a traditional, traditional hat. Um- Yeah... I, I can't remember what it's called, but, uh, a beautiful gift nonetheless.
• 1:17
  And now it's, now it's hanging in the background, and it's a part of all of your content now. Part, part of all the content now. Uh, and yeah, I'm excited to be back behind the mic. You definitely... It's funny.
• 1:28
  When you do content creation the way that we do content creation, it's, it's funny how often when you're not sitting at your mic, you reach for a mic- [laughs]... even though there's no mic there. That's so true.
• 1:42
  Like, I'd be in my hotel room, and I would just... I, my arm would shoot out- Where's the mic?... and I'm, like, grabbing for it. I'm not...
• 1:47
  [laughs] 'Cause, like, I'm so used to grabbing the mic and pulling it into, into shot. So, uh, there you go. Well, I think it's appropriate. I mean, and I know more of your stories.
• 1:56
  We got to share a few of them, uh, before the show today.
• 1:59
  But, um, there is a distinct line about what it is to be human, what it is to connect from human to human, and what the reality of a situation is versus what the stigma of a situation is.
• 2:11
  And I think today's guest, um, is, is going to highlight that 'cause Sam Dark with Zeigler Auto Group, he, he is a COO for a, a large group. I mean, they're, they have 70, 80 stores.
• 2:23
  And they have the highest, like, rating on Glassdoor. Yeah, like- How do you do that? And yeah, I, I mean, I don't know how that's even po- Like- I don't either.
• 2:36
  [laughs] It, it's hard for just any, any old business to get a high rating like that on Glassdoor, right? Yeah. Especially this day and age when people- Yeah... will complain about their 50 cent Ikea hot dog.
• 2:45
  [laughs] That, that the, like, mustard wasn't yellow enough or whatever. [laughs] So the fact that he's able to do that, I think really underscores what you just said.
• 2:53
  Uh, we're excited to chat with him more about that and see how they've achieved that. So we hope you enjoy this episode with Sam Dark. [upbeat music] Okay.
• 3:05
  So the other night, my wife and I watch a new Amazon Prime documentary about Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Bucks. Mm. And there... And I learn all sorts of things about him that I just really grow to appreciate.
• 3:21
  One is the humility with which he approaches the game, but that humility stems from having to go through and experience hardship. Now you know where I'm going with this leading, setup, and question. [laughs] Story.
• 3:36
  And, and that just creates such a compelling story about him. And I, I come to read some of the notes here about you, Sam.
• 3:44
  And one of the notes that stands out right out of the gates is you started washing cars after your parents kicked you out of the house at age 17. Oh, no. [laughs] Where'd you get that note? Where did that come from?
• 3:55
  [laughs] And I gotta, I gotta ask you about it now. Oh, my gosh. The internet. The internet. Man, don't give me the details about why you got kicked out.
• 4:01
  Wow, this is- This is- Don't you think we're gonna talk about inventory management? This is- This is- This is gotcha journalism. That's fascinating... I, I feel like I need to ask about this because I think- Uh-...
• 4:10
  what a, what a tremendous now story. We get to see- Yeah... the today version. Yeah. But what do you, what do you... Tell, tell us about that.
• 4:17
  Like, what do you learn along the way that gets you from washing cars at 17 to being the COO of Zeigler Auto Group? Michael, you always ask the hardest- Holy cow. That is awesome.
• 4:27
  You're not, you're not allowed to start the episodes anymore. [laughs] I need to- I had to know. [laughs] I'm dying to know. I, I, I love it. So y- y- you know, here's what you learn.
• 4:37
  First of all, who, who doesn't at some point get kicked out of some sort of a community- [laughs]... or some sort of a group at some young age, right? As long as you're doing it right.
• 4:44
  [laughs] It's, it's a little bit of trauma. It's a little bit of excitement. But it, it helps you to become your absolute best.
• 4:50
  In fact, uh, there's a g- there's a guy who wrote a book called The Coffee Bean, and he says, "You meet the best version of yourself on the other side of adversity." And here's what I learned. Wow.
• 4:59
  I learned this auto industry is awesome. There is no other business- Amen... like automotive. This is the last great American industry. Let's go. Meaning- You get me fired up now. [laughs] That's right.
• 5:12
  Meaning, you can come into this with any type of a background. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter your socioeconomic status. It doesn't matter your education.
• 5:23
  It doesn't matter your experience level. And if you wanna work-And you're willing to focus and give it your all, this thing will give you that and more. Yes. And I found that as a kid washing cars. I...
• 5:35
  You know, it's crazy. I tell this story. It was an Isuzu dealership, uh, before the Trooper rolled over, [laughs] before the Trooper- [laughs]... was, was found to roll over in the, uh, early '90s.
• 5:46
  And, uh, the, they closed the deal- they closed the road in front of the dealership 'cause they were doing construction, and I was out washing cars, taking the dash sweat off the inside of these c- uh, Isuzu Troopers, and Rodeos, and all that.
• 6:00
  And customers would come on the lot, and salespeople would not be there to help them because the road was closed. They were out at lunch. They were off doing other things.
• 6:08
  And I, as this young kid, just started talking to people, and answering questions, and helping, and I learned in that minute it didn't matter if I wore shorts or jeans, or if my s- shoes were wet every single day.
• 6:20
  I could help connect people with cars, and I could help solve their problems. And then I had these sales guys that saw I was willing to stay on the lot. They started splitting deals with me.
• 6:31
  And that summer, right before I went to college, I went to the dealer and I'm like, "Dude- [laughs]... I'm gonna sell cars." Yeah, you're like, "Here's the sponge." He's like, "No, no, no." "Here's the hose."
• 6:39
  [laughs] That's right. He, he's like, "No, you're not gonna sell cars. You're gonna do another year, uh, as a lot guy- Whoa... and then you can sell."
• 6:47
  And on the last day before I was to, uh, I was gonna leave, before I started college, he said, "Fine."
• 6:54
  This was back in the day when it was super tough to break into a car dealer floor, when everybody was old, and veteran, and seniority was a big deal. Right, someone had to retire or die. Yes. Right. Yes.
• 7:03
  And he let me in, and the thing I was super proud of is for the year, couple years, few years I was there through college, from that minute, nobody ever beat me in sales. I crushed it. Wow.
• 7:15
  And I l- I love this business because of that. I tell our teams this all the time, "If you want it in this business, you can have it. You just gotta go get it."
• 7:24
  There's more than anyone will ever be able to get, and, uh, that's what I love about this business, man. I, I don't know. So great question. I love that. I think that should start every episode.
• 7:32
  Nobody's- That's the first question. Okay. Nobody's started with that. I mean, I think we're done here. [laughs] I mean, I love it. That's Na- that's all Nathan, though.
• 7:38
  Nathan dug that one up, so we gotta give him props. Wow. Good job, Nathan. So, so look, there's an obvious correlation between your vision for what... Uh, not even just a vision. It's like you're not... It's not vision.
• 7:51
  It's not idealism. It's the actual exi- existence of your experience firsthand in this industry which seems to drive the fact that you, you kind of talk about vision a lot.
• 8:03
  You talk about leadership and where things could be a lot. You have your own, uh, your host, the Driving Vision podcast, where you talk- Yeah. Yeah... to people about... You use it as an internal communication tool.
• 8:12
  Yeah. Um, there are, i- if our count is correct, 78 franchises under your purview? Yes. Yeah. Right? 78 franchises, 41 stores, four states, 2,700 employees, and founded by, uh, Harold Zeigler back in 1975.
• 8:26
  His son, Aaron Zeigler, in the early 2000s took it over and has just crushed it. So- Wow... Aaron is the dealer.
• 8:32
  He's active every single day growing this empire, and I get the great, uh, privilege of, uh, just w- working alongside everybody that, that is part of Team Zeigler.
• 8:41
  And so you also have a restaurant, and you're one of the top places to work on Glassdoor- Correct... as a car dealership. Yeah.
• 8:49
  Um, how does your experience in the beginning, like, and what you just kinda walked us through, how do you feel like that kind of, like, comes out every single day as you look at all of these employees and all of this potential?
• 9:01
  'Cause people like you see potential, right? More, more than you see what is. How does that actually spill out? How do you lead the organization to cultivate those elements in an operational sense?
• 9:14
  So, so, so I wanna be absolutely super clear, right? So Aaron Zeigler, he's the owner. He, he runs this thing. Like, I work, uh, with him. This is his o- his organization.
• 9:24
  A- again, I have the privilege of helping lead alongside. One of the things he taught me early on when I made the transition...
• 9:30
  So I went from retail as a lot guy, to sales guy, to I actually worked for a, uh, for a Swiss-based insurance company that sold auto dealers insurance and finance.
• 9:40
  Traveled all around the country working with the largest dealer groups, uh, on, on the face of the planet Earth.
• 9:46
  And, and a- at the beginning of COVID, uh, I got frustrated at some of the restrictions that were put out there for big corporations, and I'm like, "Look, I wanna go out and work." Yeah. "This is time to work.
• 9:59
  It's time to get-" You are so our people. [laughs] "It's, it's time to get more market share. It's not time to sit in your basement and wait for this thing to pass." And Aaron's like, "Dude, come work with us."
• 10:07
  [laughs] Like, "Let's go." And so, you know, you talk about vision. Um, Aaron, Aaron has lived this, and, and, and I echo it.
• 10:16
  It's, you know, if you have a vision that is massive about a goal or something you're looking to achieve and accomplish, you don't need to sit and micromanage people.
• 10:27
  You don't need to sit and overexplain financial statements, or metrics, or anything else.
• 10:33
  If you create a, a vision so compelling that it inspires people, they will come running to be part of that, and they'll be inspired by that, and they'll give their heart and soul for it.
• 10:43
  The, the story we always tell on our podcast is, you know, you think about JFK back in the beginning of the Space Race. JFK wanted absolutely nothing to do with going to the moon.
• 10:52
  He, though, saw that the Russians were about ready to go. Mm. And he knew that they put the first, uh, satellite up in space. They put the first man up s- in space. I think they put the first monkey up to space.
• 11:04
  They did. It, it was supposed to be Russian that was spoken on the moon when the first human beings went there, if you believe they did, which I do. It's crazy.
• 11:13
  [laughs] There's people, conspiracy theorists, thinking that it, it never happened. And JFK- It's a different podcast. Different podcast. That's right. That's a different show. [laughs] Same mic. That's right.
• 11:22
  Same mic, different podcast. [laughs] That's right. Same year, too. Yeah, that's funny.
• 11:25
  [laughs] Um, JFK stood in front of the country and he said, "Guys, gals, everybody-We've gotta go to the moon in a decade, not 'cause it'll be easy, but because it'll be wor- worth it.
• 11:36
  And it will bring together everybody's talents, and people will discard their religious backgrounds and their cultural and their ethnic and everything else that splits people apart.
• 11:47
  It'll bring them together, and we'll accomplish something that's never been done before on the face of the planet.
• 11:52
  And if you've seen a movie like, uh, Hidden Figures, there were people that were marginalized back then in the '60s that said, "I don't care. Let's do this thing." And we did it, and it changed the face of the world.
• 12:04
  And the first words spoken on the, on the moon were English by Americans. And, and if that doesn't make you proud and excited to be American, I don't know what, what does.
• 12:14
  And it's that same vision that can drive us today in the automotive industry that continues to drive us. And really, you know, people, I, I don't know if you've seen it.
• 12:25
  You know, for a long time, people have said, "Hey, computers are gonna replace humans in selling cars. You know, you'll be able to go online, and there will be no human interaction." I call BS. I don't think that's true.
• 12:36
  I think this industry is uniquely human, and, uh, technology will help us deliver our best selves.
• 12:42
  But at the end of the day, it's that human connection and that potential that we realize in connecting that makes this auto industry great, right? Yeah, you- Absolutely. It...
• 12:54
  I, I love what you're saying here because it's, it's almost like every effort we make as a civilization to remove the human element- Yeah...
• 13:03
  just more deeply validates our desire, our, our inherent desire to have human connection. Like, we- Yeah, we're-... we can't rule it. We're- Yeah... we're already... I mean, do you guys remember the metaverse?
• 13:14
  [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. How quickly that went yeah, oh, oh, gone. Yeah. I think one car was sold in the metaverse kind of-ish. Yeah. Yeah, kind of-ish.
• 13:22
  And then it, it took all of 27 seconds for us to be like, "Wait, I actually wanna talk to somebody. I wanna look at somebody. I wanna shake their hand. I wanna-" Yeah. You know- It's not just the metaverse.
• 13:32
  I mean, you look at, you look at all the promises that technology made to us in the last five years. Right. Even, even around, like, digital retail, as we call it,
• 13:43
  and how easy it will be to not come to the dealership and kinda the Carvana promise.
• 13:47
  And what we're actually seeing now, the data's showing that the dealership visit, the in-person visit, is the most impactful element and the most enjoyable element that influences purchase, influences decision- Yeah...
• 14:02
  to Gen Z buyers. Yeah. Right? And y- We would have all told you there's no way that's true three years ago, two years ago. And, and I think that base... I mean, in retail, that's a base layer of transaction. Yeah.
• 14:18
  Let me get a price. Let me pick out a product, right? Let me sk- like, set when I'm gonna get it delivered. That's, like, the base level, and we don't even, like... Humans are pushing back on that base level.
• 14:27
  We wanna do shopping, but... So, like, to think, like, technology is gonna solve the problem, and I don't wanna talk, speak to a salesperson, like, there's no way. I, I do not- Yeah... believe that at all.
• 14:37
  Now, technology has its place. Without a doubt. Technology as a salesperson can help me get you all the information and more. Yes. I can be... I don't have to...
• 14:46
  You know, you, you remember back in the ni- Well, so I was selling in the '90s. Like, I would accidentally share something that just wasn't true, right? Like- [laughs]... you know. I think this is...
• 14:57
  I, I can't even think about what it was, but there were things back. Technology now can help me get information about every vehicle out there and- Mm...
• 15:04
  convey that and relay that to the customer in a way that i- in the history of mankind, we've never had it before. So it has its place, but it can't replace us. Uh- People still wanna come in and see me, right, and you.
• 15:15
  It's literally the same th- I'm just picturing- Go ahead, Michael. [laughs] Uh-oh, he's laughing. I'm just picturing now, there are people to this day who are like,
• 15:22
  "I'm still trying to figure out, did Sam say that if I told my car go, go, gadget-" [laughs] Yeah. Remember that. "... lift," that it... Yeah. I, I haven't figured that out yet. Yeah. That's maybe it was- Yeah...
• 15:34
  maybe you didn't tell us the whole truth there. To, to those people who bought a Kia Sephia for me in 1995- Oh, my... manual transmission, no air, 5495, I can't remem- you know, there was probably some little bit of...
• 15:47
  Well, no, I know what it was. We told them it had a Ford Festiva engine in it, which I actually think was true, but I've never... You know, there was no internet to Google it back then. [laughs] Oh, no.
• 15:55
  It was all dial-up, so. So I was like, "Well, if he said so, it must be the case." I think there's a- Yeah... very interesting correlation that happens, uh, that
• 16:04
  comes from the, one of the first things you said about adversity- Yeah... being... What was it about the coffee bean? Adver- We meet the best version of ourselves on the other side of adversity. Damon West. Mm.
• 16:14
  The coffee bean, yeah. I, I also think that you could replace technology, like, in that sentence and say, "We can meet the best version of ourselves as a sales professional on the other side of technology." Ooh.
• 16:27
  Lots of cavi- caveats there, like if it's- Ooh... deploy property. But, you know, people have had this conversation, I've had it with many people, about the use of AI tools like ChatGPT, saying- Yeah...
• 16:38
  like, it could be the source of a bunch of bad information. It could create laziness in, in producing things, or it could be the most powerful assistant you've ever had. Oh. And allow you- I use it every day...
• 16:50
  and so, like, I really do think- Yes... like, the best version of the sales process is on the other side of technology. Yes. And when you pair, like, this empathy with the right technology- Yeah...
• 16:59
  people should feel like it's just all effortless. Paul, that's a great quote. I'm stealing that. Yes. I, I'm gonna attribute that to you. Meet the best version of our sales- Yeah. We have, we have it recorded-...
• 17:11
  selves on the other side of technology... by the way, so. I love it. [laughs] You know what, though? Like, you bring up a good point that, that I think about, and, and it is clearly
• 17:20
  in, in my observation, always tends to be the differentiator between organizations that blow up and organizations that say, stay sa- stagnant, is that
• 17:31
  the people that accelerate quickly are so dialed into their soft skills.
• 17:37
  That's where they put the most of their energy and attention.And to your point about technology and ChatGPT and making it our assistant or our intern, like, this would be my war cry to everybody that's listening to this.
• 17:49
  L- like, use it as your assistant s- so that you can actually now focus most of your time developing those soft skills. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
• 17:57
  Whi- which is the thing you spend less time doing 'cause you're so focused on product knowledge and y- you know, insert miscellaneous whatever here.
• 18:06
  Um- The, the cool part about the auto industry is we're so afraid of being re- not replaced, but, like, we're so focused on continuing to do what we do, that those threats, we find ways to navigate through them so that we become better through them, right?
• 18:24
  So- Give us an example. Give us an example of that. [smacks lips] You know, uh... Oh, no. You would say that. I pump- I mean, the, the, the thing- [laughs]...
• 18:32
  that comes off the top of my mind is, you know, we, we do do a, uh, a podcast. It's called the Driving Vision Podcast externally, and then we have one in- internally. It's every single week.
• 18:42
  And a- after a few weeks of doing that, I was like, "You know what? People have gotta be sick and tired of hearing just my voice," and I couldn't get everybody within the auto group to contribute initially.
• 18:51
  So I went to AI, and I came up with a AI-generated voice. People love it. They had no idea for the first three months- [laughs]... that it was AI-generated.
• 19:02
  So the intro, and the outro, and some of the news, we deliver news every single Monday morning to Team Zeigler, uh, vis-a-vis our, uh, internal podcast. It was by this cool British AI voice.
• 19:14
  I knew it was gonna be a Brit. I knew it. [laughs] You can't tell the difference. It's awesome. People love it. And, uh- They feel sophisticated? Yeah. Yeah. So. E- every sentence starts with, "Morning, governor."
• 19:27
  [laughs] That's right. Morning, governor. A- and I actually cloned the voice of our head of BDC, Lindsay Latsko- Wow... in Chicagoland. So sometimes she delivers the news v- via AI. Can you send that?
• 19:38
  I, I need to hear this for instance. Yeah, we need to hear this. I will. We need to get some links. Absolutely. He's like, "Well, I have one right here." I, let me- I do... let me ask you this, Sam.
• 19:45
  Kinda, kinda quasi-shifting gears here a little bit. Yeah. 'Cause I am intrigued by, you said 1975 is when- Correct. Yeah... Zeigler started. Yeah.
• 19:54
  So I mean, there, there are so many single-point dealers who have been around since the '50s, '60s, '70s, et cetera. Mm-hmm. What do you think has differentiated Zeigler- Ooh...
• 20:10
  from some of those single points that- Mm-hmm... like, they've been around, you know, same amount of time, but, like... A- and, and we're in America, for crying out loud- Yeah... the land of opportunity. Yeah.
• 20:20
  What was it? What was the maneuver that took Zeigler- Yeah... to where it is today and keeps those dealerships, you think, where they're at? So two things. Number one, [laughs]
• 20:33
  the owner, Aaron Zeigler, has absolutely no fear.
• 20:36
  In fact, he com- commonly says on our podcast, he says the biggest mistake most people make is not going in enough, not being big enough, not having big enough goals and dreams, and he's like, "We will not make that mistake," and he's never made that mistake.
• 20:50
  If you think back over the n- last decade, or two decades, or three decades, every single one of us probably would've been bolder, bigger, broader- [laughs]... and probably would've capitalized on that, right? Right.
• 21:00
  So timing has played a huge thing into it. A- a- Aaron absolutely is fearless, ferocious, and we just continue to grow. The second thing is we 100% respect every single employee.
• 21:14
  That's r- the reason we get the Glassdoor endorsement that we have. Best, uh... We're, we're the highest ranked auto dealer on Glassdoor for work-life balance. Think about that. Wow.
• 21:25
  In the auto industry, in retail auto industry, who has work-life balance, right?
• 21:31
  But- [laughs] But, but we're, i- and, and where that comes from is at the GM level, at the sales manager level, finance, uh, uh, porter's, uh, office, there is ownership,
• 21:45
  uh, not financial 'cause he owns the entire group, but there is ownership, uh, for, for what you do and, and the work product you put, put out.
• 21:55
  And, and when I feel ownership as a general manager, I show up to work every single day to win and to deliver a great result.
• 22:01
  I personally, uh, put my name on that, and, and, and, and I think, you know, I look at all the auto groups I've worked with over my, uh, 20-year career at that Swiss insurance company, and Aaron is unique in his ability to deliver that ownership to the individual, to respect them, and allow them to grow a, grow a business that, that, that just, that crushes it.
• 22:22
  So I think those two things. I think, uh, ownership and, uh, and, and just fearless growth over time.
• 22:27
  You know, there's a, there's a word Michael and I, and, and Kyle, who's not here, we're, we're kind of amateur theologians, and, uh, there's, there's a word that, that kind of rings true to me when you say ownership, 'cause I love that word, but it's a word, uh, the word agency.
• 22:41
  Oh, yeah. And- Yeah. Yeah... meaning that I can do things that affect the outcomes of the next things. Yeah. Right? You're agents of yourselves. And I have decision-making capability- Yeah...
• 22:52
  and I have this level of agency over how things are going to go, and when people show up with that, it's funny, when the, when...
• 23:01
  The hopelessness that happens so often in the workplace, broad, broad statement, is when people feel like they have no control over what happens next, and they're just, they're just kind of a pinball in a pinball machine- Yeah...
• 23:13
  and I'm just gonna wait for the next time the trigger gets pulled, and I get knocked over here, knocked over there, and at some point I'll fall through, and I'll just reset at another job or reset at another career.
• 23:23
  And I mean, I mean, we could just keep going and talk about, like, government- What-... government employment doesn't work well, [laughs] but- What, what do you think the biggest threat to agency is?
• 23:33
  'Cause I think this is fascinating. I agree with you. I love that word, by the way. Yeah, there you go. Write that one down, too. The biggest threat to agency, um, it is, uh, it's, it's actually a very similar word.
• 23:45
  It's-Control Yeah. Wha- what- which comes from- Right? Which is very strange... which comes from a super insecure leader. Ooh. S- so, so- There we go...
• 23:56
  s- so you look at some of the, the worst people you've worked for or worst cultures or the poorest work environments, and it's an insecure leader that feels like they have to, Paul, you said it right, I love it, they gotta control everything 'cause that's their job, and I gotta tell you what to do and make sure you're doing it.
• 24:16
  And their identity and their- Yeah... self-esteem is wrapped up in that control. Yeah. And you know what? But if you don't wanna get here. [laughs] The, the employee bill of rights, if you wanna call it that- Mm-hmm...
• 24:25
  is let me have that agency to act in my world and change the world and be awesome, you know? There, there are some people that are like, "Well, I'm just a porter," right? Right. Like, that doesn't mean anything. BS.
• 24:42
  A porter- It means everything... is, like, that's a clean car. That's a ride somewhere. That's like- Everyone's always looking to you for something. Yeah. Yeah. You have control over everything.
• 24:53
  [laughs] So I debate, I debate, I've been on some shows and we've debated, hey, there are some valuable jobs and there are some worthless jobs, and I don't believe that.
• 25:02
  I think every single job in the car dealership, which is the world we're in- Yep... is super important if... And the only way we succeed is if everybody's doing their, doing their job, so.
• 25:13
  Well, Sam, I, I feel like we could keep going for another hour easily. I can't wait till we get to spend- [laughs]... some time in person, because I know how the conversation's gonna go.
• 25:21
  S- thank you so much for just being a beacon of leadership, um, in the industry and giving us a few, uh, moments of your time today on Auto Collabs. [upbeat music] Thanks for allowing me to be here.
• 25:30
  It was a heck of a lot of fun, and I have some quotes. I've written them down- [laughs]... and I'm gonna use them, Paul and Michael. Thank you both.
• 25:36
  [upbeat music] I mean, but, like, how about Nathan with the investigative journalism? [laughs] When you asked him that first question- [laughs]...
• 25:48
  you were halfway through that question, and I'm watching his body language, and I literally... He said, "Talk about gotcha journalism," I think is what he said. Yeah. And I was like, "Where did Nathan find this?"
• 25:58
  He's a- Like, I was... I assumed he found it on the internet somewhere. He's Columbo. Yeah. [laughs] He's a, he's an amateur private detective. [laughs] Yeah.
• 26:08
  Actually- But now you're gonna know every time you walk past, uh, Nathan's office, uh, over there, and you see just like- [laughs]...
• 26:13
  manila folders on his desk, you're, you're gonna realize they're actually, like, case files. C- cigarette smoke coming out of the office. [laughs] Right? Trench coat hanging on the door. Yeah, exactly.
• 26:23
  No, but, but the, the reality of Sam's transparency and obvious commitment to developing people on the human side, I, I feel like we need to visit there now, 'cause I can't believe we hadn't met before this because he's so like-minded.
• 26:38
  Some of the things that... Well, and I mean, like, just, just to, y- you know, some of his thought processes. What was the quote? I, I wish I wrote it down. It was that we, we- About the coffee bean one? No.
• 26:50
  Well, we discover the best version of ourselves on the other side of adversity. That's it. That's not, that's not something you just read in a book that you think sounds good and then you repeat.
• 26:59
  That's something you live. Mm-hmm. That's something you experience. You believe it, absolutely. Yeah, it's deeply rooted in you.
• 27:05
  And then you fast-forward to nearing the end of the conversation, and it is clear that the reason they have, what did he say, the best, uh, work-life balance of- Work-life balance rating, yes. Like, what?
• 27:19
  And the reason that maps to Glassdoor and, and those sorts of things is because they really believe it. They really live it.
• 27:29
  And he brought up some points that I think should hit close to home for a lot of operators in this business, just calling it how it is. Part of us building our community is raising awareness around certain issues.
• 27:41
  Mm-hmm. One of them is that insecurity from a leadership level- Wow. Yeah, that was big... that has a rainfall effect on the rest of the organization.
• 27:50
  Like, how many organizations have you and I walked in where at some point or another somebody goes like, "I'm afraid for my job today"? Oh, my gosh. You think I'm getting fired?
• 27:58
  And to be clear, like, that sentiment, like, we'll, we'll, we'll tie it back to our, our buddy Seth Godin, who t- calls it the lizard brain, when your boss says, "Hey, can you come see me for a minute?"
• 28:08
  You don't think, "Oh, he's finally gonna realize all the great work I've been doing and give me a promotion." It's like you don't ever think that. You think, "I'm in trouble." Right?
• 28:15
  And with the best leaders, when you say, "Can you come in my office for a second?" Your m- the human mind goes to the worst-case scenario. Yeah.
• 28:22
  So that's just multiplied when it's, when there's a level of ego coming from the C-suite, a c- level of control that's coming from the C-suite.
• 28:30
  How can you expect people to find any balance in a, in a situation like that? I don't know, but Sam seems to have it figured out. And, uh- Yeah... Aaron Zeigler. It, it's the essence of top-down leadership.
• 28:39
  We talk all about it. We got to experience some of that talking to him, uh, firsthand, which is very, very refreshing. Fun guy. Um, man, I, I definitely wanna be able to go and check out some of their stores.
• 28:51
  Uh, hopefully, we get to connect with them at ASOTU Con. Nudge, nudge, hint, hint. [laughs] Poke, poke, Sam.
• 28:58
  Uh, but we hope you enjoyed this episode of Auto Collabs on behalf of Paul Jay Daly and myself, Michael Cirillo, and of course, uh, the invisible but here in heart, mind, and spirit, Kyle Mountsier.
• 29:09
  [laughs] Thanks so much for joining us on Auto Collabs. Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com.
• 29:22
  That's A-S-O-T-U dot com. If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
• 29:34
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs. Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet