Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S45

OCTOBER 17, 2016 ❙ 45 PORSCHE NORWELL, NORWELL, MASS. Porsche dealer: Know your tech Retailer keeps service customers with same staffer to build loyalty Printed in Automotive News Aug. 15, 2016 Amy Wilson awilson@crain.com M ost Porsche owners baby their cars. Dealer Ray Ciccolo decided to appeal to that protective instinct. Service customers at Ciccolo's Porsche Norwell in suburban Boston stay with the same technician Ⅲ Service customers visit after visit. They get to get to know bring their cars in on free technicians tech days, when they can get one-on-one to know the person working on their car and receive a free vehicle inspection. "The reason most people go to an independent repair facility is because they know the tech one-on-one," Ciccolo said. "They know the first name; they have a personal relationship with them. So we're trying to establish that same thing. It's one more thing to discourage them from going outside." Talk to the tech Having the vehicle owner talk to the technician, instead of just the service adviser, at visits helps breed customer loyalty, Ciccolo said. Establishing a relationship with the customer also helps the technician get invested in the car on which he's working. Keeping the customer and the technician together through multiple visits is a key component of Ciccolo's strategy. "There's nothing worse than putting a different tech on it, and, God forbid, he gives a different opinion of what is needed," he said. "All of a sudden, that trust can be shaken." Ciccolo, who owns the seven-store Village Automotive Group in the Boston area, opened a $6 million Porsche store in 2015 after deciding to separate his Porsche-Audi dealership into two stand-alone operations. The aim is to develop a concierge service approach and improve revenue and profit in the Porsche store's fixed-ops business. For instance, the dealership will pick up and de- Porsche Norwell owner Ray Ciccolo: "This has been a very small store, so we're trying to come up with any ideas we can to increase our business and retain customers." liver vehicles needing service work to customers living on or staying at nearby Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands. Four technicians are on staff, at least two having worked 10 years or more with Village Automotive Group's Porsche operation, Ciccolo said. He has sent all of his techs to Porsche's new U.S. headquarters and Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, which opened in the spring, for training. It's a way to show the techs they are valued and part of Ciccolo's retention efforts. "You can't afford to lose a Porsche tech," he said. "It's a fortune to retrain them." At the free tech days, customers can come by to talk face-to-face with a technician and troubleshoot a problem they've been having, such as an unexplained rattle, without having to make an appointment and commit to diagnostic fees, Ciccolo said. Payoff The new store and service strategies are starting to pay off. So far in 2016, Porsche Norwell's service revenue, gross profit and number of repair orders are up by around 20 percent, Ciccolo said. If the growth continues, he will hire more techs and service advisers as needed. "We're in a growth stage," he said. "This has been a very small store, so we're trying to come up with any ideas we can to increase our business and retain customers." Another idea: Since opening the bigger dealership, Ciccolo has space in a winter storage area to offer to customers. He started promoting that this summer. Ciccolo also is working to boost traffic by adding in-house events such as weekend bagel-and-coffee offerings for owners who want to bring their old cars by to park and share. Vehicle sales also are improving for the dealership. New-vehicle sales rose about 30 percent in June and July from the year-earlier months on low volume. (Porsche's U.S. sales rose 6.1 percent in June and fell 18 percent in July.) Ciccolo sees an even bigger jump on the used-car side. The old store was lucky to sell eight to 10 used vehicles a month, he said, while the new dealership typically sells 15 to 20. The goal is 25 or more used-vehicle sales a month, he said. "Porsche is increasing the breadth and width of their product line, and that is so encouraging to a dealer who invested the kind of money we invested," Ciccolo said. "That will help take the significant ups and downs out of the Porsche business." c

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