Automotive News - September 23, 2019 - Best Practices Supplement - A44

44 | SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
B R O O K LY N M I T S U B I S H I , N E W YO R K

Redefining 'boss' increases sales
General manager creates
persona to lure buyers,
rebuild culture for staff
Published in Automotive News Aug. 5, 2019

Jackie Charniga
jcharniga@crain.com

l Patronn wants to make it happen.
Behind his trademark eyewear, El
Patronn strikes poses on billboards in
Brooklyn in New York City and can be
viewed regularly on his YouTube channel
called El Patronn Show. He's flashy, stylized
and highly recognizable. But most of all, El Patronn is a successful marketing tool born of
the imagination of Brooklyn Mitsubishi managing partner Rudy Tremenio, who uses the
moniker to drive up sales and profits and improve customer retention.
"Whatever I say, I'm going to do," Tremenio
told Automotive News. "They come in asking
for El Patronn, so I deliver."
A 15-year automotive industry veteran,
Tremenio earned his nickname and self-given
title, a slight amendment to the Spanish term
meaning "the boss." Tremenio has used the
name, and his industry experience, to change
the culture at his dealership and drive up digital engagement through viral videos and use
of data mining tools, and by getting involved
in almost every deal.

Social media, data mining
As a marketing tool, El Patronn is a success.
His prominence gathers more attention from
customers than a one-time visit from a celebrity, and it costs the dealership far less.
"Customers want to buy from people they
like. They want to buy from people they relate
to," Tremenio said.
El Patronn has more than 1 million followers among Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
YouTube. The second "n" was tacked on due
to a tendency for people to confuse his persona with the popular tequila brand, Patron.
To keep social media offerings fresh, Tremenio
uses an independent contractor who produces
weekly content. Over the past two years, they've
made hundreds of videos together. Some videos
have been seen only a handful of times, while
others have garnered as many as 173,000 views.
Part of what spurred the sales turnaround is
data mining. Tremenio used digital tools
within the company's DealerSocket customer

Rudy Tremenio says
customers ask for El
Patronn, the moniker he
uses in his marketing.

With a new leader - and his bold
online persona - at the helm,
Brooklyn Mitsubishi has augmented
its social media presence and
leveraged data mining tools to
increase customer traffic and vehicle
sales.

relationship management platform to contact
former dealership customers for repeat sales
and vehicle trade-ins.
The uptick in consumer interest from the
data mining and marketing campaigns led to
Tremenio adding seven people to the dealership's business development center. It now
has 10 employees, and leads have increased
from 1,000 per month to about 5,000.
Brooklyn Mitsubishi this year is selling
around 70 new vehicles and 250 used vehicles
per month, for a typical monthly total of about
320 vehicles. In 2018, the store sold 819 new
vehicles. It was the No. 5-selling Mitsubishi
dealership in the country in June, a brand official confirmed.
In 2017, the year Tremenio became general
manager and managing partner, Brooklyn
Mitsubishi sold 362 new vehicles and 1,937
used vehicles.

Tight ship
Brooklyn Mitsubishi was 3 years old when
Tremenio took over in 2017. He started with
the company in 2012 as general manager of
Queens Auto Mall, which sold only used vehicles. The Mitsubishi point was the group's first
new-vehicle franchise.
The store was underperforming, said

Tremenio, who blamed the dealership's culture.
"The dealership was a little neglected," he
said. "The current general manager that was
there was a very negative guy."
Tremenio laid down an ultimatum - either
the general manager would leave, or he
would. It was a difficult conversation, Tremenio recalled, as the manager had been with
the company for more than 18 years.
"They let him go," Tremenio said. "They gave
me the free rein to change everything."
But even then, Tremenio faced larger challenges. A major reason the dealership wasn't
reaching its potential was discord between
the finance and insurance managers and the
sales reps. Unresolved issues mounted. If the
dealership had many rules before, Tremenio
said, they weren't enforced.
To get his employees rowing in the same direction, Tremenio had to run a tight ship.
He put boundaries in place during the first few
months of his leadership to drive sales, including implementing new schedules, enforcing
punctuality and creating a dress code - polo
shirts in the summer and shirt-and-tie or other
corporate wear during other seasons.
The added structure allowed special events,
such as casual Fridays and pizza Saturdays, to
stand out to employees.
Ten managers report to Tremenio, who
shares an office with the dealer principal. He
touches every deal and religiously scans CRM
software to make sure employees are on track
and taking diligent notes.
Overall, he said, employees are happier and
more productive.
"If you create a culture where people love
you, they'll do anything for you," Tremenio
said. "We created a solid team." a

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