"Rob just showed up one day," recalls Team controller Edward Kaiser, "and told us what he was doing. We signed on the spot because it fit in so perfectly with our philosophy of customer treatment."
Under Mancuso's system, shoppers are recruited by Manpower Inc. and sent to visit the dealership twice a month. They then produce a computer-scored, 50-point questionnaire and a taped interview. The dealer pays $250 for each pair of visits and the information they generate.
"It's been incredibly helpful," says Allen, noting that Team now enjoys a close ratio of 46.7%, one of the highest in the nation. One of Team's first revelations, for example, was that customers had a hard time finding the dealership. "We had a nice, well-laid-out facility," explains Kaiser, "but even though we were next to the freeway, we were difficult to spot." Team responded with extra signs.
Since then, Consumer Concepts has signed up 50 independent dealers. Recently, it signed a pilot-program contract with Cadillac to shop 50 dealers in 10 metropolitan areas. CC grossed $75,000 in 1983, will do $250,000 in '84 (returning to break-even after absorbing significant start-up costs), and, as far as Mancuso can see, has a promising future. "I'II be talking to Honda next week, to Ford the week thereafter. . ."
For Mancuso, CC is more than a sideline, or a tool to use in his own dealership. It is the embodiment of his evolving philosophy. "Ninety percent of the dealers I know haven't really committed themselves to customer treatment," he says. "They all pay it lip service, but they beat up a guy when he comes in a day over warranty. And in the evenings, they congratulate themselves on how well they're doing.
"We're saying, 'Let's stop measuring the gains -- they're already in the bank. Let's do something about the losses.' It's an entirely different approach."
While he developed Consumer Concepts, Mancuso continued to look for ways to pull in customers and satisfy existing ones: a "New Age Thinking" motivational program for employees; a free car wash with every service; a computer campaign that let customers price their own cars (that one, he says, was good for more than 50 sales); and undercover shoppers who not only continued to show up in the showroom, but also ventured into the shop. "I found out what sort of efforts were being made to sell additional service," says Mancuso. After his service people were briefed, the average service sale went from 1.8 to 2.1 hours.
Thanks to such measures, Mancuso Cadillac-Honda nosed back into profitability in 1981, and remained there for the next two years. To be sure, pretax return was a matter of fractional percentage points. But the important thing was that the dealership was in gear, warming up and ready to go.
Finally, after nine years, all of the planning and market conditions came together. The economy improved, and the market for Cadillacs came back, eventually climbing to 300,337 units in 1983. Exactly one year ago, the buyout was concluded, and Mancuso's dealership took off.
Mancuso slides a Macintosh-generated chart -- "Year to Date Comparisons" -- across his desk. During the first two months of 1984, new-car profit has increased by 189%, used-car by 11,132%, service by 79%, parts and accessories by 3,250%. Overall dealership profit is up a remarkable 2,500%. The close ratio has risen to 32%, and Mancuso expects to earn a healthy 4% on sales this year. With an average daily balance of from $250,000 to $350,000 in the bank, Mancuso is using his working capital to build a separate building for Honda and to pursue a Porsche-Audi franchise.
"I'm beginning to enjoy this business for the very first time," he says. "Now that we're making real money, it's a lot easier to make more."
On the management side, ideas that in the past went begging for time or money are now being implemented. Extra loaners. A greeter for the service department. Ads that offer free car washes or oil changes. Service writers in ties and jackets. Extended hours. Videotaped evaluations of salesmen's presentations. And there is renewed emphasis on innovative management -- regular strategy meetings, department heads with virtual autonomy, "true turn" inventory figures from the parts department. "Management is the new growth area," observes Mancuso, echoing industry experts.
Although most of his 50 employees have gotten used to his brand of business as unusual -- "I think they'd come in wearing shorts and tennis shoes if I asked them to" -- old ways still die hard. "In the past, I'd warned my people never to sacrifice pennies," he explains, "and now that I want to give away money, they find it hard to adjust to."
Mancuso recently told his sales and service managers that they each had $500 to give away each month, but they didn't understand. So he acted out an explanation in the shop. "There was a customer there who had been coming in for years," he reconstructs. "Ah, Mr. Abbate, how you doing?'
" 'Just great.'
" 'What are you in for?'
" 'Grease, oil and filter, and rotate the tires.'
" 'How much is the bill going to be?'
" 'About $65.'
"Mr. Abbate, you've bought a lot of cars from us, and we love having you around. I'm going to pick up that bill.'
" 'What do you mean? You're going to charge it?'
" 'No, I'm going to pay it. Thanks for coming in."
The resulting goodwill, Mancuso explains, is something no advertising can buy. "We have one central operating philosophy now," he adds, "and that's to make the customer happy . . . right now."
