Viti Mercedes-Benz is proud to recognize Gene Loyola for attaining the lever of Master Guild. Master certification is the highest level of achievement within Mercedes-Benz Standard of Excellence and reflects Mr. Loyola's ongoing commitment to professional development as well as loyalty. Gene started in 1981 as a trainee and gradually made his way in 1998 to Shop Foreman. He continued his professional growth by adding, May Bach Certification, SLR Mclaren Certification, Master Certification and now Master Guild Certifcation to his impressive credentials. In addition, Gene is an avid golfer, motorcross racer and above all else, loves spending time with his daughter Taylor.
Nationally Recognized Business Development Center
Mercedes-Benz corporation sponsored a competition for the months of January, February and March of this year. The contest was divided into three regions, West Coast, Central and East Coast. The Competition consisted of three parts, Dealership's Lead Response Rate, Lease Retention and overall Email Penetration. Viti's BDC Manager, Joanne Lake and Assistant, Jennifer Machado, not only came in first place in the East Coast Region but Finished Second in the Nation. In addition, Joanne Lake has been asked to sit on the Mercedes-Benz BDC Council for 2008 and 2009. She contributes the success of her department to the hard working efforts of her staff and the ongoing support of Owners, Mike Murphy and Jim Gray.
By Marc Munroe Dion
Herald News Staff Reporter
James Gray has worked at Viti Mercedes for 28 years.
BIG WHEEL: James Gray of Viti Mercedes Benz
Tiverton-
With partner Michael Murphy, James Gray runs Viti Mercedes, 975 Fish Road, Tiverton, a well-known name in luxury cars up and down the East Coast.
“I deliver cars in New Jersey, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire,” Gray said.
Gray is in charge of the service and parts half of the dealership, but he sells cars, too.
“All the time,” Gray said. “People come in and ask for me.
“It’s because they’ve been dealing with me for 28 years,” he said of those buyers who ask for him by name. “They know me.”
In that way, Gray is a walking textbook for how Viti Mercedes likes to do things.
“Our whole theory is building relationships,” he said.
If relationship-building is key to the Viti Mercedes business plan, it clearly works.
“I have customers who have four or five Mercedes in the family,” he said.
Gray said Mercedes dealers are incredibly loyal, not just to the car but to individual dealers and salespeople. He said loyalty can’t be taken for granted, however strong it might be, so even with repeat customers, every effort must be made to keep them coming back.
Gray, started in the business at age 15, pumping gas, a traditional entry-level job for people who end up at various levels of the automotive business.
“What I do now is really helping people stay focused, monitoring what people do, all the way down the line,” Gray said.
“I don’t think there really is a hard part to my job,” Gray said, adding that he enjoys his workdays.
“I think the best part is dealing with people. People are interesting. They’re fun to deal with.”
Gray said his time in the business has been fun and he’s enjoyed not only helping to build the dealership but building numerous relationships along the way.
BIG WHEELS: Living the Dream - Will Dame is loving life at Viti Mercedes Benz
TIVERTON —
A lot of people want to own a Mercedes Benz. It’s the stuff driving dreams are made of.A lot of people want to sell Mercedes Benz too, and that’s the stuff of salespeople’s dreams.Will Dame is living the dream at Viti Mercedes Benz, 975 Fish Road, Tiverton. He’s the general manager of this well-known luxury car dealership.
“I oversee pretty much all operations of the store,” Dame said. “My focus is on sales and management.”
Dame’s focus may be in those areas, but his experience is all over the lot.
“I started as a parts guy at an Audi dealer in Boston,” he said. “But I’ve done every job in a dealership.”
Every job?
“I’ve even swept the floors and cleaned up the lot,” he said.
Overseeing this kind of dealership is a big responsibility, Dame said. Viti is a very prominent dealership.
“We’re one of the top five pre-owned Mercedes dealers in New England,” he said.
The dealership sells new Mercedes, of course, but pre-owned is a big part of the business.
“It’s definitely part of my focus,” Dame said.
“We’ve got 20 to 25 pre-owned on the lot,” Dame said. “We turn that inventory over very month.”
Add the 60 or so new Mercedes that Viti sells every month and you’ve got a strong dealership.
“We have about 120 new on the lot,” Dame said.
Selling high-end cars like these gets a person excited. Dame feels that excitement every day, and he insists his sales staff feel it, too.
“If it’s just a job, someplace you go every day, I don’t want you working for me,” Dame said.
“It’s not just a job. Live it. Eat it. Breathe it,” he added.
For Dame, that’s the way to build a career selling Mercedes.
He says the best part of his job is the customer contact.
“It’s the satisfaction of selling a Mercedes to someone who may have wanted one for a long time,” he said.
New customers aren’t the only fun to be had on the lot, either.
“Some people buy one after another,” he said, adding that a lot of people are very loyal to the Mercedes Benz brand.
And what’s the hardest part of the job? “Making it all happen for people,” he said.
Dame said one of the most distinctive things his dealership does for customers is pick up and drop off their cars for service.
And, he said, there are some other good things coming to Viti Mercedes Benz.
“We’ve got the GLK, a smaller sport utility vehicle and new models in the E-Class, which is very popular.”
With three decades in the car business, Viti Mercedes Pre-owned Sales Manager Steve Koertje made it to the luxury car heights some time ago, but he hasn’t had any time to rest since he reached the summit.
Koertje works for Viti Mercedes, 975 Fish Road, Tiverton, a dealership selling new Mercedes and Maybachs as well as a selection of pre-owned luxury cars.
“I appraise and purchase used vehicles,” Koertje said. “I make sure that the vehicles that do reach the front line are consistent with our standards of quality.
“If I have to, I send some vehicles to be detailed and some to the repair shop so that it will meet the standard for cars we want to put out on the lot.”
There’s more.
“I also wholesale the vehicles we take in trade that do not meet our standard,” Koertje said.
Like everyone in an automobile dealership, Koertje is also concerned with individual one-on-one customer satisfaction.
“I make sure I meet everyone coming in for a pre-owned vehicle,” he said.
Knowledge and customer satisfaction are two factors in Koertje’s professional equation, but the third, the one a lot of people might not think of, is longevity.
“I’ve been here for 20 years, so I get a lot of return business,” Koertje said.
Before he became the pre-owned sales manager. Koertje had a lot of time in the trenches, where he learned what there is to learn about selling vehicles on the front line of a busy, quality dealership.
“I was in sales for 10 years,” Koertje said, knowing full well that he’s still in sales, as is everyone else at an automobile dealership.
And Koertje is pretty sure he knows what it’s all about in terms of the job performance/success equation, an equation easier to state than it is to solve.
“If you take pride in your job, you reap the benefits,” Koertje said.
Tony Miele is a self-described “car nut” who lives, or at least works, in the perfect world.
Miele is the service manager at Viti Mercedes, 975 Fish Road, Tiverton, so he gets to spend his days around really, really nice cars.
“I’ve been with Mercedes for 12 years,” Miele said. “I’ve been managing for 22 years.”
Miele began his career the way the great majority of service managers do: with a wrench in his hand.
“I started as a technician,” Miele said. “When they called it a ‘mechanic.’ ”
Miele admitted that the change in terminology from “mechanic” to “technician” is more than just a name change.
“So much of what you work with today is electronics, technician fits,” he said.
Today, Miele is pretty far from the wrench end of things, though not as far as you might think.
“I get under the hood a lot,” he said.
Of course, these days, Miele doesn’t get a paycheck for fixing cars.
“I pretty much oversee everything from my doorway back,” Miele said of his present job as service manager.
“Pick up and delivery, reconditioning,” he said.
“I’ve got five service advisers, a warranty administrator, a cashier and 24 technicians,” Miele said.
All those people have a part to play under Miele’s watchful eyes, and Mercedes dealers are known for service.
“We do everything,” Miele said. “We pick ’em up and we drop ’em off clean and gassed-up.”
“Even though we don’t have a body shop, we use two body shops, and I monitor that,” Miele said.
Miele likes his job, but he knows what’s hardest about his piece of the business.
“Keeping everyone happy,” he said. “That’s customers and employees.
“This job is really all about numbers and keeping people happy,” Miele said.
As for what Miele likes best about the job, he didn’t hesitate when asked.
“That’s where the cars come in,” he said.
Miele said the dealership offers new Mercedes and Maybachs as well as a selection of pre-owned luxury cars.
“We mix it up a little,” he said. “We do quite a few Toyotas. Our loaners are Toyotas and we sell them.”
