FRANK SERPA HAS TAKEN HIS OWN PATH WHEN IT COMES TO AUTO RETAILING, ONE THAT’S ENABLED POSSIBILITIES HE ONCE ONLY DREAMED ABOUT
Serpa BMW has been consistently ranked #1 for CSI in the Greater Toronto Area
When you spend a lot of time visiting auto retail facilities, it’s not often that something takes you by surprise. Yet, upon walking through the doors of Serpa BMW in Newmarket, Ont. for the first time, that’s exactly what happened.
Not only were the showroom staff incredibly friendly in a genuine way, they correctly concluded my preference for tea over coffee. Perhaps it was the funny accent. Nevertheless, that kind of intuition isn’t something you’d normally expect. Then again this isn’t just any dealership. Frank Serpa is very adamant about that.
Since acquiring the BMW dealership on Mulock Drive less than two years ago, Serpa’s team have transformed it. Today the store is ranked consistently as a top performer for the BMW brand in Canada and has been number one in terms of CSI in the Greater Toronto Area. So what’s his secret?
Sales team (Left to right), Terry Park, Emilio Curia, Neil Stewart, Stefano Serpa, Danny DeCicco, Kyle Black and Frances Fan
SOLID FUNDAMENTALS
Well there isn’t one really. It’s simply a matter of sticking to a solid principle of treating others better than you want to be treated, doing the best job you can and fostering a true sense of family, community and longevity. Serpa has been married to his wife, Rosanna for more than 33 years, has two sons, Adriano and Stefano and has been involved in the car business longer still, starting out as a teenager in the late-1970s.
Originally drawn to the back end of auto retailing, Serpa had become a fully certified technician by 1984. Yet a passion for helping people with their needs saw him transfer to sales and he started selling Hondas two years later. “The day I started is easy to remember,” he says. “It was April Fool’s Day 1986.”
Serpa says that a combination of understanding the customer’s needs, a passion for providing the best service and also a comprehensive technical knowledge of the vehicle gave him an edge.
“I believed and still do, that no matter what kind of agreement I enter into, the result has to be complete satisfaction. The customer has to leave extremely happy and know that we’ve done an exceptional job.”
In 1995 Serpa opened his own dealership, Avante Mazda in Richmond Hill, Ont. and discovered that his approach to customer service, reflected in the dealership’s motto “trust without compromise,” quickly put the store on the map and business blossomed.
“We were so focused on the customer experience,” he says “that people kept coming. Our customers would tell their family members and friends who would tell their families and friends — it really was word of mouth in how we grew the business.”
Serpa still owns Avante Mazda today and says that the hard work and dedication of the dealership team are major factor in the store’s growth, customer satisfaction and recognition (Avante has been the recipient of multiple awards from Mazda Canada).
Recognition often brings new opportunities such as the chance to acquire new dealerships. Yet for Serpa it was almost a case of outside eyes looking in. Avante Mazda was well established and known for delivering exceptional service. And if the formula worked here there was no reason why it wouldn’t work elsewhere.
And that was how the subject of BMW came up.“If you had asked me five years ago whether I would own a BMW store, I’d have bet you it would never happen,” says Serpa. Yet it did happen. An opportunity presented itself via fellow dealer (and friend) Michael Croxon. Serpa was offered the chance to acquire Open Road BMW in Newmarket.
Approval from BMW Group Canada was granted and in 2012 the store became Serpa BMW. “I can’t thank Michael enough, nor BMW’s senior management team for giving me this opportunity, it was like a dream come true.”
On-site cafe and boutique store are just some of the amenities
CHANGING IT UP
Nevertheless, once the store was in their possession, Serpa and his team knew that work needed to be done. “It took a little while to bring our philosophy in, which was customer first, profits second,” he says, but less than two years down the road, it’s clear that the hard work is already paying off.
One of the first things initiated was moving the BMW Motorrad operation upstairs into its own unique space, leaving the showroom exclusively for cars and sport activity vehicles.
Serpa also hired an experienced hand to run the Motorrad division, Miguel Betz. Before he met Frank Serpa, Betz had previously served as general manager for BMW Motorrad’s operations in Venezuela. Given his extensive experience with BMW motorcycles at a national and international level, Serpa knew Betz was the man for the job.
“BMW is one of the top brands in the world,” says Betz whose passion for Motorrad really comes through when you talk to him. “BMW is an aspirational brand and even though we don’t build millions of motorcycles we back the customer 100 per cent. When you buy a BMW product the company is behind you, you are not alone.”
Betz and Serpa acknowledge that having a premium motorcycle brand in-house has considerable cachet, so plans are afoot to increase capacity by adding a motorcycle exclusive showroom on the upper level.
General Manager Jeff Lane
RIGHT PEOPLE, RIGHT APPROACH
Other key factors in the push toward consumer excellence have been a focus on true transparency and process, a strong emphasis on recruiting and training the right people, as well as conducting regular team meetings that include every member of staff.
“Customers expect us to be professional,” says General Manager Jeff Lane. “It’s important that everybody knows what their role is because you need to have the entire team working together to achieve a common goal — that being 100 per cent customer satisfaction.”
When it comes to managing expectations, Serpa has also created a concept known as the six-foot rule. “If any of us are within six feet of a customer, we say ‘hello’ no matter what might have brought them into our dealership,” says Serpa.
He says that at the end of the day, this business is really about hospitality. “Yes, we do sell cars,
we do service cars but fundamentally it’s about putting ourselves in the customer’s shoes. How would you feel if you were staying at the Ritz-Carlton? How would you treat somebody if they came to your home?
Serpa’s level of customer service and fostering a sense of true understanding of the brand, has seen a greater emphasis on speciality halo models at the dealership, including M cars, as well as the dealership’s transportation service which customers receive for a nominal fee. “If you purchase a car from Serpa BMW and it requires service we will come and collect the vehicle,” says Serpa. It goes straight into the trailer and straight to the service department.
Each vehicle is then fully detailed and returned to the customer once the work has been completed. “Nobody drives the car, nobody puts stone chips on it and nobody uses the fuel that’s in it.” He says customers really love the service and for many, the pick up and delivery becomes a neighbourhood event. After all, it’s not every day you get to see a racing transporter come to your house.
LOOKING TO THE LONG TERM
Serpa acknowledges that providing such a service does require considerable resources in terms of time and effort. Yet over the long term, he sees the benefits as considerable, both in terms of customer satisfaction and also in creating an experience that’s unique to this dealership.
He’s also put in place plans to expand Serpa BMW’s footprint — adding an additional service drive through (which will serve as a vehicle delivery area) and expanding service capacity to include eight additional bays — all in the name of continuing to raise the bar.
Longer term, Serpa says the plan is to ultimately move the BMW store to a new, larger location, close to Highway 404 .“The facility we have today meets our requirements,” he says “but we need to plan ahead because the business is growing. Often, you’re not able to find land when you need it, that’s why we made the conscious decision to purchase now, so we will be ready when the time comes.”
Serpa says that ultimately, his goal is not only to grow the business, with a look to acquiring more stores and operating a certified collision centre — but to continue fostering an environment where people want to come to work and where people want to do business. It’s something he’s instilled in his youngest son Stefano, already a top sales performer at the dealership and winner of BMW’s national “living out the customer promise” award. “My dad has always said, strive to be better than me at what you do.” The younger Serpa says he particularly enjoys the test drive experience with customers. “I just get really excited about seeing people get behind the wheel. The BMW experience is unique and I feel privileged to be a part of it.”
Serpa’s elder son Adriano, is currently pursuing a career in law, yet when the time comes and growth plans are realized, the opportunity to join the Serpa automotive family is there.
To achieve real success in anything requires passion, dedication and an understanding of the metrics and processes that help you get there. “When we got the BMW franchise I thought I’d died and gone to heaven,” says Frank Serpa. “This isn’t something we do, it’s something we are. We’ve been given a wonderful opportunity and it’s up to us to make the most of it.”
