WESTFIELD and SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -

David DiCienzo, franchise owner of both Thrifty Car Sales Westfield and Thrifty Car Sales Springfield — both in Massachusetts — says it’s all about having the right tools.

And in talking with Auto Remarketing, the dealer, who has just purchased a third franchise from Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, noted that though challenges will arise in such a competitive, high-paced industry, “as long as you have your fundamentals straight and put a system in place and work that system, you will succeed.”

And with dealerships that are averaging upwards of 40 retail sales a month, DiCienzo highlighted how he got started in the business, as well as what sets his dealerships apart from the crowd.

An ‘Introduction’ to Thrifty

After spending four years in the U.S. Army, DiCienzo got his start in the automotive business working with a new-car dealership chain in western Massachusetts.

And he moved up fast, climbing from sales representative to general manager in a little more than five years.

And after opening a direct mail/staffed sales company, DiCienzo was offered a chance to get back into the industry. buy in a new-car dealership.

Commenting on his first buy-in at a new-car dealership, the dealer shared he “spent three years at the dealership and turned it from an underperforming point to a very profitable one.

“We went on to purchase another location and turned that around as well. Both these store were located about 80 miles from my home,” he continued.

After selling his investment in the stores and moving back to the western part of the state, DiCienzo said he “tried to find a new car franchise to purchase, but could not find a fit.”

But that was all set to change soon.

After taking a trip to the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Las Vegas, DiCienzo was introduced to the Thrifty Car Sales franchise system.

“We opened the first store (Westfield, Mass.) in April of 2009; second store (Springfield, Mass.) opened July of 2011. People thought we were a little crazy to open during the market crash, but we saw a lot of value in the Thrifty Car Sales franchise system and so far it has worked out well,” he added.

Benefiting from the ‘Franchise Reputation’

DiCienzo also explained to Auto Remarketing “that having the recognized branding that the Thrifty Car Sales franchise system brings to a store definitely set us apart from just any other used-car lot.”

And the dealer noted that this “branding” also came in handy when first launching the Massachusetts stores.

“The recognition of the franchise by lenders, floor plan sources and by vendors and the special pricing that Thrifty Car Sales World purchasing network provides gave us with them gave us an immediate leg up,” DiCienzo further noted.

On top of benefitting from the franchise’s reputation, DiCienzo also highlighted a few strengths within his stores he thinks helps keep them successful within the community.

“The strengths that make us stand out on the operation side is our ability to purchase inventory and recondition it extremely fast and get it to market,” he said.

“We have established great relationships with our lenders, both locally and nationally. Our lenders take the time to look at each and every deal and look for reasons to buy a deal, not a reason to turn it down,” the dealer continued.

DiCienzo also highlighted that hiring the right people for a store can be a key factor to success.

“I think that hiring the right people in an organization is very important. I have never found a person that you can teach to be nice; you have to hire nice people,” he said.

“Once you have that employee that is both nice and competent, you have to empower them to make decisions that are right for the company and the customer. On a case-by-case basis, this does not always effect profit in a positive way, but in the long run it does bring repeat and referral business,” DiCienzo continued.

And this philosophy “came to life” when the business owner opened his first store.

“When I was thinking of opening our first store, I went to people that I both liked working with and excelled in the business and made them my partners not an employee. The people that work at the stores have skin in the game and that has made all the difference. They want to make the right decision that would bring long term success to the store,” he explained.

Editor’s Note: David DiCienzo is our featured dealer in an upcoming Used Car Manager in Action section of the magazine. To read the entire story, see the Sept. 1 print edition of Auto Remarketing.