Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
Issue link: http://autodealermonthly.epubxp.com/i/99735
Add all that together, and 2012 was a pretty good year. To make things a little sweeter, Kruzer is the first woman to be named Sales Pro of the Year in the eight-year history of the magazine. As the lone female on a sales team of more than a dozen consultants, she is no stranger to standing out among men. "It's very exciting," she said of the ground-breaking accomplishment. Sitting at her desk, surrounded by pictures of her family (infant Caleb, 12year-old Liana and husband Aaron), no less than 16 various sales honors and a binder of glowing customer reviews, Kruzer revels in the success she has had since joining the sales staff of the North Olmstead, Ohio, dealership a decade ago. She is anxious to grow her résumé with awards like Sales Pro of the Year in the hope of someday running her own dealership. "I know I'd be awesome at it," she said with a laugh lined with confidence. Gracing the January cover of a nationwide publication dedicated to her trade, Kruzer observed, adds motivation for making 2013 another meaningful year en route to achieving her dream. Judging from her various accolades and management's high praise of her abilities, there's no reason to believe she won't someday reach that goal. "She's fantastic; very outgoing; just a real pleasure to be around, which is probably why she is as good as she is," said Ken Ganley, president of Ganley Auto Group, a conglomeration of 28 franchises under 22 rooftops in northern Ohio. "She's a real pro." Meantime, Pete Kash, a sales manager at the North Olmstead Honda store who grew up in a dealership family, added that Kruzer is something special in the business. "You know the saying, 'You go to work to work?'" Kash illustrated. "She's the epitome of that." Making a couple hundred calls a day is not rare, he added, and she is a natural team leader. "She definitely would be successful at owning her own dealership." Until that happens, Kruzer will continue to set the bar for sales at Ganley Honda. She established the store's all-time record for monthly sales in March of last year, moving 40 units while in her third trimester of pregnancy. She credits the big month, in part, to loyal repeat and referral customers who wanted to get their deals wrapped up before her maternity leave. "If Tiffany's not there, they will not deal with anyone else," Kash said. Nearly three-quarters of Kruzer's new-car sales come from repeat customers. Like any mother with her child, she treats each individual client with compassion and patience no matter the situation. "The customer is more important than the sale," she said. "My main goal is to make sure I take care of people." But she's also not afraid to be respectfully straightforward when circumstances don't favor a deal for a customer. "I will tell them it's just not time yet," she added. In most instances, when the timing becomes right, it's Kruzer to whom that person will return for the deal. She redirected all of that compassionate attention to her baby beginning in April, when she took a pause to give birth. Back on the sales floor three months later in the second week of July, it was as if Kruzer hadn't missed a beat. Despite losing a week and a half of possible sales, she managed to move 25 units and earn the dealership's salesperson of the month mark. She repeated the honor in August, selling 23 vehicles, though again losing several days while she was out caring for her husband, whom, incidentally, she met at the dealership when he was employed as a service advisor. But returning to the role of a sales consultant after the baby arrived wasn't as easy as it looked. "It was really sad coming back at first," Kruzer recalled. However, Ganley's flexibility with her full-time schedule helped ease any separation anxiety. With her baby being watched by her mother-in-law just a street over from the dealership, Kruzer, who lives about a half-hour away in Independence, Ohio, is able to take a two-hour lunch to spend more time around Caleb during the day. The way she has successfully juggled her duties has not gone unnoticed by ownership. "It's not an easy job; I give her a ton of credit," Ganley said. "She does a good balancing act. She gives it 100 percent." Kruzer started in sales with Ganley Auto Group's Honda store in 2002, the same year as Kash. Only one sales consultant with the dealership is more tenured, so Kruzer is relied upon as a mentor— a mother-figure, if you will—to the less-seasoned salesmen. "She takes it upon herself, and that's rare," Kash said. While on maternity leave, several new sales consultants were hired at the dealership, prompting management to encourage Kruzer to school the green peas in the art of auto sales. "They have no choice but to learn from the best," Kash said. Kruzer took delight in the challenge. "It's kinda funny how they wanted me to come in and show off for those guys," she said. "I think that's what motivated me to be (July) salesperson of the month." Kruzer's 2012 success is not an anomaly. She annually ranks among the auto group's elite of 300 or so sales consultants, said Ganley. "She's at the very top of the class." She is also a three-time Gold Level member of the Honda Council of Sales Leadership, the automakers' annual award to consultants for "achievement of exemplary customer satisfaction, outstanding sales performance and exceptional knowledge of Honda products." Congratulations to Tiffany Kruzer, the 2012 Sales Professional of the Year, and thank you to Fran Taylor for bringing her to our attention. autodealermonthly.com 15