Pub. 8 2019-2020 Issue 1

SUMMER 2019 23 ANTHONY BENFATTI Anthony Benfatti, a former CSTA student, is now the GM of Jaguar Land Rover Carlsbad. How did you get into the auto industry? Before working for a dealership, I worked in a lateral type of business for seven years. I started as a ticket writer at a carwash in North County, and rose to the pinnacle of that operation as manager and head of operations for a whole group of car washes. But it is prettymonotonous at a car wash. I wanted a change so I could do something that was more exciting and impactful. I wanted to be more professional, to wear a suit and tie, and to do something that was more adventurous than what I had. Several family members were already working for dealerships. My uncle, Sean Conner, started out selling cars and was the sales manager of Hoehn Porsche. He’s now the executive general manager for Hoehn Motors. My younger brother, Bryce, who is also a graduate of CSTA, was selling cars for Hoehn Acura. Sean and my brother both encouraged me to consider working for a dealership. What do you like about it? What makes this a career choice? I love the challenge of working as a general manager at the dealership. Every day offers so much opportunity personally and professionally. I work in a brand where I get to help people buy their dream cars, I help employees reach their personal and financial goals, and we do a lot to support the community, such as contributing to charities. I get to meet so many interesting, diverse people. I talk to everybody from the worker at the car wash to the billionaire. The common ground is our interest in cars. If youwant to excel, there’s lots of room to growand develop. The industry has a lot of growth and potential because it offers different job roles for every personality type. You can work in parts, service, or sales. Things are always changing and evolving. We are always seeing new technology, new processes, newer models, and state-of-the-art facilities. Who suggested the CSTA to you? Uncle Sean knows Bob Heintz and recommended CSTA as a great starting point to get insight and as a place to decide if I wanted to go further. The class was a great segue into the industry. Tell us a little about the training, the process, and the time commitment? The class is free, so I exchanged just one week of my time to decide if working at a dealership was what I wanted to do. The class offers a perfect training process. It’s an opportunity to gather Information. You learn about the dealershipmodel, the sales process, and what to expect when you join a dealership. It provides a good overview of the new role you will play, and gives you the basic knowledge you will need so you can feel confident the first day you start. Was there an aha moment about a topic, or learn- ing something new, that you didn’t know before? I think I had an “aha” moment for myself when I heard Bob Heintz talk about this guy, Byron Brown, a top-performing salesman. Byron didn’t have an automotive background, but he was a huge success anyway and he became a legend in the automotive field. Byron was the number one sales person for month after month after month. Hearing about Byron was exciting. I knew I needed to get into this industry and take on this career. Byron is retired now, but I interviewed him during the time between finishing the class and starting work. I felt like he was passing the baton to me. He told me that dealerships give you everything you need to be successful. There are very few careers when you can be given all those things. All you have to do is make your schedule, and then put in the time and the effort. It becomes your own business, in a sense. I will never forget what he told me. I work now in the same group Byron worked at before he retired. I go to management meetings at the Mercedes Benz stores. These businesses have been picking sales of the month for 20 years. About a third of the plaques on the wall have Byron’s name on them. Would you recommend the CSTA? Why? I would definitely recommend taking the CSTA class to everyone who is considering a career in the automotive world. The class is very insightful. A lot of locations don’t offer potential employees anything like this. Since it is free, the only commitment is really just your time. It’s a motivating class because it takes a lot of the unknowns and puts them in front of you. It addresses them. You walk out feeling like you knowwhat you are getting yourself into. How has this training impacted your career? CSTAwas really what lit the fire inmy career. That week-long commitment gave me a strong foundation, and I felt compelled to keep going. I came out of the class feeling confident and motivated. I knew I wanted to do this kind of work and I really enjoyed the experience. Everything I’ve done professionally since then has sprung from it.