Mattie Staff
BIG WHEELS: Mattie Imports’ Brian Farrington
By Will McGuinnessSpecial to The Herald News
Posted Jan 16, 2008 @ 04:53 PM
Fall River — Brian Farrington of Mattie Imports on William S. Canning Boulevard insists that he is not a car guy. He is disinterested in the headrest DVD players and built-in navigation systems of newer models. He ironically sells to a younger, import-loving generation that embraces high-tech gear. He said a great number of younger people are entering the driving age, and they are consuming rather conspicuously.
"Youth have a lot more money now," he said. With the advent of Internet-based businesses and a demand for tech-savvy youngsters, Farrington said younger people who would originally come in to buy a Volkswagon Jetta opt instead for a more expensive, more luxurious option in an Acura or a pre-owned BMW.
But he said his buyers aren’t all twenty-somethings.
"We get a pretty diverse group that come through here," he said — a dynamic he likes.
"I’m not really a car guy; the technology doesn’t impress me," he said. "I’ll drive anything that gets me from point A to point B. I don’t like cars at all. I like working with people."
And it has been his ability to do just that which has enabled him to move from salesman to managing the dealership. "I take pride in what I do," he said. Farrington hand-selects every car that comes onto his lot and sends back anything that does not match or exceed his standards. Mattie Imports has approximately 100 pre-owned cars and 150 new cars on inventory. "It’s about helping people find the right one," he said, and the size of the inventory helps with this. He said the diverse clientèle the dealership attracts matches the nature of its inventory.
The 15-year industry veteran started as a 17-year-old car salesman who insisted on guiding people toward a car that suited their needs and budgets rather than selling them the highest-ticketed car on the lot. But like anything, he said, the process had its growing pains.
"[My first sale] was pretty screwed up at first. I was fumbling through it just like everybody does," he said. Farrington started selling Honda and Volvo and moved to selling Acuras at two dealerships before making his way to Mattie in 2004.
"Selling cars was a lot of fun," he said. "I was making money not really knowing what I was doing. I’d skip school to go to work."
His staff is the same way, and the dealership points this out. Mattie Imports is decorated with portraits. Most are cars speeding through scenery that seems to emote a sense of freedom or liberation, but the rest are large-format pictures of employees. Their credentials are listed right near them. A customer shakes a hand and the face seems familiar.
And for most, they are. Farrington said that Mattie’s staff has a low turnover rate and most technicians have been there for decades. Even with the nomadic qualities of salesmen, Farrington said, his staffers understand the long hours the job requires and are willing to put in the amount of effort that he does, though few if any are skipping classes.
"It’s a family dealership, and that’s a welcome change from a lot of the corporate stuff that’s going on now," he said. Farrington added that customers are more willing to drive across state borders to save that extra $100, but he doesn’t call that a better value.
"We have people who come in who save that extra money but have cars that have broken down. We’ll fix them, but we’d rather them come to us first," he said. Farrington added that customer satisfaction is the litmus test for dealerships, not pricing on the nickel-and-dime level.
"It’s a cutthroat business right now," he said. "But people don’t expect the method of sales that we use. They are surprised when we give them the price of the car and stick to it. They like that. We are going to make your new or pre-owned purchase a no haggle, no hassle experience.
"My commitment to the car is 90 days, but [the customer’s] is a number of years. Domestic cars are expected to reach 100,000 miles, but ours go to 200,000," he said. "People are going to have them for a while, so I make sure they like them."
Farrington never held a job in an industry other than automobiles, and the idea of being away from it and its people stops him.
"This is really the only thing I know how to do," he said. "If I were to stop, I’d be homeless."
On the wall behind him is a piece of paper. It reads: "There isn’t a month I’ve said at the end, ‘Wow, we’ve done it.’ And that’s why I come back the next month."