Paul Sansone Jr., owner of Sansone Jr’s Auto Group, just opened his sixth dealership by embracing the customers most dealers find challenging to work with.
The details: While many dealers focus on prime credit customers, Sansone made subprime buyers his specialty—a strategy born out of necessity that became his competitive advantage.
Back in 2008, he split from his father's dealership group as the financial crisis hit. So, when banks stopped lending, and traditional financing disappeared overnight, he got creative.
"I actually created a rent-to-own model," he told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D’Arc and Uli De’Martino.
Sansone would find people with poor credit but solid character, start them with a rental, then gradually transition those payments toward ownership while helping repair their credit.
"Six months later, boom, you got a deal," he said.
And it makes sense: When economic uncertainty hits, people with excellent credit can wait for better deals. But for someone who needs to get to work tomorrow, they're buying a car regardless of their credit score.
"Some people look at the subprime market as not desirable to work with. For me, it's like the lifeblood," he said. "They're there in good times, bad times, winter, summer, rain."
Yes and, serving these customers sometimes means taking unconventional risks.
"If I fail, it doesn't bother me as long as we had thought of it, executed the plan. If it doesn't work and it costs me X amount of dollars, I don't even think about it," he explained.
As a result: Sansone is opening a brand new 30,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Kia facility in Keyport, New Jersey,
"That is an eight-year project that finally is coming to fruition," Sansone said.
Bottom line: By focusing on customers others found difficult to serve, he created a loyal customer base that provided steady cash flow through economic ups and downs.
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