Described by his wife as a stubborn workaholic, Frank Affettuso sold his Southside Nissan Dealership on his 90th birthday July 11.
He summarized his lengthy business experience with one lesson: “You have to surround yourself and your people with good people.”
The car business is difficult, he said, and not everyone is cut out for sales. He recalled something a former boss told him when he was starting out.
“Salesmen are born, not made” – something the mechanic-turned-salesman disproved.
While Affettuso conceded that not everyone will be successful in sales, he disagrees with his former employer’s sentiment. He said that by surrounding yourself with the right people, you can create an environment conducive to learning and generating opportunity.
A fellow dealership owner who helped Affettuso throughout his years in the car business used to fire the person with the lowest sales each month, something Affettuso referred to as “cruel.”
It took Affettuso three weeks to sell his first car, and he believes that with the right people, attitude and patience, business owners can teach people to be a valuable part of their team. Affettuso said he doesn’t like firing people, although he has had to do it on occasion. Valuing each person’s potential, he views relationships as an opportunity to learn and grow, together.
“You teach a lot but you learn a lot too from talking to different people,” said Affettuso.
It took Affettuso 10 years to learn the importance of surrounding himself with good people. He described the beginning of his business as very tough, when he didn’t necessarily have the best people working for him. During those years, Affettuso’s dealership wasn’t very profitable, and he had to sift out the people who didn’t work well with the organization.
“Sometimes we had to really scrape to make expenses,” said Affettuso. “That’s when you have to work harder and you have to work smarter.”
On entering a new industry
“Most new owners coming into any business, they should take a lay of the land first and fire all their bullets at a later date.”
