AutoServ reaches outside of the family for new COO

TILTON — For the first time in nearly 30 years, the AutoServ Dealership Group is being managed by someone not named “Gaudet.”

Rocky Cleborne took over as chief operating officer last month, freeing Dennis Gaudet to pursue other interests.

Gaudet had been COO since 1989, when he and his father, Paul Gaudet Sr., purchased Franklin Ford/Tilton Chrysler and created AutoServ, which has since grown into the largest family-owned car dealership in the state.

Gaudet is stepping down to devote more of his attention to his family’s other business interests and to the National Automobile Association.

Cleborne, who comes to AutoServ after running Boch Honda, in Norwood, Massachusetts, is well-acquainted with the Lakes Region, having spent summers on Lake Winnipesaukee. He started his career as a finance manager in 1998, then worked at Berlin City Kia in Williston, Vermont, which became the top-selling Kia dealership in New England. Boch Honda, Cleborne’s most recent post, was the 10th-selling Honda dealership in the country.

At Boch Honda, Cleborne managed a staff of 200 employees, who would sell 600 new and 175 used cars each month.

AutoServ currently sells 400 cars per month, with a staff of 140.

“We’re looking to grow that,” said Cleborne, who thinks the Tilton dealership group, which has three locations and sells eight car brands, has the potential to sell 600 new and used vehicles per month.

“There are many different ways for that to happen,” he said.

One of those is employing a practice he knows well from his days in the Berlin City dealership: remote delivery.

The contemporary car buyer is doing more and more car shopping before ever setting foot into a dealership. Nearly all have researched vehicles online and know which cars they want to look at. Some will negotiate the terms of a deal through email, and only come to the dealership to sign papers.

Even that last step is unnecessary, Cleborne said. It’s quite possible for the whole deal to be accomplished without the buyer ever leaving his or her home.

Once the terms are agreed upon, the dealership will drive the new car to the customer, finalize the paperwork and drive back to the dealership with the trade-in vehicle.

That isn’t something AutoServ can do yet, but it represents a great growth opportunity, said Cleborne.

“We’re going to end up doing off-site delivery big time.”

He also sees an opportunity for more conventional types of sales. AutoServ generates a healthy number of “up-counts” — an industry term for shoppers who either visit the dealership or contact the sales team via phone or email. However, not enough of those “ups” are sent home with a new car. Cleborne said the ratio of inquiries versus sales is “out of whack.”

“We don’t need to increase [up-counts] to get a better return,” he said. “We just haven’t turned them into buyers yet. That’s a big part of it.”

Coming to AutoServ wasn’t really about sales figures for Cleborne, though. He and his wife had set their sights on retiring in the Lakes Region, and two years ago they bought a home here. When he met with the Gaudets, he recognized a business philosophy that felt familiar to his own.

“There are still too many people in this business who are not as open and honest with their customers as they should be,” he said. “You have to treat them with respect, be open and honest with them. You don’t need to be more than that.”

Whether in Vermont, Massachusetts or Tilton, Cleborne said New England shoppers are small-town people who will remember the people they’ve dealt with, for better or for worse. He said he wants his customers to be treated in such a way that they’ll be glad to run into him at the supermarket or at the post office.

“It’s a lot easier to run a business that’s honest and ethical than one that’s not,” he said.

Gaudet agreed, and said that Cleborne’s approach to his business, more so than his track record, were why he welcomed him into the family business.

“I knew as soon as I met Rocky that he was the right person to replace me. Much like me, he works very hard, but he leads with his heart. People matter; that’s the nice thing about running a family business.”

That follows to employees, who are managed for long-term growth, not discarded over short-term goals.

“We look at the person as a whole and try to develop that person in the longer view.”

Gaudet will spend his time growing Pak Solutions, a plastic packaging manufacturer in Lancaster, and Pop Fusion, which makes organic fruit popsicles infused with wine in Inverness, Florida. He also will take on an expanded role with the National Automobile Association.

Gaudet helped to grow the business from a sleepy dealership to one of the largest in the region.

“I had brought AutoServ to the point of delivering 400 cars, was as far as I could bring it. But I knew there was another level for it,” Gaudet said. “I had been doing this for almost 30 years, so it was time.”