Along with traditional sales, the commercial fleet division of Fury Motors Inc. in St. Paul, Minn., brings to the table a specialized service: custom applications for pickup trucks."Customers come up with the application they need, and we give them some ideas," says Dick Reineck, fleet and commercial manager at Fury, the only family-owned-and-operated Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealership left in the Twin Cities area. "We have a reputation for innovation. It gets your creative juices flowing."
For example, a local railroad bought several Jeep Wranglers after Reineck and his staff determined they could be outfitted with train wheels and used for track inspections. Farther south in Texas, the non-profit Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation bought 600 Dodge Dakota pickup trucks to spray pesticides on crops and keep destructive boll weevils at bay.
"That was probably the most unusual application," Reineck says. "The truck's wheel width fit inside the crop rows perfectly."
Reineck says he considers helping customers develop the custom applications as a routine part of his job.
"It's all about going the extra yard," says Reineck, who has worked with companies all over the country on specialty pickup rigs. "Sometimes our product won't work; maybe the truck sits too high or it's the wrong width. But we never say, 'I don't know if we can do that.'"
That's great for Fury Motors customers - and bad for the likes of boll weevils.
COMPANY HISTORY
Harold "Red" Leonard established Fury Motors in a Quonset hut in downtown St. Paul in 1963. In 1965, he built a new building on the same site.
In 2001, the dealership moved into a new, 65,000-square-foot building on the south side of St. Paul, along I-494. The old building is used for repairs and body shop work, as well as motorcycle and used car sales.
Leonard still works at the dealership three or four days a week. His son Tom is president and general manager, and another son, Mike, runs a Dodge/Chrysler dealership in nearby Lake Elmo, Reineck says.
COMPANY PHILOSOPHY
"We treat our customers as though they're members of our family, while retaining our small-town roots and providing uncompromising service," Reineck says of Fury's business philosophy. "It's not unusual for us to go to a customer's home if they have an intermittent problem with a car. We jump through hoops to take care of customers and make sure they're satisfied.
"We want them to keep coming back. Repeat business is the best business," he adds.
CUSTOMER BASE VARIES
"We don't have any one particular customer," says Reineck, who has worked in commercial and fleet sales for 20 years. "They range from contractors and small businesses to fleets for restaurants, caterers and small distributors, as well as large corporations, such as 3M Co. and Deluxe Corp."
BELLWHETHER PRODUCT
Cargo vans and pickup trucks used to be the chief product for Fury's fleet and commercial sales division, but concerns about fuel economy are driving more customers into cars and minivans, Reineck says.
"Minivans are also more practical because customers can use them for multiple purposes," he notes. "In addition, more and more companies are fixing the vehicles they have until they see some light at the end of the economic tunnel."
INVENTORY CONTROL
Concerns about high fuel prices have caused a double-digit drop in sales at Fury during the last two years, Reineck says. That, in turn, makes inventory control a challenge.
"You have to have the right product on the ground right when the customer needs it, but without carrying too much inventory," he explains. "Our inventory has shrunk during the last year or two. Now we have about 400 new vehicles and 200 used in our inventory; a year or two ago, it was 500 new vehicles and 250 used."
GREAT SERVICE A KEY
A reputation for great service is Fury's calling card, Reineck says.
"All Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealers get the same product," he notes. "So we have to set ourselves apart by providing superior service. That sells a lot of cars."
All Fury technicians are certified. In addition, Reineck and his staff of four are all certified master salespeople, which means on an annual basis they score 98 or higher out of 100 points on customer satisfaction surveys; receive a certain amount of training, and sell 150 vehicles. They need to be recertified every year, Reineck says.
COMMERCIAL SPECIALTY
Fury is one of seven out of 180 Midwest dealerships nationwide that have been awarded BusinessLink status, which is a mini-franchise within a dealership that caters to commercial customers, Reineck says.
To be in BusinessLink, the division must meet certain criteria, such as stock a minimum number of cab and chassis and heavy-duty vehicles, keep certain parts in stock and employ specially trained technicians and salespeople. BusinessLink customers receive priority service, discounts on parts and service, and free rental cars, he explains.
"It's an upscale version of the commercial store," Reineck says.
A year ago, Fury's BusinessLink program wasn't among the top 300 out of more than 500 nationwide in terms of sales volume; a year later, it's in the top 25.
"It's great because it gives us exposure to more people - word-of-mouth is very good in this area," he says. "If a retail sales rep finds out a customer owns a business, we get that customer enrolled in BusinessLink."
POSITIONED FOR GROWTH
"We feel that the business downturn is bottoming out, and that there'll be a resurgence over the next 12 to 18 months," Reineck says.
The fact that Fury already sells Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products gives the dealership an advantage because by 2011, Chrysler LLC dealerships will be required to sell all three brands.
"A lot of single-point stores will have to merge or go out of business," Reineck explains. "There will be less franchises to compete with. The dealerships that are already doing well, like we are, can only do better.''