“We're in the concierge business”
Kerbeck takes pleasure in serving

Maserati is one of the finest, most prestigious marques available. Every owner quickly becomes familiar with the admiring looks and comments from other people, the natural result of the exclusivity of Maserati and the gorgeous Italian styling. At the impressive showrooms of F.C. Kerbeck, the status of Maserati is clear – it shares the building with Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce – the crème de la crème of the luxury automobile market.  And yet the relative understatement of Maserati's cool and minimalist designs stand out.

F.C. Kerbeck has a number of franchises – their showrooms stretch for 150 yards along Route 73 in Palmyra, New Jersey, with the exterior lot extending a further 200 yards. As you might expect, their premium brands are kept separate from the mainstream – the environment and atmosphere that clients expect when looking at a Maserati is somewhat different to that used for Saab, for example.

You enter the showroom through large glass doors, and walk onto a sales floor which is light and airy, lined with floor-to-ceiling windows. It was in these pleasant surroundings that we met Joe Innaurato, the General Manager; we asked how difficult it is to have five high-end brands under one roof – isn’t there a danger of some brands being overlooked? “It doesn’t work that way – often people come in looking for a specific brand, or a specific marque, so the fact that there are other cars around doesn’t distract them,” he told us. “On the other hand, it can give us the opportunity to sell more cars – if someone comes here and buys a Bentley, they may come back a few months later and buy a Maserati. We do actually have some clients who own one of each of the five brands – at this level, they’re more like collectors, and they already have collections of fine art, jewelry, watches. Of course, there are others who buy a Maserati to use as their daily driver.”

“The premium brands division of F.C. Kerbeck, of which our Maserati dealership is a component, sets itself apart; it’s a different shopping experience, a different environment,” Joe continued. “People know when they come to Kerbeck, they are coming to a destination. We’re a landmark: Kerbeck is known for selling premium brand, exotic automobiles. If you’re looking for something different and unique, Kerbeck has it. We were awarded our Maserati franchise in 2005, and it’s the ideal addition to our portfolio of luxury brands; it’s a perfect fit for our market– it’s a wealthy area, with a large population. It’s a market which is big with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and with the five premium brands we sell we have a large client base already, which gives us a head start in marketing Maserati.”

We asked how Kerbeck go about promoting Maserati; since they are a relatively new Maserati dealer, how have they gone about ensuring people know about the Quattroporte and GranTurismo? “We put a lot of effort into promoting the brand – we get involved in a lot of events, and we also do a lot of advertising,” explained Joe. “On Sundays we place a half-page advertisement on the inside front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer – not in the Autos section – and we rotate our premium brands. We have used that to promote Maserati, especially when the factory comes out with phenomenal interest rate or lease offers. As for events, we are involved with a number of local affinity partners; one example is Boyd’s, a well-known menswear store – we do a lot with them, especially if they are introducing a new Italian clothing line. We choose our partners carefully, to ensure there is a good ‘fit’ – high-end jewelry stores, champagne companies, that kind of thing. We also support several charities, mostly children’s charities; and there have been some charity events where a customer has approached us and asked us to support something they are involved in.”

F.C. Kerbeck has something we have not encountered at any other dealership – a company credo, which reads: “To provide our guests with a shopping, buying, service and ownership experience that consistently satisfies each individual’s needs and exceeds their expectations in a comfortable supportive environment”. What is more, the credo is on the cover of a small fold-out card, which every employee has; on the back cover are the ‘Three Steps of Service’, while inside are listed 19 ‘Kerbeck Basics’ – everything from the proper telephone etiquette to details such as escorting a visitor rather than simply giving them directions to another part of the dealership. The overall ethos of the dealership is neatly encapsulated by the sentence which runs across the bottom of the card: Business comes where it is invited, and stays where it is well treated.

“We aim to make our visitors feel welcomed, we put no pressure on them, and we strive to provide all the hospitality they may require,” Joe told us. “We aim to make them feel they have a connection with our team; for example, every customer who visits or who purchases a car is given my business card, which has my cell phone number on it. All of the staff do the same – and we do answer the phone. We have to remember that we are in the concierge business – whatever our customer needs, whenever they need it, we’re there for them. It could be a Sunday morning, and I’m out to breakfast on a nice sunny day, and I get a call from a guy who’s got a flat tire. I had another customer who called me at 2am, because he had been pulled over – the temporary tag on his car had expired and he hadn’t replaced it; I had to get on the phone with the police officer and explain that the guy was who he said he was, and that he had all the proper documentation, it was just the tag which had expired.”

Though his sleep may occasionally be disturbed by customers, Joe plainly loves his career at Kerbeck – he has been with the company for more than 30 years. “I started out working in the detail shop, cleaning the interiors of the cars, and I’ve been here ever since,” he said. “F.C. Kerbeck has a lot of history, and really is a family-owned business. The grandfather of the current generation started out in 1899 in Philadelphia, working on horse buggy bodies; he was a friend of Henry Ford, and he became one of the first automobile dealers in Philadelphia. In the 1960s Frank Kerbeck Sr. crossed the river and bought a parcel of land, which is where we are today. He set up a tiny gas station, and started selling pre-owned Cadillacs. Now, his three sons are involved in the business on a daily basis; their mother worked in the office until she was about 80 years old – she was like a second mother to me.”

As a business which is owned and run by the family, and one where the staff feel thoroughly involved, how does Kerbeck go about delivering on the high standards set by the company credo? “We never forget that when you’re in this arena, at this price point, people can buy whatever they want to buy; part of what they are buying is a relationship, an experience that’s going to be second to none, and that’s what’s going to cause them to come back,” Joe explained. “We have a separate environment which represents the brand, in accordance with how the factory wants it represented. We are able to offer a test drive to everyone who walks through the door, whether they are thinking about a Maserati or not; it’s part of the hospitality we offer. And we never judge a customer by the way they dress or how they look – every customer, we feel, has the means to be able to buy a car. One day we had a guy come in who was about 20 years old – he was from the city. He was dressed like you’d think he was looking for a job, maybe in the detail shop. But he had the money, and he bought a pre-owned Quattroporte. Never judge a book by its cover.”

“Getting people into the cars is one of the most important factors in the buying decision,” he continued. “If you walk into a clothing store and see a piece of clothing hanging on a mannequin, you may say, boy, I like that suit – I like the color, the tie, the shirt. But when you try it on, it may not be for you because of the way your body may be shaped, it’s not cut for your body shape. It’s the same with automobiles – the only way you’re going to know whether a Maserati is right for you, is by driving it. Then, you can experience it – smell the leather, look at the beautiful wood trim, listen to the engine, enjoy the handling, braking and performance. That’s the only way you’re going to know, and that’s what we try to give every customer who comes into the dealership, that experience.”

A friendly welcome for all, sales people who do not apply pressure to make a quick decision, a large, well-appointed sales floor and people like Joe, who are dedicated to their work and to the company; F.C. Kerbeck has all the ingredients to make a visit to a car showroom  a truly pleasurable experience.