Tray Bournazian drastically underestimated his abilities when he got into car sales about four years ago. “When I first began selling cars, I didn’t think I was going to make it,” he said. Fortunately, that assessment turned out to be way off base.

Before moving to Florida several years ago, Bournazian was a truck driver for 13 years. He wanted out of the trucking industry, and at the continued urging of an acquaintance in the car business, he hesitantly decided to try selling cars. Despite some uncertainty, he eventually discovered he was actually quite good at it.

“Tray has been a top performer throughout his career,” said Rob Fontano, digital sales and marketing director for John Marazzi Nissan. He discovered Bournazian at a nearby Ford dealership several years ago. At the time, Fontano was the store trainer for a Toyota dealership managed by John Marazzi.
 
After speaking with Marazzi, Bournazian was impressed and agreed to come work for him. “He just inspired me,” he said. “I liked the direction he was going.” When Marazzi moved on to his own business venture in late 2008, Bournazian followed him and has continued to excel.

“He earned the top spot as soon as he arrived at the Toyota store and repeated that initiative when he arrived here at John Marazzi Nissan,” said Fontano. Throughout 2009, Bournazian averaged between 20 and 25 vehicles per month until the last few months of the year, when his numbers ranged from the mid-20s to more than 30. He was also the top-grossing salesperson at the store during that period and the top Nissan salesperson for the district in November.

Of course, as all top salespeople know, being one of the best comes at a price; Bournazian has very little free time these days. “I work six days a week. You’ve got to work that much if you want to be on top,” he said. “But when I do have free time, I try to spend as much time as possible with my kids,” he added, referring to his three sons, ages 12, five and two. He also likes to drag race at a track near his home, but finds much less time for that than he used to.

He credited much of his success to “my work ethic, my drive [and] my kids.” That work ethic was instilled in him at an early age by his father. “He always said the more you work [and] the harder you work, the more you’ll have and the more successful you’ll be, and I’ve just lived with that since I was 15 years old.” He said there were times after he first started selling that he wanted to give up, “but I’m not a quitter and my father did not raise me like that. If you’re not a fighter, you’re going to die in this business. You’ve got to put the effort in and it will give you a return.” He also credited his wife. “I owe all this to her. She stuck with me through the tough times,” he said.

Bournazian, a self-proclaimed car lover and muscle car collector, believes product knowledge is critical to success in car sales. The key is not to use high-pressure tactics to push the customer to buy, but rather present the customer with all the knowledge necessary to make a purchase decision and build value in the vehicle they are considering. “If you know all about your inventory … I think customers can feel that and they like to deal with people that they trust and someone that knows what they’re talking about,” he explained. “I show them why my car’s worth the money. … If you don’t have your product knowledge, then you can’t build the value.”

Additionally, Bournazian brings a rather unique skill to his job at John Marazzi Nissan—the ability to speak American Sign Language. Both his mother and father were deaf and he served as a translator for them when he was younger. However, he had not used sign language since their passing, and no one at the dealership knew he could sign until the day a hearing impaired customer with a car problem came in. His co-workers, he said, “were just shocked. They didn’t know I knew how to do that.” Since then, the dealership has made the most of his ASL skills; its Web site indicates the store is ASL-friendly and includes a video greeting from Bournazian in sign language. He already has several deaf/hearing impaired customers and is hopeful the dealership’s initiative to serve these customers will become even more successful.

Despite the long hours, Bournazian finds his job extremely rewarding. “I love when a customer leaves here and they’re happy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the deal makes, just that they leave happy and … confident that they got the best deal and the right car.”

Our congratulations to Tray Bournazian, our Sales Professional of the Month, and our thanks to John Marazzi and Rob Fontano for bringing him to our attention. 

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Vol 7, Issue 2