Jamaican moves most Nissans in Canada
Published:Sunday | February 5, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Alessandro Boyd, Sunday Gleaner Writer
A Jamaican has won the Platinum Award for top salesperson of 2011 for Nissan Motors in Canada. He also made the sales equivalent of a jackrabbit start to 2012, selling 32 cars in the month of January.
There are currently 117 Nissan dealerships in the North American country, with a minimum of 12 salespersons per dealership. From that field of at least 1,404 persons, 49 year-old Frank DaCosta, who works at the Bramptom North dealership in Toronto, sold 285 new and 50 used Nissan vehicles last year to top the list.
The dealership offers a bonus to employees who sell 13 or more vehicles in a month. This is not DaCosta's motivation, however.
"When working I don't really look at the accolades. It is about selling as much as I can as fast as I can. I got the hustling from my mother and the talking aspect when I left Tivoli High to attend Gaynstead. Going to a private high school got me more into one-on-one situations," he told Automotives.
The early development of communication skills has served DaCosta well. While every sale is a challenge, he said "one I felt good good about was when I sold a customer the Murano once. They were pretty appreciative and even sent me a good thank you letter, There is a flip side, however, as this morning I had a customer that was looking for thousands of dollars worth of discount, ranging from CDN$3000-$5000, when we could only give a discount of CDN$1700".
His achievement has not made the media impact DaCosta would have liked.
"I think if I had done something bad as a Jamaican then it would have been all over the news. It's time to show the world that Jamaicans are vigilant, versatile and hard-working people. We should be acknowledged by the good things we do; people tend to judge us and don't judge us rightly" DaCosta said.
Great support from j'cans
It is people from 'yard' who give DaCosta a significant sales push.
"Mostly Jamaicans visit my dealership because Brampton is a strong Jamaican community in Toronto," he said. "My customers are mainly black, and they support me very well."
He is used to being the best at the Brampton North Nissan outlet in Toronto, but the national honour was unexpected. "I've always been the number one salesperson in my dealership. Never thought I would be in all of Canada though," Frank told Automotives gleefully.
Navi Singh, sales manager for Brampton North Nissan, said how proud he was of DaCosta, adding, "We're ecstatic. He has amazing work ethics, very well customer-oriented, and he truly deserved it."
DaCosta grew up and toiled in Waterhouse, St Andrew, before attending Tivoli Gardens Comprehensive High School in west Kingston.
"I have always been working, even while attending high school. I worked at my older brother's gym and delivered goods from his pet shop. Hard work was my way of life," DaCosta said.
inspiration
After high school, he worked at Facey Commodity Company, delivering goods out of his personal Toyota Hiace minivan until migrating to Canada at 28 years old. DaCosta became a salesperson at Brampton North Nissan 11 years ago and was a hit from the get-go. "I sold 23 cars in my first month. The industry average at the time was seven per month, so that itself was a remarkable feat. That indicated I had the personality to do this business. This was my inspiration in going forward," he said.
DaCosta said the Altima and Rogue models are top sellers because they are fuel-efficient and provide good value for money, with features such as back-up cameras, bluetooth, touch-screen navigation and heated seats. The Armada has the least sales, however, as it is equipped with a v8 engine and several luxury features, resulting in a base price CDN$60,000. The Maxima is the flagship for Brampton North.
DaCosta is an exuberant Nissan owner. "All I drive is the Nissan Altima. It is great on gas, has good interior room, I love the equipment and it's quick, he said."