A Few Minutes With ... AJ Geffert

A business major in college, AJ Geffert parlayed his fondness for autos into a job at Baker Motor Co. in Charleston close to eight years ago.

He didn’t know it then, but the undergraduate degree he received from the College of Charleston prepared him for his current position as the dealership’s general sales manager.

“What I’ve got working here is an MBA (Masters of Business Administration),” he said. Not an actual MBA, mind you, but a practical one with all the financial, sales and customer service decisions that need to be made daily.

Geffert, 29, oversees the sales operations at West Ashley-based Baker Motor, which has new car franchises for Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, smart, Infiniti, Maserati, Land Rover, Porsche and Jaguar and also sells pre-owned vehicles.

The dealership carries 200 or so new and used cars at any one time, ranging on the new car side from the $12,800 smart car to a $357,000 Maybach, he said. About 20 employees are directly involved in sales. Geffert, who took over the general sales manager slot a year ago, reports to Baker General Manager Joe Lynch.

The occupational choice has worked out for Geffert, who graduated from the College of Charleston. “I love it,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” Noting that he’s “passionate” about his job, he arrives at work two hours before the dealership’s 9 a.m. opening just to get things rolling.

The general sales manager’s father is Jim Geffert, who has the Dale Carnegie Training franchise for South Carolina. “He’s Mr. Enthusiasm all day, every day,” AJ Geffert said. “I’m fortunate to feel the way about this business that he is about his.”

Actually, Geffert in his college days took the Dale Carnegie course as did Jason Stone of Baker Motor. Stone, who is now general manager of Baker Mercedes, hired Geffert, who became a sales associate at Baker Infiniti. After three mostly successful years there — he was salesman of the year and set a few sales records — Geffert was asked to become the assistant finance chief. He held that post for three-and-a-half years before he took on the general sales manager position.

The finance operation helped prepare him for the current job, because leasing programs, certified pre-owned plans and other options are handled through that department.

“You can almost work backwards,” he said. Shoppers come in with various money issues, and “they want to buy something out of Baker’s toy box.” He tries to match the car and the customer.

He has other assignments, though. “I get the brunt of the Internet (sales) leads,” Geffert said. The general sales manager also has to keep up with all the new lineups from the varied brands. Infiniti is coming out with the G37 convertible, the M class and the QX56 sport utility. Maserati has a new softtop with two rows of seating. And the Sprinter van, formerly with Dodge, is switching to Mercedes in the first quarter of 2010.

“The biggest challenge is definitely going to be time management — getting pulled in different directions,” said Geffert, who is never without his personal communications device.

He said he’s had a good working relationship with Lynch as well as with company chief executive Tommy Baker. “He’s a lot of fun to work with,” Geffert said. “I spend a lot of time trying to keep up with him.”

Baker inspires people by pushing them to exceed expectations but not too hard to get burnt out or frustrated, he said. As a result, the dealership has a national reputation that’s more prominent than dealerships four times its size.

Geffert spends time away from work with his wife Heather and their 3-month-old daughter Ansley. They live in West Ashley.

Looking forward, Geffert said he can’t predict what will happen. “I didn’t see myself working for Joe in finance. Joe saw the potential. I didn’t see this now. Where I’ll be in a year, whatever the company wants, I’ll be doing. Whatever makes us successful.”

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com