Kate Latis will be celebrating her third anniversary selling cars and you might say she’s taken flight in the automotive industry after working in the aviation industry.
The 30-year-old, who works as a salesperson for Maranello BMW in Vaughn, dreamed of working in aviation since she was young. She studied and graduated with a degree in Commercial Aviation Management at Western University and, after a brief stint working as a bank teller, found employment in the private jet business. After four years, Latis decided on a career change. When Latis worked as a teller, people told her she had a personality for selling cars. Given that she drove a BMW, she found the right fit.
“It’s always important to work for an industry or a brand you believe in, and I loved my car,” said Latis. “I’m still driving a BMW 3 series six years later.”
She began in February 2020, learning all about the brand and the systems, and just when she was about to start selling, COVID-19 hit and she was grounded.
“It worked out, in a sense, better for me and my career,” said Latis.
She spent the next three months at home, researching the industry and was surprised by what she learned.
“The overwhelmingly sad reality of it was that the average customer hates car shopping,” said Latis. “It’s like right up there with going to the dentist. They dread it. I’m sitting there thinking, ‘why would you hate shopping for a car? It’s so exciting.’”
She put together a game plan for selling, beginning with finding out who the vehicle purchase was for and if it was associated with a birthday or special occasion. She then started an Instagram page, @experiencebmw, and posted photos of her sales and wrote captions telling the story of how each car was bought, customized, and the buying occasion, to put a human aspect to it.
“I came up with the idea of personalizing all of the deliveries,” said Latis. “I’ve done birthday parties in the delivery bays, graduation celebrations. For newborns, I’ve had stuffed animals in the cars, filled up trunks with balloons. Every delivery for me is kind of the customer’s journey. The average customer does this once every five years, maybe once every 10 years. A lot of people celebrate milestones with cars.”
In December, Latis was recognized as the Employee of the Year at her dealership based on her positive attitude. There are about 100 people at the dealership and the award is not restricted solely to the sales staff. It took place as part of a Christmas celebration for all the dealers associated with the R. Ferri dealer group.
“I do none of these things because there’s an award at the end of the year,” said Latis. “I do them straight from the heart. I’ve never been in a more emotionally-rewarding position than I am now. It’s just so fulfilling.”
