NEW POLICY HELPS ELIMINATE JOB HASSLES FOR CAR SALESMAN

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993                   TAG: 9301260260
SECTION: ECONOMY                    PAGE: EC-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN GIBBONS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
NEW POLICY HELPS ELIMINATE JOB HASSLES FOR CAR SALESMAN
A new job is making possible some big plans Horatio Doregas has for 1993 - and beyond.
Doregas, 25, started working last February as a salesman for First Team Auto Mall on Peters Creek Road. The job is allowing him to finish college and, he hopes, to pursue a graduate degree.
Before joining First Team, Doregas, who is single and lives in Roanoke, was working at a men's clothing store. He was "trying to go to school and also have money to support myself. It got to the point where tuition was getting too high and I needed to move onto something that would be a little better than what I was doing right then," he said. That's when he applied at First Team.
The dealership, which sells Isuzu, Hyundai and Suzuki vehicles, instituted a "no hassle" selling philosophy in November. The new sales method means the price posted on the car is the price a customer can expect to pay, period. No haggling, dickering or negotiating.
Doregas says the new policy has been good for First Team - and for him.
For the dealership, he said, "sales went skyrocket; we did more volume in December than we ever did since 1988. For the month of December, we did 120 units. As for us, we're No. 3 in the region, and we're No. 1 in the state for Hyundai dealerships."
For himself, Doregas said, "with this no-hassle buying, on a personal level, it helped me achieve something I never thought I could get, which is `Salesman of the Month' for the month of November."
Personally, Doregas - who is single and lives in Roanoke - sees last year as one good growth curve. Looking back over 1992, Doregas says, "Back in January, things were really slow. Then I first came to First Team Auto Mall - and after that, it just picked up really well for me, and its been good ever since then.
Now that things have picked up for him, Doregas hopes to keep the momentum going.
"One of my major goals is to . . . finish up at Virginia Western, and then attend Ferrum College and get a bachelor's at Ferrum in liberal studies," he said. "And also move on to, hopefully, William and Mary or Washington and Lee to start a master's program in criminal law, and also to continue at First Team Auto Mall to help put myself through school financially."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB