He used to tell me that if you do the wrong thing, it’s going to come back up. If you do the right thing, it may come back up too, but at least you know you did the right thing. That’s really the way we’ve tried to run the business. As the company gets bigger, that can become harder because the whole structure changes, but the philosophy stays the same. We were also never absentee owners. We were there. Gerald believed you should be there in the morning when the doors opened and be one of the last ones to leave. That work ethic was instilled in us early. How has that philosophy influenced your relationships with customers? We’ve sold cars to multiple generations of families. Parents bought from us, then their children bought from us and eventually their grandchildren did too. People have always been able to come into our offices and talk to us if they had an issue. Again, it goes back to trying to do the right thing. The answer might not always be exactly what someone wanted to hear, but we wanted it to be fair and right. Customer satisfaction has always been extremely important to us. You build those relationships over time, and that is a big part of why people continue coming back. Looking back over 50 years, what has been one of the most rewarding parts of your career? There have been a lot of things I’m proud of, but education within the industry was important to me. I went through the NADA Academy, and that was a big accomplishment. A lot of people in the automobile business come up through sales. The Academy helped me really understand the service and parts sides of the business and what those numbers mean. It opened my eyes. When you take the emotions out of it, the numbers are the numbers. I was also involved in NADA 20 Groups for probably 25 years. You’re comparing yourself against your peers and learning from other dealers. Some of the best education came from simply sitting around talking with other dealers about what they were doing successfully. If I was struggling in service, I could ask somebody, “What are you doing in service that could help me?” Those conversations were incredibly valuable. After being together for so many years, those meetings almost became like family reunions. You’ve seen tremendous change during your career. What stands out? When you’ve been in the business for 50 years, you see a lot. I remember the gas crunches. At Volkswagen, we had diesel vehicles everybody wanted, and Honda had good fuel-mileage vehicles. We’ve gone through good times and bad times, and the industry is cyclical. Technology has changed tremendously, and so have the vehicles and regulations. When it comes to electric vehicles, I think there is absolutely a place for them. If somebody wants an electric vehicle, there should be one available to them. But I also think customers should be able to decide what works best for them. I believe hybrids have a very strong place in the market, and internal combustion vehicles are going to continue to be part of the industry for a long time. The important thing is giving customers choices. What are some of the biggest challenges facing Georgia dealers today? One of the biggest issues is direct sales as new brands and different sales models enter the market. It’s not that dealers don’t want those vehicles. The issue is that we believe they should go through the franchise system. The franchise system gives consumers a local service network, financing options and somebody in their own community who is accountable to them. When you take that away, I don’t believe it is ultimately better for the consumer. Another concern in Georgia involves the used-car market and Temporary Operating Permits. There are issues with bad actors obtaining permits and using them improperly. GADA has been working on these issues legislatively, and it’s something we need to continue addressing. Why do you believe protecting the franchise dealer system is so important? I don’t think the public fully understands how valuable franchise dealerships are to their communities. Dealerships provide jobs, wages and benefits. They generate tremendous amounts of sales tax and property tax. But the impact goes beyond those numbers. They also make charitable contributions throughout their communities. Dealers sponsor softball teams, baseball teams, Little League teams, basketball teams and football teams. We support schools, charities and local organizations. Most dealers don’t make a big deal about it. We just do it because we’re part of the community. THE GENERATOR 14
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