Family means everything to Bill. “I am pretty fortunate that my immediate family lives literally within a few short miles from each other — my mother, Cecilia, whom I speak with almost every day, my father, two sisters, all my nieces and nephews, my grandniece and grandson,” Bill said. “The relationships I’ve built with my family are my biggest career and life accomplishments.” Acquiring and training a great team is key to any success. Bill’s motto is the same as the day he started, “When you come in to work, you sell cars, make friends and have fun. And if we do that, we’ll make all the money.” Bill encourages his staff to do their jobs purposefully and be passionate about them. “The enemy of great is good” and “Walk with purpose” are sayings that can often be heard within the walls of the dealership. Along with the daily encouragement to be better, Bill believes in having fun and can often be found in the parking lot having foot races with his employees or playing a game of basketball with them. Bill is proud of the camaraderie his staff has formed through all of the hard work and fun. Recently, Bill and his wife, Jennifer, took a trip to Palm Springs. While there, the hotel they stayed at offered guests the opportunity to check out a puppy for an hour or two, just for fun. This got Bill’s curiosity up, and he started asking the hotel management questions. The answer inspired Bill to try something new at his dealership: Partnering with the Humane Society, puppies are fostered at the dealership and made available to guests to play with, go for a walk or just snuggle, and hopefully, if all goes well, an adoption — the puppy gets their “furever home.” “Buying cars can be stressful, and spending time with a dog is calming. I want our customers to have that option,” Bill said. Billy Howell Ford has a fenced-in grass area that can be seen from Bill’s office and a doghouse in the showroom where customers can get to know the furry friend. The hotel that inspired this idea has helped hundreds of dogs get adopted, and Bill hopes that this will achieve the same results. How fantastic is that? Even with the many challenges facing the industry today, Bill stays steady. “I’ve been doing this since 1986 and the issues today are the same issues we dealt with back then,” he said. “We all want to increase volume, increase customer satisfaction, grow revenue, decrease expenses and ultimately make more money. It is just that simple.” Bill is a huge advocate of the franchised system. “We are still selling cars 95% of the same way we have since I started in the business, and the reason why is that it works,” Bill stated. The recent push from manufacturers to have more control of the customers is a concern, but as Bill astutely states, “These are our customers, we live with these people, they are our friends and neighbors. Manufacturers are experts at building cars — we are experts at taking care of the customers and retailing them.” Bill wants to protect the traditional way of doing business. Being involved with GADA is an important part of protecting the franchised system. Billy Howell Ford has been a member since 1977, and Bill is on his second round of serving on the board. GADA takes an active role in advocating for dealers and protecting the franchised system. “A few years back, Rivian had plans to retail directly to customers in Georgia, which would have been bad for the franchised system and consumers. GADA stood up and fought for dealers and consumers, and they won,” Bill recalled. “That is just one of the many ways that the association helps.” The fellowship of being a GADA member and a dealer is an honor reserved for a few. “I wish that all car dealers would realize that we’re all in this together. This is the world’s greatest fraternity, made up of a very small group of people, and together we are stronger,” Bill said. “Mustang” Sally, from the Humane Society of Forsyth County, fostered at Billy Howell Ford while she is looking for her furever home. 13 THE GENERATOR
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