Some rules are meant to be broken, but in the traditional world of auto dealers certain practices seem untouchable.
An exception is Sanderson Ford in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, AZ. The 60-year-old dealership has been bucking trends, and points to its success as proof that it works.
World War II veteran Don Sanderson opened the store on a 4-acre (1.6-ha) tract in Glendale in 1955, after honing his skills selling army-surplus vehicles in the car-starved postwar market.
He created what’s called The Sanderson Way. It calls for unsurpassed customer service, abiding respect for the store’s heritage and employees and business savvy that seeks out lucrative niche markets.
Sanderson Ford today employs over 500 people, and thanks to ambitious fleet sales, 27,491 new and 2,300 used units went out the door in 2014. With 18,152 new (including 2,650 retail) and 2,060 used vehicle sales posted through October, the dealership is on track to have its best year ever in 2015. Sanderson ranks No.40 on the WardsAuto Dealer 500.
The dealership is a 17-time winner of Ford’s President’s Award, and 12 times has clinched the automaker’s Triple Crown honoring achievement in sales, parts, service and customer service. Nearby Sanderson Lincoln is the top-selling Lincoln franchise in Phoenix.
“Our dealerships are dedicated to the people that work here and the people that we serve,” says company president David Kimmerle, who is Sanderson’s son-in-law. “That’s been our charter since the beginning.”
That charter is kept alive by a loyal 12-person board of directors that includes Kimmerle, his six children, several previous longtime employees, a CPA, estate experts and attorneys.
Late Wife Planned For Future
Giving much credit for its origin to his wife Sue, who died in March, Kimmerle says the board is responsible for maintaining the dealership’s key tenets, including being closed on Sundays and structuring the store’s succession plan to avoid conflict among family members.
“We’ve seen so many dealers in their third generation struggle to carry on their businesses,” Kimmerle says. “People go to their graves fighting. We’re not going to have that.
“My wife and I established this a couple years ago, as the kids were getting older and more involved. We don’t have dealer brats. They all work here, they all have their specific jobs, but we didn’t want this dealership to ever be a divisive thing in our family.”
Estate planning has averted that. The children will co-own the business, he says. “If this dealership ever became a divisive thing, we’ll sell it. Everybody knows that now, and they’ve bought into it.”
While many dealers have ambitious plans to acquire new franchises or move into other markets, Kimmerle says he has no desire to expand beyond the two current locations. “Our board is dedicated to carrying on the heritage of this dealership and to grow within, not to grow by having more franchises and be diluted,” he says.
To him, growing within includes having a dedicated 2-story building stocked with $10 million in parts and a 90,000-sq.-ft. (8,361-sq.-m) service department that boasts 80 bays and 40 hoists.
Sorry, Ford, the Red-Brick Facade Stays
But he will not replace his store’s red-brick façade with Ford’s latest dealership metallic look, even though the automaker has offered to match up to a $750,000 investment.
“We are remodeling as we speak, but we are remodeling as we want to do it,” Kimmerle says. “I do not want (our store) to be a cookie cutter. Not all dealers are created equal. “My late wife said we’ve spent 60 years building a reputation. Why would we change and look like everyone else?”
What the Sanderson organization may lack in franchises or geographic reach, it makes up by making money outside of the immediate Phoenix ZIP codes. With over 20,000 annual fleet sales, Sanderson is one of the top dealers in Ford’s commercial-focused Business Preferred Network.
The store sells vehicles to hundreds of small businesses, but its bread and butter is a U-Haul contract that since 2005 has resulted in the sale of 250,000 units, including pickup trucks and Ford Transit commercial vans.
“We love them dearly because of their family, their heritage, how they go to market,” Kimmerle says of U-Haul management.
With all those truck sales comes a parts demand, and Sanderson is meeting that to the extent that it can compete with the factory’s parts-distribution system.
“We’re one of the top dealers in parts sales,” Kimmerle says. “That’s a niche we decided to get into a long time ago,” Kimmerle says. “We’re not franchised to sell parts all over the country, but we do it because that’s our niche. It’s not the glamorous part of the business, but it’s the backbone of the business, and we love it. If you’re a dealer in Fairfax, VA, and you need a part, I can get it to you tomorrow morning because we’re still open with a 3-hour time difference.
“I can get it to him two days faster than Ford can get it to him. When I started, we did $100,000 a month in parts sales, now we’re knocking on the door of $4 million a month.”
Sanderson’s customization department stocks bedliners, custom wheels, suspension raising and lowering kits, custom upholstery, sound systems and backup cameras. The 100-plus vehicles that roll through that department each month contribute $1.48 million in revenue.
Kimmerle also has tapped into the mobility market, customizing vehicles to meet the needs of drivers with disabilities. Working in-house and with several vendors, the store installs scooter carriers, hand controls, lifts, parking brakes, power-assisted seats and wheelchair restraints.
“Regaining freedom of mobility is the most important thing a person can have if there’s a life-changing event,” Kimmerle says. “With the aging of the American population, I decided that we needed to expand our mobility department. People who aren’t mobile can feel worthless. We put the life back.”
Working with the factory’s Ford Mobility Motoring, which currently offers customers a $1,000 reimbursement on accessibility adaptations and equipment, Sanderson outfits 20 mobility vehicles per month.
Two Fun Features at Dealership
Kimmerle points with pride to two “fun” features that are part of his dealership facility:
- An on-site museum filled with classic cars and auto memorabilia. It often is used to host fundraisers and car shows.
- The Starliner Diner, an aluminum-accented 1950’s-style eatery serving breakfast and lunch near the new-car showroom.
“When customers are shopping or waiting for the financing paperwork, we’ll give them a little voucher to go over to the diner to get something to eat,” Kimmerle says. “It satisfies their hunger pains, but it also keeps them from going and checking someone else out.”
The diner attracts others, too, he says. “Our local newspaper people eat there every day. The Chevrolet guys are in there all the time.”
For Kimmerle, the museum, the diner and the Sanderson Way sets the Ford dealership apart.
“You’re not going to see us with brash, goofy stuff, yelling and screaming about what we do,” he says. “We’re not on the way to anywhere; we’re not near a mall. We’re a destination store. If you’re on our lot, you’re here for a reason.
“We don’t put balloons and inflatable gorillas all over the lot. I never saw anybody drive by and say, ‘Oh look at that gorilla, I think I’ll go buy a car.’”
