Digital Dealer - October 2019 - 30

C O V E R S TORY: Continued from pg. 29

technicians, I don't. I've got plenty of good
technicians in my own community, because
we've essentially grown our own.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Are you doing
anything special to attract millennials as
either customers or employees?
CARROLL: Good question, because
millennials are different than other
generations. For instance, they're not the
ones who are willing to work 80 hours a
week to sell a car. They're more interested
in stability and predictability in pay. They
appreciate a better work-life balance and
don't want to put in long hours. Knowing
that dynamic, a lot of our sales staff are
paid hourly, plus
receive incentives
and bonuses. That's
the employee side of
the equation. We're
not doing anything
out of the ordinary to
attract millennials as
customers other than
realize we need to be
digital to reach them.

NO MATTER
WHAT HAPPENS,
WE'RE NIMBLE
ENOUGH TO ADAPT
TO A CHANGING
MARKET. THE
BIGGEST MISTAKE
YOU CAN MAKE IS
TO ASSUME NOTHING
IS GOING TO
CHANGE."

DEALER MAGAZINE:

What steps do you take
to ensure customer
satisfaction?
CARROLL: I believe
we already have all
the technology, systems, and processes in
place to help keep our customers satisfied
and to measure how we're doing. The most
important thing you can do for customer
satisfaction is communicate. We regularly
measure our service advisors, and check to
see how many customers with cars in the
shop they contact every day. If it's going to
be more than one day, we make sure the
customer knows. The main step we take is
to make sure we keep in touch with each
customer, even if we can't get a part or
can't fix their car that day. As long as you
communicate with your customers - and
meet other expectations - you should be
able to maintain high customer satisfaction
scores.
DEALER MAGAZINE: It's not often
we get to talk with someone who's been
honored by his local community with his

30

OCTOBER 2019

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

own day. The city of Pasadena, Texas,
honored you with "Carroll Smith Day."
What was that like?
CARROLL: It was a surprise to me,
and it was very special. What it told me,
of course, was that the city leaders know
and respect Monument Chevrolet as
a difference-maker in the community.
What was even more special was when
the school district recognized me for my
contributions to public education and
named me as their distinguished Citizen
of the Year.
DEALER MAGAZINE: What's ahead for
Monument Chevrolet?
CARROLL: First and foremost, we
come in every day expecting this business
to still be a one-on-one customer and
employee-driven business. And we
expect to be around for a long time. The
personal transportation business might
look different, but it will be around. At
this point, the industry faces challenges to
its traditional model, from autonomous
cars to ridesharing subscription services
to EVs. No matter what happens, we're
nimble enough to adapt to a changing
market. The biggest mistake you can
make is to assume nothing is going to
change. I have a team in place that always
looks for ways to convert challenges into
opportunities.
I love telling this story. A 16-year-old
high school intern trained with us. After
high school, he went to junior college and
got an associate's degree. Then he went
to the University of Houston and got his
bachelor's degree. He returned to our
store and now he's our sales manager.
That's what I meant earlier when I talked
about growing people. It's giving people
the opportunity to move up within the
organization. I think that's my proudest
contribution.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Last question,
Carroll. What one word or expression best
describes your approach to being a car
dealer.
CARROLL: Pride. Pride in what I do
and proud of what I am. ■
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Digital Dealer - October 2019

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