David Thompson, president, TEC Equipment, Inc., Portland, OR, is the 2007 American Truck Dealers Truck Dealer Of The Year. The dealership has locations in Oregon, California and Nevada and operates three full-service body shops and offers leasing at five of its locations.
But having multiple locations was not what gained Thompson the award. Rather it was the innovative things he has done at his dealership.
“What it takes to be successful today, and what it will take in the future, is top level service in every offering we have. Part of that is the need to expand our offerings. Dealers can’t just look at what they did in the past. It used to be that you sold new trucks, you did parts and service, you dabbled in used trucks and maybe you had a finance and insurance (F&I) department. Some people had body shops,” he said.
Today Thompson said you have to be fully committed to F&I. He has 14 people in his F&I department and nine people in his insurance company.
He has his own insurance agencies in three cities.
“The name of the game for the future successful dealer is expanded offerings. We will have to take apart the truck owner’s expense sheet and look at the pie and see how it is broken up. We need to participate in as many of his recurring business expenses as we can. For us that is offering insurance, and we also are in the fuel business. We are selling around 90,000 gallons of diesel fuel a month at a discount only for our customers.”
In addition, TEC Equipment finances close to 60% of what it sells in-house-new and used trucks. And the insurance business follows. “The customer has just trusted you enough to buy a truck from you. He trusted you to finance it. Why not have his insurance business in the same pot?”
As past of its insurance products, TEC offers cargo coverage, bonds, fuel tracking, liability, physical damage, etc. “This allows us to roll the guy right up and bring him tighter into the fold to do business with us.
“If you are doing all those pieces of business why wouldn’t he buy fuel from you? And the next step is the tire business. I think we should be in it. If nothing else we should make an alignment with somebody in the tire business so we can offer that on site to our customers.”
Another factor that has led to Thompson’s success is the people who work with him. “You have to have good people in place. You do not grow your business today without delegating. A lot of dealers try to manage through intimidation. It does not work anymore. Maybe it worked on the older generation, but it does not work now.”
In addition, Thompson has many women in top management positions. “I’ve had great success with hiring women in very detail-oriented jobs,” he said. For example, in 1994 he hired Kathy Mahaffy, who is now vice president and COO.
Other women on the management team include Amy Kirscher, CFO; Peggy Randolph, vice president, F&I; and Allenette Meyers, director of human resources. David Murdock, director of service operations; John Lyons, vice president, parts operations; and Gerald Reimer, vice president, administration, round out the management team.
When asked what sets his dealership apart Thompson said, “We attempt to be overtly professional. You won’t see any blue jeans in my stores, I expect my people’s appearances to be good. It is important for people to be proud of where they work.
“We set ourselves apart to our employees by offering first class facilities.
“Of course we set ourselves apart from our competition by having a broader product offering as far as truck products and ancillary services.”
Having the right people coupled with innovative thinking has lead Thompson to the top dealership recognition and is it likely what will keep his dealerships successful for years to come.
FACTS & FIGURES
David Thompson started in the trucking industry by driving a truck to put himself through college. He got his first new truck franchise in 1990. His dealerships sell Mack, Volvo and GMC. TEC Equipment operates nine full-service sales and parts facilities and two used truck centers. The dealership has locations in Oregon, California and Nevada. TEC Equipment operates three full-service body shops and offers leasing at five of its locations. The dealership offers fuel at a discounted rate to its customers and sells approximately 90,000 gallons of diesel per month. Fourteen people work in the dealership’s F&I department.
Thompson has three full-service insurance agencies in-house at his dealerships in Oregon. There are 100 service bays across the dealerships’ locations.
