OCTOBER 22, 2009 ISSUE
Business Spotlight
Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury—Where the Golden Rule Rules
Customer satisfaction is Alfred Glover’s top priority. Glover, owner of Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury, and his 31 full-time employees share a common goal to go above and beyond in assisting customers, citing the Golden Rule as their collective guiding philosophy. Photo by Sam Calhoun Twenty-one years ago, a single mother who was struggling with finances day to day and having to walk to work came into a dealership where Alfred Glover was selling cars. Before even speaking about possible vehicles for purchase, Glover did what he always does and got to know the woman, hearing her story and empathizing with her financial plight. It became apparent that the woman’s financial situation made her ineligible for loans from available lenders, but that roadblock didn’t faze Glover—he knew the woman and her children needed a car, and if he was in the same situation, he knew he would want someone to help.
For weeks, Glover debated with lender after lender, attempting to persuade the companies to take on the loan. Finally, Glover convinced a lender to take on the loan, using his belief in the Golden Rule as his guiding philosophy and debate tactic.
“It’s about finding a way to make it work because it’s the right thing to do,” explained Glover.
The woman was overjoyed and managed to land a new part-time job because of her newfound mobility. Twenty-one years later, that same woman goes to Glover whenever she has vehicle needs. That loyalty underscores the philosophy of Glover and his staff at Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury, located at 300 New Market Boulevard in Boone.
“When you take care of customers, they’ll take care of you,” said Glover. “We just believe that the most important thing is the Golden Rule.”
Embodying the Golden Rule has paid off for Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury during the current economic crisis.
“It’s been the most challenging year since the Great Depression, but we have had the best year ever,” said Glover, who has owned the dealership for six years. “As long as you do right, the future takes care of itself,” he added.
Glover and Ford carry similar beliefs about treating customers right so that they will take care of the business in the future. Up until the recession took hold, Ford’s award-winning customer service department featured a little-known program that benefited customers with exceptional needs. Through the program, each Ford dealership owner received an annual allotment of discretionary funds that could be used to help customers in dire straights, or customers who needed a vehicle to better their lives but could not afford one. During the program’s tenure, many customers with exceptional needs received vehicles they could not afford otherwise.
When Ford discontinued the program a few years ago, Glover and his staff of 31 full-time employees started one of their own. The decision was made as a group—not as an owner passing down new protocol. The staff of all four departments at Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury—parts/service, collision center, finance and sales—as well as Glover, agreed to take money out of their own paychecks and place it into the Customer Service Fund. Glover also slashed the business’s advertising budget by 75 percent to free up more money for the program. Now, customers are finding the impossible to be possible by just walking through the door at Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury.
“We’re not just a dealership. The most important thing here is that it’s a group of people that have come together, and we think we can take care of the customer better than anyone else can and will,” explained Glover. “It’s one big family working for a common cause.”
Glover is originally from Charlotte. He attended West Charlotte High School and then enrolled in the Navy for four years, conducting tours of duty in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. After leaving the Navy, Glover enrolled in Michigan’s Northwood University, the only university in the country that offers a bachelor’s degree in automotive dealership management.
Glover graduated from Northwood University in 1993 and spent a couple of “grunt years,” he said, working for NCNB and Hendrick Automotive Group. After leaving Hendrick, Glover enrolled in the Ford Motor Company Dealer Development Training Program in Dearborn, Mich.
In 2002, with his training as a dealership owner, Glover purchased a Ford dealership in Ashe County, where he and his wife Josette had just bought a home. Josette and Glover are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary this year and are the proud parents to two children—Olivia, 3, and Baxter, 6, who started first grade this year.
One year later, in 2003, ownership of Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury—a dealership that began in 1931—became available and Glover jumped at the chance. In 2005, Glover sold his Ford dealership in Ashe County so he could focus all efforts on the Boone dealership and its customers. His first order of business was surrounding himself with employees who shared his philosophy on treating customers like they themselves would want to be treated—the Golden Rule.
“The biggest change [when I bought the Boone dealership] was that I really wanted to focus on the customer, so we essentially found like-minded individuals,” explained Glover, who also tripled the dealership’s inventory when he took over ownership. “We ended up developing a following among people who had fallen on tough times, people whose credit was challenged. We figured out how to help good people who had found tough times, while still helping the people not in those situations.”
Part of Glover and his staff’s knack for taking care of customers comes from their belief in Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products. According to Glover, many years before bailouts became front-page news and the recession hit, Ford Motor Company borrowed a large amount of money from the federal government in an effort to shed its ancillary companies—such as Jaguar, Aston Martin, Land Rover, etc.—and reposition its focus on its core products, Ford’s truck and car. The specific focus has paid off for the company, as it has spent the last five years improving the product quality of its truck and car lines and paying closer attention to its dealerships and its customers’ needs.
Today, Ford offers extensive car and truck lines and is turning heads with its new versions of the Taurus and Mustang. Also, Ford embraced the green revolution with its Escape Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid, which has won more awards than any other hybrid vehicle currently in production.
What makes the cars seem even more enticing is the service and dedication that Glover and his staff will offer, free of charge—“because it’s the right thing to do,” added Glover, sincerely with a smile.
Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury is located at 300 New Market Boulevard in Boone. The sales department is open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. The parts and service department is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. The collision center is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, closed Saturday and Sunday. The finance department is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. For more information, click to www.boonefordlm.com or call 828-264-6111 or 1-866-230-0169.
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