F&I and Showroom, February 2014

Dealer Profi le Dealer program which supplies the dealership with its own dedicated loan offi cer and funding team among other features Cardin says Capital One has fi lled the niche by meeting the needs of his mid prime customers providing competitive advances and rates The instant approvals dont hurt either he says Im proud to be part of their everevolving Diamond Dealer program adds Cardin who represents California dealerships as a board member on the Capital One Auto Finance Dealer Council The feeling is mutual Nick is a tremendous dealer focused on taking care of his customers and we are proud of our partnership with him says Steve Braskamp managing vice president of Capital One Auto Finance Puente Hills Toyota opened its doors in 1981 Its located right off the Pomona Freeway which carries 250000 motorists each day During the stores opening weekend they offered new ready for delivery Toyota models such as the Cressida Corona Starlet Celica Supra and Tercel A lot has changed since that time particularly the dealerships 100000 squarefoot showroom Cardin describes the showroom as sticky with customers able to enjoy free Wi Fi Internet access while they peruse the dealerships inventory or wait for their vehicle to be serviced The dealership also houses a Subway sandwich shop two play areas for kids and an in dealership theater with stadium seating Playing at the time of the interview was the latest James Bond movie Skyfall The dealership also touts a 1600 square foot parts and accessories shop Theres even a red andwhite striped tent set up on the dealership lot to allow car buyers to transfer their belongings from their old vehicle into their new one while being shaded from the elements Toyota has set a challenging goal for the dealership to increase sales by 5 in 2014 Cardin estimates that will require selling about 400 more new 20 F I and Showroom February 2014 Puente Hills Toyota boasts free Wi Fi for customers a Subway sandwich shop play areas for children and an in dealership theater with stadium seating cars than last year but he believes his processes and employees are up to the challenge Puente Hills Toyota draws from a multicultural customer base with a demographic makeup of nearly 50 Latino and 30 Chinese American The dealerships employees refl ect their customers with several staffers able to speak Spanish or Mandarin Theres even a dedicated eight person sales team specifi cally for Asian customers Cardin describes his general manager position as a dream come true and has worked hard to get his employees to feel the same about their roles at the store We have practically zero turnover in our entire dealership because of the high level of respect and constant acknowledgement we give each and every employee he says I learned years ago to be equally concerned with keeping your employees as happy as your customers In his experience employee satisfaction usually spills over to the customer People will almost always respond in kind We teach people how to treat us Another reason for employee longevity is that Cardin sticks to a policy of promoting from within allowing his staffers to grow with the company We try to compensate our employees a little more than needed he says As a result when times are slow nobody is out looking for a better job because they know they already have that better job