that you can’t make a customer wait on you. You need to have the vision to change your marketing strategy,” says Moorehead, who sought Chuck Joffe, director of service and parts and an industry veteran with more than 40 years of experience. Three more technicians were hired for a total of 32, with 24 at master’s status, meaning they are the most skilled techs available.
“Now our CSI score is above the national market and customers only wait one day for service,” reports Joffe. “People can bring their car in after work and take a loaner car home. We work on the car overnight, and they pick it up in the morning.” The adjustments have caused volume in the service department to triple. BMW of Sterling/MINI of Sterling offers rental cars from Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. (which rents space on the lot) to customers whom it can’t accommodate in a loaner vehicle. There’s also a pick-up service for vehicles and a repair vehicle equipped for minor maintenance on the road. “Sixty percent of cars we service come from other dealerships,” Joffe offers. Jordan adds, “This is representative of how we stand up against the market. People can buy BMWs from a lot of folks, but they come here for a reason.”
Personal Touch
Moorehead’s exceptional commitment to people also extends to the community. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast, Moorehead and several of his Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers packed his corporate jet with supplies and flew to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to offer their support. Moorehead donated a car to a family who had lost everything. “Having an opportunity to do something like that and to have that young man actually cry because he was so appr
eciative–that made it worthwhile.”
Damon Lester, president of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, has witnessed Moorehead’s generosity: “Tom’s contributions through his charity golf tournament to benefit the school system in his area is just one example of how his reputation in the community makes his dealership such a success. In addition, Tom uses his personal and professional relationships … [as] an advocate for increasing the number of ethnic minority dealers in the United States [through his post] as a NAMAD board director.” Moorehead and his wife, Joyce, also donate the use of their horse, Fantastic, to Lift Me Up, a therapeutic riding program geared toward children with disabilities.
About every six weeks the dealership hosts clinics for new BMW and MINI owners. They have even entertained customers with defensive driving techniques at nearby Summit Point Raceway. “Defensive driving is a thinly veiled disguise for having a hell of a good time without any interference,” shares Joffe, who is a racing enthusiast and aligned the dealership with BMW Formula Racing, a national team participating in about 12 races per year.
Moorehead uses these events to reach out to the African American community. It’s why he hired Harold Amaker, community relations director at BMW of Sterling. “He wanted to make sure that every African American within a 50-mile radius