Beau Townsend Ford Lincoln
Location: 1020 W. National Road, Vandalia
Founded: 1977
Employees: 150
Owner: Larry Taylor
Revenue: $200 million
Web site: www.beautownsendford.com
VANDALIA — As the owner of a car dealership, Larry Taylor knows that customer satisfaction is essential to the health and survival of his business. And Taylor believes the first step toward having satisfied customers is having satisfied employees.
“In this business, a happy employee will generate 100 happy customers,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s dealership, Beau Townsend Ford Lincoln, achieved the designation of Top Workplace in the medium-size company category. Taylor said he’s proud of the award, and believes he knows some of the reasons his dealership earned it.
“We value longevity, and we treat employees well,” Taylor said. “Everyone thinks that money is the most important thing, and while it is important, so is feeling empowered, and feeling appreciated, and feeling needed, and being recognized for good work.”
Beau Townsend Ford Lincoln has monthly employee-recognition programs across multiple departments, and every year, employees and their families are invited to a hayride, where about $20,000 worth of gifts are distributed, Taylor said.
Taylor described his dealership as “a family-oriented business” and said he encourages employees to attend his children’s events — in part because he served as a coach for his two children, now 30 and 31, “and I miss those days.” Employees “always have permission to be off during family functions,” he said.
Mark Tindall, sales consultant, has worked for Beau Townsend Ford Lincoln for more than two decades, and he says the dealership has a strong sense of camaraderie based on close relationships built up over many years.
“Everyone has been here for such a long time that there is a lot of cooperation among all of our employee groups,” Tindall said. “And anytime we need anything, Larry is there for us.”
Taylor’s business is growing: the dealership added 15 service bays and 15 new positions in the last two years, boosting the number of employees to 150. Taylor also owns the adjacent Beau Townsend Nissan, which employs 50 to 60 people.
Community service is also a part of the dealership’s philosophy. Every year for the last 20 years, the dealership has given away a used car valued at $5,000 to $8,000 to a student at the Vandalia-Butler High School after-prom party. Taylor himself calls the winning number at about 4 a.m., and the student who holds the winning ticket must be present to win — a powerful incentive for students to stay at the chaperoned after-prom.
Beau Townsend Ford Lincoln also partners with the manufacturer in a “Ford Drive One For Your School” program which last year raised $9,000 for the Vandalia Athletic Boosters Club and $6,000 for the Brookville Schools Athletic Boosters, Taylor said.
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