Page 186 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

The Power of “We” to Magnify Engagement C173

hear the noise. He said he would hear the noise most clearly when he
was driving up the winding parking garage in the hotel where he
worked. So our diagnostic specialist, Walter Neuman, and I drove
his car to the hotel and drove it up into the hotel parking garage to see
if we could hear what he was hearing. Sure enough, we did, and we
were able to trace the noise and fix the problem.

Q: As a team leader, how do you build teamwork?
Lathem: Mainly by teaching the new and less-experienced technicians.
It’s about more than just communicating technical knowledge. It’s
about instilling in them the idea that they need to have a team at-
titude and a customer-focused attitude and not just be thinking about
their own concerns. Not everyone fits that profile, and if they didn’t,
they would stick out like a sore thumb at Nalley.

We also spoke with Nalley customer Jim Strawinski, who pur-
chased a new Lexus from a Nalley dealer in Atlanta in 1989. At
the time we spoke, he was still driving the car, which was nearing
300,000 miles, and has had it serviced regularly over the years at the
same Nalley dealership where he bought it.

Q: What makes Nalley different from other auto dealerships
you’ve done business with?
Strawinski: Well, I was a pilot in the Air Force, so I’ve always known
how important regular maintenance is, but I had always taken my
cars to independent mechanics, since I thought I could trust them
more. But I decided to let Nalley service the Lexus because I just felt
I could trust them, and they absolutely won my loyalty by providing
phenomenal service.

Q: What is it that they do specifically to make you so loyal?
Strawinski: For one thing, the service manager makes you feel he is
your teammate in dealing with the dealership as a whole. It’s like he’s
on your side, like you’re a family member, not just another customer.
He’ll give you his honest opinion about what he would do if it was