Get Productive: Exceed and Excel by Example

If you live anywhere near the Philadelphia area you have heard of Fred Beans.

This amazing man started with one gas station in the late 1950’s with a loan co-signed by his mother!

From humble beginnings, he has grown the Fred Beans brand to include Fred Beans Collision Centers, AutoExpress, NAPA of Doylestown, Autorent of Doylestown and Fred Beans Parts. It currently owns and operates 19 dealerships in the greater Philadelphia area. He will also proudly share he employs 1650 people in the ‘Fred Beans family’.

Recently I was privileged to partner with Fred on a project and I interviewed him about some of the biggest challenges faced by diverse businesses like his and he shared great insights with me and some are listed below.

Q: What are the biggest changes in the way business is being done?

Fred:  It is now more Internet dependent, our customers have adapted to Internet shopping.  50% of our business is a result of selling cars through incoming phone and Internet leads.  Some dealers have been slow to change from conventional ways of advertising such as newspaper and radio. Radio has been diluted even more by XM radio, and similarly, television has been diluted by cable television.

And I believe that for the average consumer, given the choice between Google and his TV set, he might give up his television for Google.

Q: With so many employees, how to do you engage with everyone around you?

Fred: We hire the right people that are enthusiastic and have motivation on the inside, and something they bring to work every day. It is our job to help create a team and bring the best out of people through our leadership. But it really starts with who we hire and the skill sets they come to work with.

Q: With so much to do each day, how to you prioritize?

Fred: Three simple things: taking care of our customers, selling cars, and managing our inventory.

We need to spend more time on the floor with our customers – I’d like to do more of that. I once was told when someone called for Sam Walton they couldn’t find him in the office because he was on the floor with his customers.

Q: What role does accountability have in your industry?

Fred: There isn’t enough accountability in our industry.  We know it should be excellent and we should exceed the customer’s expectations, the sale of a car and the relationship with a customer is really not a spelled out process like building a car, working on a production line or assembling an automobile.

It is about our interactions with our customers and there are so many disconnects that we need to work on.  I think accountability is a big challenge for this industry.

I believe we have to set goals and objectives for everybody to work toward every day with passion and humility and a caring attitude.

I observed many quality traits while working with Fred. So many things impressed me and here are three the characteristics I witnessed every time I worked with him:

Duty – Fred believes in his duty to his country, his family, his customers and his community. He is focused on always giving back and exploring how he can help more people.  He shared it was his duty to leave this world a better place.  He thought if a guy like him could build a business, then he could help other guys build a business, grow their community and support their families.

Wisdom – Fred is an avid reader, always quoting books, sharing resources with me and buying books by the caseload to share with his team. Having sat in his personal library many times I was in awe of the depth and breath of his book collection.

Generosity – Fred believes in mentors, being a mentor and seeking out mentors. His commitment to his own development is so evident as he constantly strives to learn how to do more, be better and share more. He still does regular field trips to other dealers to learn from them and their best practices.  You only have to look around the town of Doylestown to also see his generosity to his community. He often said “I can’t sing and I can’t dance… but I can leave my mark by running a business, being responsible and giving back to our community.”

Thank you Fred Beans for being an example, for making an impact on thousands of lives in Bucks County (and beyond) and for being such a generous example to all generations.

What are your ideas on how you can exceed your customer’s expectations or be an example in your community? Share your ideas with us here on our blog.

PS. If you want more ideas on how to increase your productivity – check out other blogs here and several eBooks you can share with your team.