By Debbie Briggs
Contributing Writer
As a shop owner, hiring a new technician can be daunting task: finding the right recruiting avenues, narrowing down the applicants and, then, hopefully, making the right choice. But for Thom and January Marshall, siblings and co-owners of
Marshall Motors in Dallas, the process takes a unique turn to ensure the right person is hired for the job.
“We go through the basic recruiting efforts of word-of-mouth, tool dealers, newspaper ads, Internet ads,” January explains. “We have people who come and interview, and we go through a battery of interviews and tests. But the long and the short of it is, it’s not just Thom and I who interview. When we get it down to finalists, the final decision is made by the rest of the staff. They interview them as a group.”
For this family-oriented business, this strategy has proven very effective in finding new employees who will gel with the rest of the staff; an important aspect to consider while working toward a common goal of providing top-notch repairs.
“The most important thing for us is finding the right personality to fit in with all the other existing personalities,” January says. “What’s really critical to understand is the fact that we spend more time together than we do with our families. So, we want to operate as one unit, one family that’s all rowing the ship in the same direction so to speak.
“We want people who work together well and feel that they’re on really strong, equal ground,” she adds. “Everybody has their strengths and everybody has their differences, but nobody feels superior to anyone else, that’s important.” The result, January says, is “an incredible staff of people who are extremely knowledgeable and very talented.
It’s not enough just to pay a technician well. “We all need a paycheck,” she explains, “but the passion of what we do, performing the job correctly, each tech being able to put their stamp on it and feel good about the results is a great reward.”
Once hired, the staff at Marshall Motors goes through an extensive in-house training program to bring new employees up to speed on policies and procedures, and, perhaps most important, customer service expectations.
“As far as the technicians are concerned, we really can’t afford to bring in anyone who has less than five years of experience in the make and model of vehicles that we service,” January says. “There are seminars that are put on by Bosch and various other suppliers. Periodically, some manufacturers offer additional training.”
“The training for the front office staff is also extremely extensive in dealing with customer relations, marketing and how to answer the phone,” she continues. “This training is critical. They’re the first contact with the client. The first impression sets the tone and establishes the relationship we have with each client.”
In business since 1978, Thom started Marshall Motors on his own, with January joining in the venture two years later. It was just the two of them, handling everything. January describes their first shop as “kind of like a shed,” with an enclosed office and bay areas that couldn’t be closed off.
“He opened the doors on about $350,” she says. “So we’ve gone from that to a million and a half a year.”
They rented two other facilities over the years before moving into their current building in November 2003. Their new location had previously been used as an automotive repair facility and they opened for business following a minimal amount of remodeling.
“Our customers were ecstatic about the move because it is a much nicer facility,” January says. “We had only a small handful who didn’t like the fact that they had to drive a little bit farther. We also acquired a lot of new customers because we did move into a more central location. It’s easier to find; you can see us from the highway.”
January says making Marshall Motors the success it is today has been a collaborative effort on the part of the staff as a whole, and through the brother-and-sister team each finding their niche in the business.
“Thom is stronger at the business end, keeping up with the statistics, finances, marketing and, in general, guiding the ship,” she explains. “My strength is running the shop, advising the technicians, as well as controlling the organization and the training of all office staff.”
Finding those strengths has been a journey, and she says with a laugh, not always an easy one.
“We’ve cultivated our business over a long period of time,” explains January. “Thom is a top-notch, excellent technician. I realize I’m his sister and I’m prejudiced — yes, I am. He really is good.
“But he’s not in a position to run the business and do the work,” she continues. “The business has become big enough that his attention must be focused on running it. He’s got to be the captain of the ship. Even though we’re 50-50 partners, I don’t want that job. I would rather direct what’s happening in the shop. I would rather work with the technicians and the rest of the staff, control the flow and handle any customer relation disputes or problems.”
With the high level of customer service that’s offered at Marshall Motors, complaints are few. In fact, longtime customers are the backbone of the business.
“We have customers who we’ve had since the day we started the business,” she says. “We have had such a strong reputation for so long and have done so well with word-of-mouth, that it’s grown exponentially. We’re now servicing cars for the grandchildren of people who were some of our original clients.”
“Today, our service includes a 97-point inspection on nearly every vehicle that comes in; an extremely thorough evaluation performed prior to performing any necessary repairs or service. Every detail about the condition of a car is carefully recorded, and the results are provided to each customer. When the repairs on the vehicle are completed, another technician is assigned to confirm all repairs were completed. Finally, the car receives a hand wash and interior vacuum before it’s returned to the client.
“Our success over the years is being very thorough in looking over vehicles, spending the time to talk to customers, hearing what they have to say, really listening to them and understanding their concerns,” January says. “Then, it’s helping them find viable solutions to their problems. Sometimes they can’t afford to fix it all now; or they want to do all of the repairs, but have to do it in stages. Maybe it’s time to buy a new car.
“Most clients don’t really understand what ‘maintenance’ is, so this requires that we take the time to educate that client. The long and the short of it is that we must be very frank, very honest and then, finally, deliver what’s promised. I don’t mean that as a tagline, but as a rule. If we say the car’s going to be ready at 4, then it’s got to be ready at 4.”
It’s that kind of tenacity that has led to the success Marshall Motors enjoys today: Dedication to customers, to staff and to family, January concludes.
“I believe that we’re in business to provide exceptional service and we are accountable to that,” she says. “We have to be honorable and ethical to our clients and to our families, or we’ve missed the mark.”