West Point Lincoln

6 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2 Most of the company’s team has stuck around because of a family-oriented culture that Poulos cultivates and promotes in the firm because he’s seen it work in other companies he worked for before. He recalls, “Before joining this company, I came from the typical dealership environment where it’s all about relentless pushing for more sales at the expense of everything else. Ours is very different from the typical dealership environment. We are a family-owned-and-run auto dealership where the culture is very close- knit and family-oriented. While there is a place for pushing sales because of how competitive the industry is, there must be balance with taking care of your people. Fortunately, we are in a great market where high-income people surround us so we can afford to balance our culture without sacrificing growth.” West Point Lincoln’s culture is unique in a typically cut-throat industry where most dealerships sacrifice personnel wellbeing for growth. But as Poulos attests, “It requires buy-in WEST POINT L INCOLN from the top to create a company that puts its employees first. We are fortunate to have a very supportive ownership group, which has allowed us to invest in our workers over the years. For example, one of our locations was not built to include air conditioning, and when it gets hot, the technicians stop working productively by three o’clock. At one of our newer facilities, we do have AC, and we’ve noticed that when it’s running, technicians remain productive through to five o’clock. This productivity difference is one of the main reasons we are in the process of building new facilities for at our main locations.” While the company can rely on its staff to keep delivering, one thing that has been difficult to navigate is the current new-car inventory shortage. At the pandemic’s beginning, lockdowns created gaps and bottlenecks in the automotive supply chain, especially in the computer chips industry. The ripple effect from the following chip shortage ground car production lines to a halt, starving dealerships