Business View - August 2015 51
ability to access that information.”
This move, which gives customers online access to the
same kind of transparency they’ll find on a dealership
lot, is just the latest expression of Summit’s guiding
philosophy of customer satisfaction and employee em-
powerment. “We stand for something and we expect
all our employees to embrace the brand — really live
the brand — because that’s what makes us unique,”
Carmichael explains. “On top of that, we believe that
giving highly engaged leaders the autonomy, inside
our guidelines, to run their businesses and create
high-performance teams, is really essential to the suc-
cess of our business model.”
But ultimately, Carmichael knows that Summit’s suc-
cess hinges on an emotional investment: how car-
buyers actually feel when they interact with Summit
employees. “We sell 22 different brands. It’s someone
else’s product, so we can’t make a better Toyota or Nis-
san,” he says. “Our product is customer experience.
And we understand that if we want to be superior in
this industry, that’s where we have to excel.”
PREFERRED VENDORS
Strategic Source, Inc.
– Strategic Source provides
companies a unique service that allows them to save
time and money while reducing risks associated with
supplier management. Started in 1992 by Douglas
Austin, Strategic Source has served over 700 compa-
nies offering sourcing support, implementation man-
agement, and supplier auditing to maximize the lim-
ited resources available to them while they focus on
growing their business. -
Eide Bailly, LLP
-
AUTOMOTIVE
