What do you do?Gates Auto Group is an automotive dealership with locations throughout Connecticut.What are your most significant accomplishments in the last year?Gates GMC Nissan celebrated its 30th year in 2016, which is a huge accomplishment in the automotive industry — the company’s logo of ‘Gates gets it’ really rings true. Columbia Ford celebrated its […]
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What do you do?
Gates Auto Group is an automotive dealership with locations throughout Connecticut.
What are your most significant accomplishments in the last year?
Gates GMC Nissan celebrated its 30th year in 2016, which is a huge accomplishment in the automotive industry — the company's logo of 'Gates gets it' really rings true. Columbia Ford celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016 as well. The Gates family celebrated and thanked their customers and employees by hosting huge parties to celebrate these milestones and the dealerships were packed with loyal customers, new customers and the employees that helped build Gates.
We always feel that the most significant yearly accomplishments are the hiring of more people, which adds value to not only the dealerships, but to the community we serve as well. Gates GMC Nissan has been Dealer Rater's No. 1 dealership in the nation for customer satisfaction for six years in a row.
How do you instill your family values in your employees?
By making sure every employee feels like part of our family. We are one big 'Gates Family' here and it shows. If you were to visit any one of the five showrooms, body shop or car wash you would instantly know what we mean. You get a sense of fun and family. When customers make a point of coming to you and saying 'we saw your employees pick up something from the sales lot, not because they were asked to, but because they are proud of the dealership and where they work,' that's nice. We get those comments all the time. We instill these family values because we lead by example. Everyone from Craig Gates to the newest employee has pride in the Gates Auto Group, and it shows.
What is the one family value you want passed onto each generation in your business?
Honesty and compassion. If you value these two things and hold them true, all the rest will fall into place. The Gates family has always instilled in their 'family of employees' to be honest and have compassion, not only with customers, but with each other. Everyone at the Gates Auto Group trusts each other, relies on each other and values each other.
