If there were a common theme running through this year's selection of Top Shops, it would be "expect the unexpected." For the first time, the majority of winners came from the Atlantic seaboard instead of the West Coast and Arizona. Nearly half of the winners are dealer shops. Of those, Gullo Ford Collision Center carries the theme of "different is better" one step further by being the most unusual of the dealer shops selected.
The Conroe, Texas-based shop has been separating itself from the service repair herd for a decade by minding the details others too often ignore and by creating an identity that is unique both within the market and inside its own company.
One of the more striking parts of this identity is the fact that Gullo's actually has several collision repair shops at its collection of dealerships. Unlike other MSOs which generally strive for uniformity across locations, the business grants a certain level of autonomy to each shop. The shop at the Ford dealership entered the contest independently of the other locations.
The shop also is a bit unusual in that it is a relatively young business, being founded in 1998, yet its roots run nearly five decades deep in the automotive industry. Dealership owner Tony Gullo Sr. has owned collision centers since 1972 and was a part of the original Toyota Certified program.
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Shop manager Billy Coleman joined Gullo in 1998 and brings with him more than 38 years of experience as a body and paint technician and in dealership management. He's qualified to work on Ferraris and has experience performing complete antique restorations. Coleman also serves on Ford's Advisory Council on Collision Repair where he stays informed about industry regulations, trends and practices.
Despite its long-standing ties to the service industry, the shop uses a very nontraditional approach to bringing on employees. Fully 25 percent of the shop's technicians had no automotive experience before being hired.
"We first look for good workers," Coleman, who points to one technician who had previously worked at a furniture warehouse, says. "He was a hard worker, and we liked his personality," Coleman says. "By hiring this way, we can bring along our employees our way and have them trained in-house."
This training includes obtaining a mandatory minimum I-CAR Gold standing. From there, employees must either obtain or be working toward I-CAR Platinum status (with the shop picking up the tab for training costs, including travel expenses). Technicians also are required to complete two units of continuing education annually. Most become Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified. Techs also receive inside training on new Ford-approved vehicle technology and repair procedures – a benefit of Coleman's position on Ford's Advisory Council.
To make sure techs stay as busy as possible, Coleman says the shop has put a lift in every work bay. "Our techs have the same advantages as someone doing mechanical work," Coleman says.
While Gullo Ford is qualified to perform nearly every type of repair (its average repair ticket is nearly $3,000), the shop does an astonishing amount of business in an area where other repairs often struggle – fast-lined work. A dedicated three-person fast-track team is comprised of a technician, painter and a helper work throughout the shop on small jobs. Their work now accounts for 38 percent to 42 percent of the shop's annual business, which surpasses $3.5 million in revenue.
For all the investment in training, non-traditional operational policies and functions, Coleman attributes his shop's success to its focus on customers. Gullo's Customer Satisfaction Index scores regularly exceed 98 percent. The shop employs a production manager who performs all the quality control chores, declares vehicles ready before calling customers and implements a proactive delivery process intended to give the shop and customers ample time to address any repair concerns.
Perhaps even more significant than these steps, Coleman points to the shop's genuine dedication to its motto of "treating customers like family." He says employees take as much time as necessary to listen to customers and ensure them that all their questions are being answered. Much of this dedication, says Coleman, comes from co-owner Tony "Sparky" Gullo Jr., whose influence touches every part of the business.
"He's a genuine person. He genuinely loves this industry and helping people," Coleman says. "Our people see that. They do things the way they know he would want it."
That's important in Conroe, which Coleman describes as a "little, big town" – a sprawling, though tight-knit community where customers expect a business to stand by its promises. At Gullo's, that means consistently demonstrating family-like concern for the community that supports it, a community that for the fourth year in a row has voted the shop the "Best Place to Get Your Car Repaired" in the HCN/The Courier of Montgomery County's annual Best of Montgomery County survey.
"We always want to make clear that the dealership, shop included, is not here just to make money, but to help customers find a family vehicle, maintain that family vehicle and assist them in any way we can in times of need," Coleman says.
An old saying declares that, in Texas, everything is bigger and bigger is better. For this Top Shop, genuine and unique are giving bigger a run for the money.
