Caring for the community

Jan. 1, 2020
Being an active member of your town can help you create a good name while doing something that makes a difference in your neighborhood.

When’s the last time your business did something really good for the community? Something that was so gratifying for you and your employees that you wanted to do somersaults in the street?

If you can’t recall an endeavor that made you feel this proud, now is the time to take action. Not only will it provide you with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, but it’ll be beneficial for your business too. 

According to Margie Flynn with BrownFlynn, an Ohio-based community relationship management and consulting firm, “Consumers pick products or companies to do business with if it’s related to something.”

This doesn’t mean you should just donate money or time to every cause out there. But you should choose to help with a cause that’s near to your heart and still has meaning to your company and its employees. “The entire focus should be on being good corporate citizens,” adds Flynn.

Certified Bumper to Bumper Service Centers in northern Illinois were right on the mark when they launched a vehicle gift program that benefited victims of domestic violence, as well as displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. One-hundred-plus participating service centers donated shop labor, and Lee Auto Parts provided the necessary replacement parts to refurbish about 100 automobiles.

“I think it’s critical that more and more companies understand that their financial performance and their ability to attract talent, retain talent, maintain a positive brand and respond to the growing needs of the community in which they reside” is affected by the type of good deeds they do, says Flynn.

Bumper to Bumper joined forces with the Original Charity Cars non-profit organization to secure and refurbish approximately one car per shop. Estimates of the groups’ total contribution tallied more than half a million dollars, according to a press statement. 

Phill Porpora, an owner of Des Plaines, Ill.-based Lee Auto Parts, a campaign sponsor and an Aftermar-ket Business editorial board member, tells us that they wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the project without the assistance of Original Charity Cars. The non-profit provided the costs for title transfers and licenses, as well as insurance down payments for the recipients. “That’s why they were the perfect organization for us to partner with.”

So, where did the idea come from? “A Bumper to Bumper shop meeting,” says Porpora. “We were trying to come up with an idea that would raise the image of Bumper to Bumper in our community. We decided that a charity project would do that best.”

They batted around the idea of a 5K race and some other events, but then decided that since they were good at servicing vehicles for a living, they wanted to help “fix cars for people in need,” adds Porpora.

“Taking your core competencies and aligning them with what you are doing in the community is a win-win,” says Flynn about the project.

The giveaway ceremony was held Oct. 16, and included other goodies that the community could take advantage of — a vehicle safety lane, a children’s car seat inspection lane, entertainment and refreshments. But the most gratifying part of the event, Porpora tells us, was being able to have so many shops come together for the good of the community — to award refurbished vehicles to people in need.

Efforts like this can take months, sometimes longer, to prepare for, but the pay-off for you, your employees and, most importantly, your community is surely worth it.    

The right community programs will bring forth a very positive ROI — “some measurable, and some intangible,” says Flynn. “It is these financial and human contributions, the going above and beyond, that make your employees proud of where they work, and your customers equally proud of where they shop.”

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