VALDOSTA — If you recently bought a car from Cass Burch Chrysler in Valdosta, you also received a follow-up phone call from an inquisitive sales representative hoping to ensure that your experience was nothing short of excellent.

This practice along with many others promotes high levels of customer service. Highly efficient, customer satisfying internal processes are the foundation from which Cass Burch and his staff has built the newly accredited five star Chrysler dealership that was purchased in October of 2000.

Shortly after Burch took ownership, the Chrysler company laid off 26,000 employees. Burch was apprehensive about his decision to purchase the dealership; he became even more concerned 11 months later after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

At this point, his Chrysler business in Quitman was flourishing. He and his staff decided they could do the only thing they knew — take care of the customers they had.

“Through a lot of prayer and hard work from my great core team, we persevered,” Burch said. “The most encouraging part was that our customers responded.” Business exploded at the Valdosta Chrysler dealership. It has increased by 600 percent and continues to grow. Burch was able to build a beautiful new facility, completed in December of 2004, to help him further satisfy his customers. He is now looking to expand the business internally by adding an additional 15 employees.

Burch believes that success follows hard work and God’s favor. By having a plan, training employees to follow the plan and adhering to it, his business has excelled.

He also believes that following the perfect recipe for success is what has brought both his dealerships to achieve such high status. What is that recipe? Burch explained: “The perfect recipe for success is simple: having good people, with great processes, selling great products to awesome customers. I believe we have that.”

The new facility on North Valdosta Road was just one step toward achieving the five star designation — an award that recognizes dealerships for exemplary processes and performance.

Improving the “report card,” training employees and providing exceptional customer service were other steps taken to reach the five star level.

Company recommendations set certain standards for five star dealers and the Valdosta dealership now exceeds these requirements. It boasts a 99 percentage for customer satisfaction in the sales department where only 94 percent is required; an 85 percentage for fixed first visit (whether or not technical problems were solved the first time) when only 77 percent is required and a 96 percentage for customer satisfaction in the sales department where only 89 percent is required.

Although only 70 percent of employees are required to be corporate certified, 100 percent of the Valdosta dealership’s sales and service employees are well-trained and Chrysler certified.

The five star accreditation lasts for 12 months, but Burch intends for his business to reacquire it year after year. Employees have already began their 2006 training. Internal processes and customer service practices will remain above standard as well.

“We will continue to serve customers with excellence,” Bobby Joseph, general manager, said. “That is the primary thing. It doesn’t matter what the facility is like if you don’t please your customers.”

Burch said Joseph played a huge part in achieving Five Star status, as did Holly Lustfeldt, who has functioned as the Five Star Coordinator for many years.

Reaching Five Star status took a huge effort for the enter staff and maintaining it will take even more hard work. This team is ready for the challenge — which can only be met by providing exceptional service to loyal customers.

“It is not our goal to sell every person (in Valdosta) a car. We simply want to take really good care of the ones who do (make purchases here),” Burch said. “We know people buy cars from people they know; we realized that until you know us, you may buy a car somewhere else, but we believe that if you ever get to know us, you will buy your vehicles from us.”

His customers benefit in many ways other than just having a new vehicle. They receive free oil changes for life with routine maintenance. They are also invited to special gatherings like the fish fry held last summer, which attracted more than 400 people.

Employees also take on special projects in order to give back to the community. For Christmas in 2005, the entire staff joined together to support a former customer who had recently been involved in a serious car accident, totaling her brand new Chrysler automobile. They provided this young woman and her daughter with the Christmas of their dreams including a brand new computer system, digital camera, washer and dryer, clothing and every Barbie product the 6-year-old girl could want.

Throughout his 20 years in the car business, Burch’s generosity has been inspired by customer’s needs. What is important to them is important to him because “without them there is no reason to be here.”



Cass Burch Chrysler

Owner: Cass Burch

Phone: (229) 242-1540

Location: 4164 N. Valdosta Road

Hours: Sales is open 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Service department is open 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday