bimmerborn

I know this has been discussed before, but I feel like sharing my story with northern California Corvette owners.
Today I received one of a kind, outstanding service at Abel Chevrolet-Buick located at Rio Vista, CA. For the love of god I do not remember getting this much treatment from any other dealer service department. Long story short, I sent only one email. Everything else was done automatically. Richie at Abel, scheduled a convenient time for me to visit. Offered loaner at no charge. Performed a flawless service significantly below the time quoted. Service was free of charge. Service was not easy. It included changing the infotainment screen, airbag recall, reprogramming, etc. When I got the car back, it was all clean, and all my settings including seat and radio were intact.
I highly recommend Abel Chevrolet-Buick for servicing your Corvette. It well worth the trip to Rio Vista

Raiderh20boy

Another believer !!!😄😄😄

Paul 68

don hall

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Abel could franchise their sales and service
around Northern Calif.?

Santa Cruz doesn't even have a GM dealer in town......

383vett

And what, clone Rich?

Zoxxo

There is nothing inherently impossible with "cloning Rich." There are *lots* of folks out there for whom doing great customer service is a "genetic" thing. They just need to be hired and supported by a company that from the top down values providing a positive customer experience rather than paying lip service to it in TV ads. And they need to be paid a decent wage so that they can do the job right and be happy doing so. This is NOT a "do you want fries with that?" business. These factors are pretty clearly in play at Abel. And just as clearly they are not in play most everywhere (anywhere?) else.

My own theory is that Abel realizes that in order to make their "off the beaten path" business decently profitable they need a fair percentage of their customers to "go the extra mile" to get to them (which many of us regularly do.) But in order for that to happen in sufficient numbers ABEL has to go that extra mile, too - enough that we will regularly choose them over MUCH closer options. To their credit, they walk the walk and have been doing so at least since Rich brought his customer-happiness regimen to them several years ago (I'd never heard of Abel prior to that.) And it would seem to have paid off fairly well.

Dealerships that are more central to large population centers don't have to go to these lengths to get a decent cash flow and the result is, well, we all know the result...

Even more interesting (to me, anyway) is that at least some of the dealerships in NORCAL *have* to know about Abel, their reputation, and how it's been achieved. Yet they seem to make little or no effort to emulate that success.

40 years ago a business book came along called "In Search Of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best Run Companies." It was a *huge* best seller and remains a classic text on how to run a business. In it, they assert many things including (a) delight your customers, and (2) treat your customers as potential friends. I'd say that Abel is pretty good at both, no?

My parents raised me to believe that you "reward the good and punish the bad" and I would go to Abel on that logic alone! That I come away from them NOT feeling like I just had a vacuum cleaner hose stuffed into my wallet pocket is just icing on the cake.

Just remember that while we give Rich a lot of credit as he's the "face" we interact with, he could/would not be doing what he does without Abel's complete support and belief.

Z//

Erik Zinn

...and I would still drive to Abel even if we still had those guys in town. Their service was horrible.

Erik Zinn

Spot on Zoxxo. If you own a business and you are very busy, one can become complacent and it is a natural tendency to forget who is paying the bills. I know that my customer service acumen can always be sharpened and improved. I sure did a lot of sharpening and improvement during the recession when competing proposals were separated by a razor thin margin and because of that clients mostly made the choice based on their interactions with us.

The other thing I like about Abel is that they don't sugar coat their prognostication and they are not afraid of working with and installing aftermarket equipment.

The keys to successful businesses are not a big secret - start with competent owners and employees, treat everyone like you would like to be treated yourself, and focus on customer service. The rest usually falls into place. You just can't be so damn greedy as most of the businesses around central California have become.

Erik Zinn

This quote should go on a Yelp review!

RichieRichZ06

Thank you all very much for the kind words, recommendations and continued support of Abel Chevrolet.

Zoxxo pretty much nailed my philosophy when it comes to customer service and how to conduct business. It does take support from the owners, but more importantly, it took A LOT of time, effort and coaching on my part. We honestly have some of the best automotive based employees that I have ever worked with here and it comes down to them working on things and treating people like they would expect in a similar scenario.

What makes it all the better for me is that I have a passion for cars and performance related stuff. It makes the job a lot more fun and I don't feel like I'm working when I talk to customers about their cars. Carrie and I have been fortunate to make a lot of new friends over the years and many of those people started off as first time customers at the dealership.

In terms of expanding to another location, stay tuned for more information on that. We will be announcing something regarding that soon. Corvette service/performance work will not initially be offered there, but it is definitely in the plans moving forward.

RICH

don hall

Zoxxo

For sure. If you want to ensure that I will never ever set foot in your business again just give me the smallest hint that you think you're doing ME a favor simply by being there. (and I'll be sure to tell all my friends, too.)

I am the guy with the wallet!

Z//

Tron1

My plan is to have Abel service my 2017 Stingray before the warranty expires. I have a few minor issues that I would not let my local dealer repair as they have proved incompetent. Airbag recall and minor rattle-loose fitting roof. I go to a local skilled private repair shop for the oil changes.

I just don't like the idea of traveling almost 3 hrs. over 200 miles (6 hrs. + Bay Area traffic round trip). Perhaps if an appointment can be made in advance at a specific time...and wait for an hour or two for the repair I would drive up sooner. But Abel has a terrific reputation and wish they would open satellite service 150 miles closer to Monterey...maybe San Jose or Santa Cruz...

Raiderh20boy

All you have to do is call and talk to one of the service advisors or Rich. Tell them your issues,where you're from and they will set it up for you!

Zoxxo

I've been taking our two C6 daily drivers to Abel for several years now and, barring the need for keeping the car overnight, what you describe is exactly how we do it. I make an appointment for early morning (usually 8:15) and Rich makes sure they have any possibly needed parts on hand before the day. A good run from here to there takes 1 hour 40 minutes. I leave home (San Jose) at 6:30 and aside from a couple of slow spots at freeway interchanges en route the timing is almost always perfect as the rush hour traffic is almost all going the other way. Then, while Jim does the car, I walk over to MickeyD's for a bite to eat, come back and watch some TV or read some stuff on my phone and soon we're done. I'm almost always back out the door before noon, if not sooner, and home before 1:30 (avoiding the afternoon rush hour as well.) The trick is to be there early.

Try it. You'll like it

Z//