A major Ford dealership in Leduc continues to earn prestigious awards from the automaker.
DK Ford has once again earned one of the most important benchmark awards Ford offers, the Presidents Diamond Club Award, the top award presented by the company to it’s highest rated customer satisfaction dealers.
DK Ford vice-president and partner Rick Koch said the Ford Presidents award, the 12th time DK Ford has won the award, means the dealership is exceeding quality standards and impressing people in the organization. “It’s Ford’s top award,” said Rick June 15. “It’s based on new car and truck sales plus customer service survey responses and is compared to other Ford dealerships your own size and other dealers in your area.”
The Diamond award was earned by DK Ford after already earning the President’s Award. This recognition is presented annually to Ford dealerships who demonstrate outstanding achievement in sales and customer satisfaction. The Diamond award is given to those Presidents Award earners who go even further in both sales and customer satisfaction and are considered to be within the top 10 per cent of all Ford dealers in the country.
Koch said the two parts of the Diamond award, top sales and top customer satisfaction, are challenging to any dealership. “It’s a tough juggling act” said Koch. “They can be the two toughest things to juggle. So we’re pretty proud of that. It’s just kind of a cool thing that the dealership we started from scratch has been able to do that 12 times.”
Koch said he and his brothers David and Duane and Dwight, started the dealership from scratch in 1993 and have since expanded with two other dealerships ( Koch Ford Lincoln in Edmonton and Koch Ford Athabasca) and are proud of owning a family operated dealership, not a cookie-cutter operation. Rick says “The car business has changed a lot in the past 10 years, there are many large auto-groups that own 15, 25 or even 40 + dealerships and run them more like a major corporation. Having a family owned and operated dealership gives our customers the sense of intimacy that is slowly getting lost in this business, our customers know if they have an issue or need to get a new car, they know who to call and that that person will be there to help them ASAP.”
He pointed out sales numbers are easier to boost with the products Ford is releasing now. “All products are becoming important,” he said, noting F-150 pick-ups are our best seller and have been Canada’s best selling truck for 49 years running, but Ford offers a global range of vehicles including SUVs like the Escape and Edge and fuel efficient cars like the Focus and Fusion. Koch said he’s also proud to represent a company that leads in the auto industry by introducing groundbreaking innovations. He pointed out the new 2015 F-150 is the first all-aluminum pick-up. “Ford Motor Company has been Canada’s #1 selling manufacturer for five years straight and that does not happen without innovative and leading products,” Koch mentioned.
Koch said awards such as the President’s Diamond would not be possible if it wasn’t for DK Ford’s committed and loyal staff. “We knew if we had dedicated staff we would in turn have dedicated customers and that’s always been our business plan and we’ll always stick to that. We’re proud of the dedication from our employees.” Koch said the dealership enjoys a strong roster of long-term employees who customers know and trust. Referrals are important to any auto dealership, but especially to a family-run operation like DK Ford.
Koch said everyone at DK Ford is grateful for the success they’ve had and in a very competitive auto market customers keep coming back to the dealership. “We’re just happy they chose us and that they’re happy with us,” said Koch.
DK Ford is located at 6559 Sparrow Drive in Leduc. Find out more about them online at www.dkford.com.