Imperial Ford Earns 2013 President's Award

For Kevin Meehan, owner of Imperial Ford in Mendon, Henry Ford was both inspirational and revolutionary. This is why he measures his own corporate standards against those of Ford, who early in the twentieth century said, "A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business."

This notion has driven Meehan over the past three decades to build not just profitable but also progressive, outstanding companies. Plus it has led to incomparable accolades, the most recent, announced in April, being Ford's 2013 President's Award.

On June 25, Philip Podgorny, Boston Regional Manager of Ford-Lincoln Sales, Parts and Service Operations, honored Meehan and Michael Penner, the General Manager of Imperial Cars, in an official ceremony at Imperial Ford. In his presentation, Philip Podgorny said, "Some dealers work their entire careers chasing this award but never achieve it. If you don't take care of the customer and do it right you'll never achieve it." He went on to tell the audience that Imperial Ford's customer satisfaction numbers "are in the mid-nineties; they're through the roof" and praised the entire staff from the sales team, to the service team and technicians, the folks in the office, and those who work behind the scenes for focusing on customer service.

Importantly, this achievement comes on the heels of Ford's selection of Meehan as one of six dealer-principles worldwide to earn the coveted 2013 Salute to Dealers Award. Ford Motor Company honored Meehan with that distinction because he steadfastly provides outstanding products and services to his customers "while improving the lives of those in need."

At the ceremony, Penner said that "The President's Award comes at an opportune time because it corroborates the avalanche of positive customer reviews Imperial has received on testimonial sites such as DealerRater and in Ford's own surveys of service and sales performance."

Penner also noted that in order to achieve the President's Award, "Imperial Ford had to exceed customer expectations every day in every department. Fewer than 7% of Ford's 5,000-plus dealerships rise to this level." Couple this with last year's global award and Meehan and Imperial Ford are building quite a legacy.

Importantly, Meehan constantly imparts to his staff, on paper and by word of mouth, what he believes are the keystones to his success: "privileging customers, dreaming big, sharing initiatives, stressing improvements, building relationships, pursuing goals, embracing values, presenting solutions, and giving back-in fact, always, always giving back."

He also emphasizes to his staff that at great companies people "make every decision as if the total success or failure of the organization depends upon it; reach as high as possible, and then reach higher; and treat every customer as if he or she is a member of the family."

It is not a surprise, Penner continued, that given such principles "the written mission of Imperial is to create in customers 100% satisfaction with all its products, prices, and services."

Penner concluded by saying that "people can buy cars these days almost anywhere. They can only buy the Imperial experience, however, in 'the little town of Mendon.'" We've created a culture of expectation and excellence and believe Henry Ford would approve.