IMPACT Award Finalist: Virginia Auto Service

Tools For Success

Customer Service Drives Auto Repair Shop

Growing up, Matt Allen loved working on cars. Tools and parts were always scattered around his parents’ garage and he’d often show up at the local repair shop even when he wasn’t scheduled to work, asking “Got anything I can take apart?”

So the chance to buy his own shop led Allen to roll up his sleeves and get dirty. Really dirty.

“The place was all boarded up, hadn’t been painted since the Sixties,” Allen recalls. “But I had a very clear vision. I knew I could do it.”

That vision, Virginia Auto Service, is now a thriving auto repair facility in Central Phoenix. Its mantra of “Service, Service, Service” means little touches like courtesy shuttles, loaners and washing cars after repairs. “Whatever we can do, we’ll do. We do the right thing for our customer every time,” Allen says.

But a 2004 fire nearly destroyed the business. When the shop re-opened in a few weeks, the experience had opened Allen’s eyes.

“It was a wakeup call,” he says. The insurance company’s forensic accountant went through the shop’s books, so Allen had to get under the hood of his business for the first time.  “I really dug into the numbers to find out what makes a business work, and really started paying attention.”

Introspection begat expansion. Investing in marketing, training, equipment and staff led to sales tripling by 2010 and recognition by MotorAge Magazine as one of its “Top 10 Shops in the Nation.”

“I think I’ve turned into a good businessman,” Allen says. “But we don’t manage by the bottom line. We take care of our customers. The rest happens.”

So the worst thing that could happen to any business turned out for the best. And the guy who loved to take things apart has put together a business success story.

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Virginia Auto Service
www.virginiaautoservice.com

The 2011 IMPACT Awards will be presented at a luncheon on Thursday, May 19 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. Will you be there? Click here to reserve your seat for the event.