The winners of the 2020 Alberta Dealer of Excellence awards have been announced by the Motor Dealers Association of Alberta (MDA).
Garrett Scott of Scottsville Automotive Group in Red Deer, and Kelly Temple of Eastside Kia in Calgary, won the award in the non-metro and metro categories, respectively.
“Garrett and Kelly have achieved success by demonstrating exceptional commitment to their customers, staff, industry and communities in which they do business,” said Denis Ducharme, MDA president. “They are fine examples of the many excellent auto dealers we are fortunate to have as members.”
Scott is the youngest person to be named dealer of excellence, at age 34. His father, Gordon, won the award in 2008. The younger Scott follows a “be unique” business philosophy (Be transparent, be informative and be fair, but be unique) that includes the one-person approach to the customer experience, which means a customer deals with the same person throughout their vehicle purchase process.
“We are proud to have earned hundreds of positive reviews and that all our stores, including our body shop, having ratings over four and a half to five stars on Google, Facebook and Dealer Rater,” said Scott.
He was also involved in the project to build the world’s first auto dealership to be certified by Passive House, according to MDA. The organization promotes high-efficiency buildings that reduce ecological impact.
Eastside Kia’s Kelly Temple launched into the automotive domain in 1992 as a salesperson for Eastside Dodge and became general manager of Eastside Kia in 2010. Two years later he became a partner.
“Our business operates with an economy of trust,” said Temple. “If our customers trust us, they will do business with us. If our employees trust us, they will enjoy working for us and be successful.”
Earning and building trust is the foundation of Temple’s business philosophy, which also includes employee management.
“Be honest, fair and do your best to have empathy. Our teams work hard and it is amazing that just letting them know we appreciate them will go a long way to earning trust. And, most importantly, never be afraid to apologize if you make a mistake,” he said.
The annual Dealer of Excellence award is offered to one metro dealer from Calgary or Edmonton and one non-metro dealer from the rest of the province. The criteria for winning the award is business acumen, community involvement, and association/industry involvement.
