(IABBB)
In July of 2023, Dean Sather, the owner of Cross Pointe Auto, took a call from a distressed customer who had recently purchased a used vehicle. The Chevy Tahoe with more than 200,000 miles had broken down in Colorado with a malfunctioning transmission. Sather could have reasonably argued that it was not Cross Pointe’s responsibility after taking such an older model car with that many miles on it into the mountains on a long-distance trip.
Instead, Sather sent a team member from his dealership in Amarillo, Texas with a truck and a trailer to pick up the vehicle (a round trip of more than 450 miles) and bring it back to replace the transmission—at no cost.
That is just one example of why Cross Pointe Auto won a BBB® International Torch Award for Ethics in 2022 for businesses with one to 10 employees. Cross Pointe had also won two local Torch Awards previously. “You are being judged by your peers based upon how you handle and conduct yourself and how your employees conduct business every day, every week, every month, every year. It is not a popularity contest,” Sather says. “It’s a great honor to walk people in and right beside the couch in the lobby, you can see the three trophies. This is who we are.”
He adds, “If you are a company and you do a lot for your team or employees, if you go out of your way to take care of your customers, if you go above and beyond every day you unlock that door and you come in, this is a great way for you to be able to showcase some of the things you do that make you stand apart from your competition. Because there’s not a lot of ways for a business to get recognized that can top getting an award from their community on ethics.”
Committing to the four C’s
The criteria for the local and International Torch Awards for Ethics are based on the four C’s: Character of the organization’s leadership, an authentic Culture, a transparent relationship with Customers and the impact in the local Community.
Here are Sather’s thoughts on the importance of each of the four C’s for Cross Pointe Auto.
Character: Sather simply says about his team members, “We want you to have character, but not be a character.” That starts with onboarding. “Teaching them what we say, why we say it, what we do, how we do it, what the process is, why do it this way, why it’s different than other places.” Then, the entire team buys into the belief of working together to take care of a customer, even if, for example, a salesperson didn’t sell a vehicle to a particular buyer who needs tending to.
Culture: He likens his team of 10 employees (seven full-time, three part-time) who have been together for several years to rowers in a boat. “Everyone has to be in sync. If not, you’ll get wet. They’re able to row together thanks to lots of communication and ongoing training,” he says.
Customer relationships: The incident with the Tahoe noted earlier is an example of the kind of customer service Sather believes in. Picking up the cost of a $4,500 transmission job, especially for a vehicle he sold for $8,000, wasn’t easy. But in this case, he believed it was the right thing to do. As a benefit, that customer will most likely send him several referrals. He adds, half-jokingly, “I just hope it doesn’t happen again today with somebody else.”
Community: Cross Pointe team members are involved in various ways in their community of Amarillo, from belonging to business organizations to coaching athletic teams. In addition, for many years, Sather has sponsored blood donation drives at the dealership. The commitment sends a message to the community that, as he says, “These people aren’t just selling cars.” He adds, “If you look at different organizations that have longevity in the community, those people are going to be plugged in and see what needs to be done.”