He Pioneered Dealership Customer Experience Six Decades Ago

Renowned Southern California car dealer Bert Boeckmann is 86, still works 40 hours a week and ranks “as the most honest man I know,” says his son, Beau.

The father, a pioneer in delivering a first-rate automotive customer experience, is chairman and CEO of Galpin Motors, a 12-franchise dealership group based in the San Fernando Valley. Beau is president.

The flagship store is Galpin Ford, the top-selling Ford dealership in the world for 27 years in a row.

The elder Boeckmann joined Galpin Ford as a salesman in 1953 and by 1957, he was the general manager at age 26. By 1968, he was the president and majority stockholder.

Last month, Ford presented Bert Boeckmann with its “Dealer Hall of Fame” award in recognition of lifetime achievement, outstanding performance and inspirational leadership.

In a WardsAuto Q&A, he discusses his career, business philosophy, his beloved father and the hall of fame award.  

WardsAuto: Were you expecting the Ford award or did it come as a complete surprise?

Boeckmann: It was a total surprise. They were having an event in Georgia. I was going to send Beau. I got a call (from a Ford executive) who said, “It would be a personal favor if you came to this.” So I went. I didn’t know they had this whole thing planned. Five dealers received it. My coat says No.1 on it.    

WardsAuto:  How did you get into the business in the first place?

Boeckmann: Looking back on my life, if you said this was going to happen, I would never have believed it. I was in my last year in college. A friend was going to apply for a sales job at a Nash dealership. He asked if I’d accompany him and said maybe I’d like to apply too. I said, “I’ll go with you but I’m not hiring in.”

We both ended up hired in. Selling was easy. It’s just creating a friendship. I worked there for 10-and-a-half months, then hired in at Galpin Ford.

WardsAuto:  At what point did you think the dealership business was for you? The first day or did it take a while?

Boeckmann: I was uncomfortable when I was first in the business. There were so many things I didn’t understand that annoyed me. I really began to enjoy it when I was made manager of Galpin Ford. That allowed me the freedom to change things I felt were interfering with sales and customer relations.

WardsAuto: What did you think needed changing?

Boeckmann: Everything from the customer introduction to the delivery of the car and anything affiliated therewith. I felt customers coming in should feel the warmth of a friend.

And when the car is delivered, it should be detailed, gassed and ready to go. At first they didn’t do that. They gave the customer a slip for a car wash and a slip for three gallons of gas, if you can believe that.

WardsAuto:  Well, at least they got that.

Boeckmann: I want to clarify that was Nash, not Galpin. There, sometimes salespeople would get together and wash a car while the salesman who sold it was finishing up with the customer.

WardsAuto: You really were early with the customer-experience thing, which is talked a lot about in the industry today. You were doing it in the 1950s.

Boeckmann: I use an expression – which a lot of people didn’t like – that we’re here to be a servant to the customer. Some people would say, “I’m not a servant to anyone.” I’d say, “Wonderful, go work for my competition.” I really feel you are there to make the customer’s experience as pleasurable as possible.

WardsAuto: At what point did it occur to you that you could run multiple franchises?

Boeckmann: It was a number of years before we began to expand to any great degree, but as opportunities came up, we accepted them. One of the only ones we asked for was General Motors’ Saturn. That was odd because we were the only Ford dealer at the time with a Saturn franchise. They had the right idea of treating the customer exceedingly well. It was a sad day when they stopped building that product.

WardsAuto: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in auto retailing?

Boeckmann: The Internet. Your communication abilities have changed, with customers doing more from the home or office and then coming down to the dealership. That always concerned me a bit, because I thought you lost that advantage of greeting the customer in person.

WardsAuto:  Are you still concerned?

Boeckmann: You’re talking to a guy who’s concerned about everything. The wider you spread it, the more your training goes up to show people how to develop a relationship with a customer so both of you can enjoy the experience.

WardsAuto:  Can you do that online as well as in person?

Boeckmann: No. You can do it well, though.

WardsAuto:  You have the reputation for starting the van customization craze that began in Southern California and spread throughout the country. How’d that come about?

Boeckmann: I hired two outfits to build them for me. We had been selling 20 vans a month. Customized, we suddenly were selling 125. We called them surfer vans. We started with interior paneling and a carpet floor. Later, because people requested it, we put in a place to sleep and a toilet and chest of drawers, things like that at their request. That was a huge business.

WardsAuto: The story is your customized van business started when a surfer dude came in and said, “If you put a carpet in that van, I’ll buy it.”

Boeckmann: That is totally accurate. There were vinyl floors before that. The carpeting made all the difference in the world. It was a case of listening to your customer.

WardsAuto: You went to the University of Southern California. Did you study business there?

Boeckmann: Yes. I sort of started out in pre-med, pre-law. But then I decided I wasn’t too attracted to law. As for pre-med, when I watched doctors operate on my father; that took care of that one.

WardsAuto: What was your parents’ background?

Boeckmann: My father worked at Southern California Gas Company for 46 years as a supervisor in accounting. My mom was a housewife, but my folks split up early on. My father and stepmother raised me.

WardsAuto: Did your dad give you any great advice?

Boeckmann: It wasn’t a matter of giving advice. I never missed a day of school. That’s because if I didn’t feel well in the morning, my dad would take my temperature to see if I had a fever, which I never had. He’d rub my shoulders. He’d put my robe and slippers on me and said to come to breakfast, and if I wanted to go back to bed afterwards, I could. I never did.

He was a gentle man who taught honesty. Once, a neighbor came to the door, saying I threw a dead pigeon in his yard. My father turned to me and said, “Did you do that son?” I told him I didn’t, and I did not. My father told the neighbor, “My son didn’t do that.” If your father has that kind of confidence in you, you’re not going to lie. Period.

WardsAuto: Why did you keep the name Galpin? Why didn’t you change it to Boeckmann Motors?

Boeckmann: I worked hard to make that a good name. Plus, if customers were going to look up Boeckmann Motors in the phone book, they probably wouldn’t know how to spell it.

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