Bill Rhodes, AutoZone president and CEO, was recently the guest speaker at an Automotive Service Association luncheon where he addressed an audience of ASA members and volunteer leaders. Held in late April, the luncheon was part of ASA's 2006 Annual Business Meeting in Austin, Texas.

"I'm very proud of what we've accomplished together over the past few years, but I'm more excited about the future possibilities," Rhodes said as he spoke about the AutoZone/ASA partnership and how the two can continue to thrive in the automotive service and repair industry. "We've got to work together to make sure we provide that great service - that personalized service - to our customers with high-quality parts at competitive prices," said Rhodes. "And I think if we do those things we'll continue to dominate this industry."

Rhodes also told ASA attendees that AutoZone prides itself on being a learning organization and one of the key components his company has learned is that relationships are important. "We're all going to have failures at some point," said Rhodes. "And if we have a relationship of open dialogue, candor and doing what we said we were going to do -- and fixing those mistakes -- then we can be great partners together." He went on to say thank you to ASA for its "incredible partnership" with AutoZone.

Rhodes talked about AutoZone's core principles, including "a relentless focus on quality parts, leveraging technology, operational excellence and extensive inventory coverage." He also discussed AutoZone's history, saying the company is driven by dedication to customer satisfaction. "We've created a fanatical culture based on customer satisfaction," said Rhodes. "Every one of us has a business card at AutoZone that has our title, but the most important part of our title is 'customer satisfaction.'"

Ron Pyle, ASA's president and chief staff executive, said, "We are very pleased that Bill took time out of his busy schedule to address our leadership about the AutoZone/Alldata/ASA partnership. His remarks underscore the tremendous potential for our membership to grow their businesses with one of the largest commercial parts distributors in the country.