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From humble beginnings...Edward Lennox founded Service King Collision Centers in December of 1976 with one two-bay location in West Dallas. Twenty-seven years later, Service King is seventeen stores and 400+ employees strong - by far the largest paint and body operation in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. The company claims to be "one of the top five independently owned and operated collision repair organizations in the United States."
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Service King projects a recognizable name with a distinctive logo to build brand awarness in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex.
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| From
left to right, Chris Traynor with Enterprise Rental; Monique Ellis,
CSR; Kim Goldman, senior CSR; Dee Garee, CSR; and Linda Patton,
manager, seem pleased to work at the 6th ranked "Best Place to Work" in
Dallas-Ft. Worth. |
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| Service King's newest locations are designed for optimum production efficiency and technician comfort. |
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At a glance
Service King Collision Repair
808 S. Central Expressway
Richardson, Texas 75080
972-960-7595
972-980-4266
Website: www.serviceking.com
Owner: Eddie Lennox
Established: 1976
Annual Sales: $60 million
Size: 17 locations, from 6,000 to 38,000 sq.ft.
Employees: 400+
Paint department: SprayKleen Accudraft paint system SAIMA downdraft booths and mix rooms, X-draft cut-in areas
Paint: PPG
Frame racks: Chief EZ-Liner, Star-A-Liner, Car-O-Liner
Alignment Racks: Hunter 4-wheel racks
Quality Recycled Parts Supplier:
Green Leaf Texas
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Lennox was one of the original "car guys" growing up and his love of cars led him to open his first shop at age 19. According to Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jeff McFadden, "Mr. Len-nox is a textbook entrepreneur - still hands on after 27 years. He is so versatile - a true expert in every facet of the business - finance, accounting, repair issues and hiring."
McFadden continues, "He is a mentor to his employees. He has staffed the business with good people providing quality work. He looks at the business long term. His goal is to create a great company. Mr. Lennox is an efficiency expert and if there were more entrepreneurs like him, the economy would be in much better shape."
Lennox has created a great management team that works very well together and has allowed the company to get to the size it is now and to grow into the future, says McFadden.
Lennox believes in marketing, and the company's upbeat country-western theme song is heard frequently on Dallas radio stations (you can listen to it on the web site).
Modern facilities, latest equipment
Service King's shops are well-designed facilities with Enterprise rental cars on site, comfortable customer reception and children's play areas. Most locations feature easy freeway access. The latest location, in Greenville, is located at a Pontiac Buick dealership.
Every Service King location is equipped with the all-new Spraykleen Accudraft Paint System, designed in Europe and considered by Service King to be the best in the industry. This climate-controlled downdraft system bakes the paint precisely, while PPG paint and mixing systems insure a precise color match.
Each center is equipped with three highly-sophisticated types of frame equipment to meet different vehicle needs: the Chief EZ-Liner, the Star-A-Liner and the Car-O-Liner.
Service King also has a fully-equipped technical and classroom training center used by North Texas Chief automotive frame school. Service King facilities are all I-CAR Gold Class shops. Director of Human Resources Mario Malacara is the chairperson of Dallas I-CAR.
Green Leaf Texas for used parts
The company is a DRP for many insurers and makes what it calls appropriate use of non-OEM and used OEM parts. When recycled OEM parts are required for a repair, Service King turns to Green Leaf Texas. McFadden states, "In today's business of cycle time and the increased use of LKQ parts, we feel that it is essential to have good vendors. Green Leaf allows us to provide quality products and keep the insureds satisfied. They provide our location parts managers with Nextel radios that enable immediate communication between Service King parts department and the parts manager at Green Leaf."
Centralized call center
Service King's customer service staff receives extensive in-house technical and service-oriented training. Service King's service advisors, dressed professionally in white shirts and ties, are able to complete the estimate process quickly using the latest automated systems. They also assist with insurance claims by corresponding and coordinating directly with the insurance company to streamline the repair process.
The centralized Customer Care Center was created to interface with the customer, removing that responsibility from the service advisors so they can stay focused on the vehicle repairs. "The Customer Care Center allows the company to give each customer the attention they need after the trauma of an automobile accident," says McFadden.
Working with the Customer Care Center allows the customer to make one phone call to set up vehicle towing and start the repair order at the shop while getting their questions answered. Customer Care reps then stay in contact with the customers during the repair process.
McFadden says this has streamlined the business and allows Service King to make a consistently good impression with each customer.
Service King's newest locations are designed for optimum production efficiency and technician comfort.
Automated status reporting
Service King customers can receive updated status reports on their vehicles both by phone and on the web site. By entering their repair order number, the customer can see the stage of repair their car or truck is in and when it's expected to be completed. The same system can automatically fax updates to insurers and rental car companies.
Once the repairs have been completed, Service King calls every customer with a short, ten question survey to evaluate the customer's experience regarding service quality, cycle time and quality of repairs. The quality assurance program is administered by CSI Complete.
All repairs performed by Service King are backed with a written, lifetime warranty. Any defects in workmanship will be corrected free of charge unless caused by unreasonable use, maintenance or care of the vehicle.
Family and friends plan
Despite the now large size of the business, Lennox's wife, Lisa, still works in it with her husband. Three of the five Lennox children are out of college and involved in running the business. "Bringing in good people to Service King, often relatives and friends, is a primary goal," says McFadden, who himself has friends and brothers-in-law who work for the company. "People might think that if you have a lot of family members working in the business it can create a lot of friction, but with family members people are cut from the same cloth and have the same business philosophy. We recruit people who have the same work ethic and are fun to work with," said McFadden.
McFadden, a 15-year veteran of Service King, is a primary example of the pathway to management available to employees of the company. He began as a service advisor, as did most of the company's managers. Before becoming Vice President of Sales and Marketing six years ago, McFadden worked as manager of several locations, a trainer and Vice President of Operations. All members of the executive and management team start in the shop and work their way up through the ranks.
This philosophy of extensive training and promotion from within may be the reason Service King was ranked #6 in the mid-sized business category in the "Best Place to Work" in Dallas-Ft Worth presented by the Dallas Business Journal.
Service King also extends a hand to the community by supporting the Family Place, a local shelter for abused women and children in the Dallas area.
In conclusion
McFadden concludes, "To be a success, you try to separate yourself from the competition in all aspects from the quality of repair, to the trade dress of our facilities, which enables our customers to have a better understanding of who we are - a recognizable name with a distinctive logo, synonymous with quality performance."
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