Neighbor News
Fred Beans Dealership Named Among Top 100 in Nation
Fred Beans Toyota of Flemington is honored as a Best Dealership to Work For by Automotive News and Best Companies Group
Flemington, N.J. – Fred Beans Automotive Group has announced that Fred Beans Toyota of Flemington is among the Top 100 Best Dealerships to Work For in the U.S. The Best Dealerships to Work For is a survey program designed to identify and recognize the best employers in the U.S. retail automobile industry. Those named among the Top 100 – the Flemington dealership was ranked 44th – received high marks from employees in such areas as pay, benefits, communication and transparency, and professional development. Winners are highlighted for their standout qualities, including their pandemic response, in the Dec. 7 issue of Automotive News.
Beth Beans Gilbert, Fred Beans Automotive Group vice president, thanked the dealership’s general manager, Brad Hackendahl, and the entire Toyota of Flemington team for their ongoing commitment to make it Better at Beans each day for one another and for their customers. “Our Fred Beans Toyota of Flemington dealership has been a trailblazer for our operations since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Beans Gilbert. “We used the dealership to test new processes and practices that we later implemented throughout all 21 of our dealerships to help ensure the health and wellness of our customers, our suppliers and the Fred Beans team.”
As the Toyota of Flemington dealership adapted to new ways of doing business, team members’ feedback helped influence the Fred Beans Automotive Group’s COVID-19 Sales Playbook - a thoughtful plan for operating in a pandemic. The Flemington team also demonstrated some of the new “contact-less” sales processes in training videos to further communicate changes to employees across the Beans organization. The Playbook and videos not only cover sanitizing the work environment, wearing masks and staying behind glass partitions installed at the service counters and cashier stations, but safely engaging with customers to show a vehicle, conduct a test drive and complete the sale and delivery of the vehicle.
The Toyota of Flemington team also helped pave the way for an enhanced digital retailing experience throughout all Beans dealerships. Starting about five years ago, the Flemington dealership dedicated a sales team to managing the online sales experience with growing success. Now, the Beans organization has a customized digital retailing platform, the Fred Beans ExpressWay, to better support that effort. Launched this past summer, the Fred Beans ExpressWay leads customers through four steps that enable them to select their new or used vehicle online, provide information on their current vehicle to receive an instant cash offer using Kelley Blue Book value, and estimate their payment using a tool to determine how much they can afford. Customers can then apply for financing and arrange to pick up their vehicle or have it delivered.
The Best Dealerships to Work For is compiled by the Best Companies Group for Automotive News. This is the ninth year Automotive News and the Best Companies Group has published the list of dealerships in the U.S. that excel in creating great places to work. The program measures workplace satisfaction and talent retention from employee feedback through the implementation of a confidential survey. Questions cover a range of topics including corporate culture and communications, satisfaction in role, work environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, and pay and benefits.
“We are so honored to be named one of the Best Dealerships to Work For,” said Hackendahl. “This truly is a testament to the Beans organization’s commitment to putting people first. We consider ourselves a family here in Flemington, and we are part of the larger Fred Beans family. We have faced the challenges of this year, and adapted and innovated quickly, because we have done it together. We have said repeatedly this year, we are Better at Beans, because we are Better Together.”
The Fred Beans Toyota of Flemington team also has been participating in the company-wide platform to give back. In May, the company launched the Fred Beans 500,000 Meals Challenge with a year-end goal of donating 500,000 meals to hunger-fighting organizations in communities where Fred Beans operates, including the Flemington Area Food Pantry. The Fred Beans Automotive Group is motivated to help fill the rising demand for food by committing to donate $25,000 a month from May through December to fund an estimated 400,000 meals for individuals who need assistance. Customers and employees are invited to participate by pitching in to provide at least another 100,000 meals by the end of the year. To learn more or donate, visit https://www.fredbeans.com/half-million-meals-challenge/ .
About Fred Beans Automotive Group
Fred Beans Automotive Group encompasses 32 rooftops, 21 dealerships, 18 brands, six Fred Beans collision centers (franchised CARSTAR), two AutoExpress locations, a parts warehouse, two Carquest locations, four Autorents rental locations, and commercial truck sales. The company established the Fred Beans Charitable Trust in 2000 to give back to the community, prioritizing among organizations whose focus spans youth and education, human services, arts and culture, and community development. In both 2019 and 2020, Fred Beans Automotive Group was placed on the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Best Places to Work list and in 2019, was recognized among the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Family Owned Business Award winners. Fred Beans was among the Most Admired CEOs named by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2019. Learn more at https://www.fredbeans.com/.
