81-year-old pharmacist has been working for 60 years
July 27, 2016
South Louisiana Seed keeping up with the times, weekend warriors
July 27, 2016
When a customer walks into Southland Dodge in Houma, they’re immediately met with a friendly face and a smile.
The company’s salespeople said they take pride in being personable and lively. They’re trained to go the extra mile to make sure customers leave the business satisfied. The support staff at the business are top-notch, too. They work tirelessly to make sure the buying experience is pleasurable for everyone involved.
That’s all by design.
Southland Dodge is a family-run and family-owned business that’s been going strong for almost 50 years – a leader in local automotive sales.
Open since 1968, the automotive dealer said it boasts top-notch customer care – a trait it’s able to maintain because it’s locally owned and operated.
Southland Dodge offers the latest makes and models in Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Ram. The business’s showroom is open six days a week at hours that extend beyond the typical 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
“Being family-owned allows for quick decision-making, customer handling and employee relations,” General Manager Frank Teuton said. “We also have employee longevity that brings decades of experience without all of the turnover you see at other dealerships. The slogan is, ‘No Pressure, No Hype.’ We don’t use the high-pressure sales tactics that you see in the ‘big city’ stores.”
The Teuton family has owned Southland Dodge throughout its 48 years in operation.
The company started in 1968 when Joe Teuton Sr. partnered with Joe Teuton Jr., Jeff Teuton and Dennis Oncale to start a Dodge dealership in Houma. Southland Dodge originally was located at 505 Sunset Avenue (now Southland Dodge’s body shop location).
From there, the business grew and relocated. In 1972, Southland Dodge moved to 1119 Barrow St., where Bluewater Rubber and Gasket is located today. The dealership operated out of those quarters until 1977 before moving to its current location at 6161 West Park Avenue in Houma – the business’s home for nearly 40 years.
But through the changes in location, Southland Dodge has stayed local and has remained in the Teuton family – something that Frank Teuton said has allowed Southland Dodge to keep a consistent commitment to customers throughout its existence.
Today, Jeff Teuton owns the business and Frank handles the day-to-day operations as general manager.
“Our dealership has always been owner-operated,” he said. “Joe and Jeff were always present from the early years until retirement. Now, I am here every day to carry on the same tradition.”
Aside from the family-owned legacy, another big tradition at Southland Dodge is a commitment to staying in tune with the trends in the highly competitive and rapidly changing automotive industry.
That, and offering service after the sale.
Frank Teuton said Southland Dodge has seen its sales numbers grow throughout its history – a statistic he said can be attributed to the company’s ability to evolve and change. Southland Dodge has state of the art technology, which allows the dealership to stay in constant contact with both manufacturers and customers to ensure that everyone involved is happy.
The dealership also has a service center and body shop to keep customers happy for years after they drive off the lot with their purchase.
Teuton said a lot of modern repairs in vehicles revolve around fixing computers or software installed into the vehicles. To combat that, Southland Dodge maintains a staff of well-trained mechanics who can get broken vehicles back on the road in short order.
“We have to bring in more and more computer and networking technology in order to communicate with the manufacturer, customers and the vehicles,” Teuton said. “A lot of the repair work in the service department involves software updates to modules installed in the vehicles. The customers’ expectations are higher today and we must adapt to those expectations.”
And the business aims to keep getting better, as well.
Teuton said Southland Dodge works daily to find ways to make the car buying experience better for customers who go to the lot.
He added that Southland Dodge is currently trying to get more space so that it can hold more inventory and also have more convenient parking for customers.
Because, as the Teuton family knows – sometimes in the world of automobiles, it’s the little things that count most.
“We always strive to improve,” Teuton said. “We are trying to increase capacity on all fronts – property, parking, service throughout the sale, technology, employee training and everything else in our business. We do that so that we can improve the overall customer experience. For us, that’s very important.” •
Follow Casey on Twitter for more.
https://twitter.com/casey_gisclair
