"We treat people here the way we would all like to be treated,"  he says, explaining that customer service goes to the heart of the business's slogan.

"That's what 'Sheehan's Belivin' is all about."

- Tom Sheehan 

Dealer Profile

#1 in customer service, 'Sheehan's Believin'

Tom Sheehan remembers that moment of truth, almost 30 years ago, like it was yesterday.  He thinks back and once again he is that 20-something kid, fresh out of college, standing in the Pontiac showroom on his first real day in the car business.

"I remember wondering "is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?," recalls Sheehan, who was following a path first blazed by his father.  "it took me about an hour to find the answer."

During those 60 minutes, Sheehan met with a customer and sealed his first deal since leaving college.  And that sale has made all the difference in the world for Sheehan. 

"I remembered what a great feeling it was to see people so excited about buying a car," he said.  "It gets in your blood."  Today, Tom Sheehan is running that same Pontiac/GMC Truck dealership on Federal Highway in Lighthouse Point where he made that sale.  And while much has changed, a lot still remains the same. 

While some other car dealers may have moved their showrooms out west, Sheehan Pontiac GMC Truck is still in the same place it's been since 1966. 

"It's just a few minutes from just about anywhere in Broward County,"  Sheehan says.  "If you offer people the best treatment, great selection and outstanding value, why wouldn't they drive 15 minutes?"

And while his job title has changed over the years, Sheehan still gets that same feeling when he sees customers walk out excited about buying a new car.

"When I put the key in the door to open the place up every morning, I still get excited about being here,"  he says.  Sheehan's love for the business, combined with a great team of employees and perhaps most important of all, a great reputation, have help his dealership become the largest volume Pontiac GMC Truck dealer in the Southeastern United States.  And it has helped the dealership, which offers new and used Pontiacs, GMC trucks and customized conversion vans, earn a ranking as the number one Pontiac GMC Truck dealer in customer satisfaction for the region.

That, Sheehan says, is something he's exceptionally proud of.  "We treat people here the way we would all like to be treated",  he says, explaining that customer service goes to the heart of the business's slogan.  "That's what 'Sheehan's Believing' is all about."

The attention to the customer, Sheehan says, has also helped the dealership win outstanding recognition from General Motors, including one of the corporation's top honors, the Jack Smith Leadership Award, two years running.

To put the prestige of the award in perspective you have to remember that out close to 7,500 GM dealers, only one hundred receive the award every year.  "It's a very difficult award to get," said Jeff Watts, the director of dealer recognition programs for General Motors.  To qualify, Pontiac and GM dealers must be rated among the top 10 in their division when it comes to sales and customer service ratings.  "He's just an oustanding dealer," Watts said of Sheehan.  "They do the job for us year in and year out when it comes to customer satisfaction and sales."

But at Sheehan, while winning awards is important it is winning customers that counts the most.  "If you're going to play the game, why not satisfy customers better than anyone else,"  says Sheehan, whose competitive spirit is driven by his passion for excellence.  And while sales are critical in a business that thrives on volume, Sheehan says it would be short sighted to sell cars at the expense of customer relationships. 

"We don't pressure the customers here,"  Sheehan says.  "We just offer people the best treatment and if you offer people the best treatment, how can you not succeed?"  Also key to the success of the dealership, Tom Sheehan will tell you, are the 125 employees who keep the dealership going.  "I can't tell you how indebted I feel to the employees here," he says.  "We can't win without the employees."

Winning  in the automobile business is something that runs in Sheehan's family.  His father, Sherwood Sheehan founded his first dealership, a Packard dealership in Buffalo back in 1946, shortly after returning home from a successful stint as an Army Airforce fighter pilot in World War II. 

Tom Sheehan tells the story of how his father was working as a salesman in a Dodge showroom when folks from Packard approached him and offered to set him up in a dealership of his own.  "He had built a reputation as a straght shooter,"  Tom Sheehan said. 

Before long, Sherwood Sheehan had developed a thriving business and was running three Ford dealerships when he left Buffalo for South Florida in 1966. 

These days, Tom Sheehan has two brothers and a brother-in-law in the car business and there are six dealerships affiliated with his Pontiac GMC truck business.  And while the businesses continue to grow, Sheehan says he never forgets the feeling he got when he would sneak over to his dads dealership after school to wash cars and just hang out.  "I loved the hustle and bustle," he said.  "An auto dealership is an exciting place to be."