On two occasions this past year, we have had very disappointing accidents with two different vehicles where severe damage was done but not enough to qualify the vehicles as being ""totaled"". Both accidents were freak accidents to a family that had few car problems in the past. On both occasions where we did not want to go back to using the vehicles after such serious repair, Dan Richman of your Grapevine location worked very hard to get the expense reimbursement from the insurer along with the salvage sale at as high of a level as possible. On this last occasion where a massive tree fell on our Cadillac SRX with 15,000 miles on it, the insurance company again would not classify it as totaled and yet we were very uncomfortable having it as the primary transport vehicle of my wife and two daughters after such significant repair. Dan worked with all vigor over a course of days to work with Nationwide Insurance to get the expense reimbursement quite higher than their initial amount and negotiated aggressively with the salvage company to get their amount higher. This was the second time he was quite successful in this kind of effort on our behalf in less than a year. I have come to understand that there is little benefit to him with such and in fact in both cases, his compensation has likely been negatively impacted by his avoidance of such significant work at your collision repair shop as he helped us avoid significant repair at your location on cars we did not want to keep.
While Dan has overseen very good collision repair work on our vehicles over the years, his willingness to serve us in this way has really caught my attention as the president of a service related company in the staffing business. Carl Sewell of the Sewell family of dealerships here in Dallas wrote a bestselling book years back, The Lifetime Value of a Customer, that I found most beneficial in my business. The thesis of the book is to always do what is best for the customer without exception even if it carries extra cost in the short term and it will nearly always carry long term value in the culture you create in your work environment and the long term satisfaction of your customers that in due time will work its way to a broader customer base through word of mouth and in turn will become synonymous with your brand. Dan Richman embodies that in his work and I would greatly encourage you to recognize this with him. There are other collision firms that likely do very good work but I can assure you that this kind of focus on the client's needs is very, very unique in your industry. My wife and I are indebted.
Over the past 17 years, I have been president and founder of an executive search firm that places IT professionals in significant numbers throughout north Texas. I will continue to refer all that I know to your organization when the need presents itself just as I would to a service-focused relocation company or realtor or air conditioning firm. Through Dan Richman, your firm has earned it.
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