Automotive News - September 23, 2019 - Best Practices Supplement - A36

36 | SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
S H E E H Y A U T O S T O R E S , FA I R FA X , VA .

Healthy sales support healthier hearts
Fundraiser to move
8,000 vehicles offers
screenings, demos
Published in Automotive News June 10, 2019

Richard Truett
rtruett@crain.com

any dealers quietly write checks
to support charities in their communities. And that's what Vince
Sheehy could do to cover his
company's yearly commitment to the American Heart Association.
After all, his family's 22 stores in the Virginia,
Maryland and Washington, D.C., area sold
44,000 new and used vehicles last year, so a
five-figure check wouldn't put much of a dent
in his company's bank account.
But Sheehy, president of Sheehy Auto Stores
in Fairfax, Va., takes a different approach from
many dealers to philanthropy. For Sheehy,
raising money for the heart association involves almost all of the 2,400 employees in his
stores, as well as vendors and customers, in an
event called the Sheehy 8000. The goal: Sell
8,000 vehicles in 50 days and, in doing so,
raise $225,000 to $300,000.
But there's more: The association takes an
active role in the event by educating the company's customers and employees on heart
health matters, offering CPR training and participating in in-store events.
While some might view the event with a $1
million advertising blitz as somewhat gimmicky or a public relations stunt, it's anything
but, says Sheehy.
"During one of the events three years ago,
my father had a series of strokes and was incapacitated in a wheelchair for the next nine
months until he passed away," said Sheehy,
60, a dealer since 1991. "He had several heart
issues that preceded that. So, it became a very
personal cause to me and my family."
Sheehy Auto Stores ranks No. 32 on the
Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership
groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of
23,772 new vehicles in 2018.

Everybody pitches in
The event, now in its 22nd year, kicked off in
May and runs through July 5. The company
donates $10 per vehicle sold, both new and
used. The $80,000 generated from those sales
is the easy part of the total. Raising the rest is

Vince Sheehy, holding the check, second from left, says the fundraiser is "anything but a gimmick."
The Sheehy 8000 event aims to raise
more than $200,000 each year for
the American Heart Association by
selling 8,000 vehicles in 50 days at
Sheehy Auto Stores' 22 dealerships.
New- and used-vehicle sales increase
about 10% during the event.

where it gets interesting, and that part includes several fun elements designed to involve the community.
Sheehy's employees hold fundraising contests among the company's stores. There are
in-store healthy cooking demonstrations free
to the public, free blood pressure screenings
and CPR classes for Sheehy employees and
the community. This year, Paul Sheehy,
Vince's brother and part owner of a professional rugby team, kicked in $5 per ticket from
the team's first game.
"As the event has grown, over these 22 years,
it has just really snowballed, and we keep
finding more and better ways to raise money,"
Vince Sheehy said.
"The first time we did the event, it was more
of a sales race. Then we said, 'Why don't we
raise a little money for charity?' " Sheehy recalled. "But over the last 22 years, it has taken
on a life of its own. Now, our event is so big,
and it involves so many critical partners, and
the cause is so strong that any customer who
spends more than 10 minutes with us understands that it's anything but a gimmick."
In previous years, Sheehy donated the proceeds of the event to cancer research. But he
chose the heart association after polling his
employees about which causes were important to them.

Sheehy's relationship with the association
isn't just a one-way street. The company benefits as well. "We go through CPR training at
all of our stores that everyone is invited to participate in," Sheehy says. "We have between 15
percent and 20 percent of our staff that is now
CPR-trained, so that we might have the opportunity to save a life down the road, whether it is within the company or if someone is
out on their own."

Higher productivity
Another benefit: a healthier work force. At
Sheehy, sick time has been reduced, productivity has increased and insurance costs have
lowered. Many employees now take part in
activities such as walking contests to see who
racks up the most steps.
Sheehy has some advice for dealers thinking
of creating a similar event: It has to be a wellplanned, comprehensive effort that is a high
priority for the company's executives every
day of the campaign. It also takes consistency
and the buy-in of vendors and motivated employees to make it successful.
Running concurrently with the fundraising
event are sales contests in each of the stores,
giving employees an opportunity to fatten
their paychecks as well as raising the excitement level.
The Sheehy 8000 usually bumps sales of new
and used vehicles by about 10 percent. And
this year's event got off to a roaring start.
Around 500 employees attended the kickoff
breakfast, and sales of used cars have been
some of the strongest Sheehy has ever seen.
"This year's goal is $225,000, but we'll probably end up closer to $300,000," he said. "Once
you are committed to the cause, it gets very exciting to find different ways to raise money." a

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