Fixed Ops Journal - February 2018 - 45

Hyundai of Yuma service
adviser Daniel Lopez, left,
greets a customer who is taking
advantage of the dealership's
policy of free oil changes for
military personnel.

PROFIT BUILDER
HYUNDAI OF YUMA

FREE
FOR
TROOPS
Dealership oil changes for military, veterans boost customer loyalty



STEPHANIE HERNANDEZ McGAVIN

foj@autonews.com

vantage of the program.
The dealership performs about 100 free oil
changes in peak months, Baladi says, and the
monthly volume never dips below 50. He declined to discuss the cost of the program.
Military identification is required for the
free oil change. Baladi says the program
makes it easy for customers who are new to
the area to find a place they can trust for vehicle service.
"It introduces us to military men and women
who haven't been to our dealership
before," Baladi says. "If their vehicle
does need anything in the future,
they've started a relationship with us."

yundai of Yuma, in Arizona, offers
all active military personnel and
veterans free oil changes -
whether or not they drive a Hyundai vehicle.
The practice makes the dealership well
known on the nearby military base. It also initiates a relationship between customers and
the store, establishing the service department
as a trusted source for future work.
John Baladi, director of operations
at Hyundai of Yuma, says the program started in April 2015, a month
after its dealer principal, Abe Razick,
opened the store.
'Right thing to do'
Razick, a Marine veteran, wanted
Programs that introduce military
"to take care of his military men and
personnel to dealerships are espewomen," Baladi told Fixed Ops Jourcially important near military bases
nal. The dealership shares a fence Reed: Word-ofbecause customer turnover from perwith Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, mouth is a plus. sonnel rotation is high, says Don
he adds.
Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training, a
Baladi, 40, notes that Razick's other two
fixed operations training service in Gahanna,
dealerships, Kia of Yuma and Escondido
Ohio.
Hyundai, in California, offer similar oil
"If you have a program like that free oil change
change programs. Baladi also is operations
and you're advertising it to the military, you'll
director at those stores.
gain those new servicemen and women who
But he says Hyundai of Yuma's program has
rotate in" to the base, Reed says. "There's a high
been around the longest and tends to attract
probability you'll get them to come into your
the most participants. The store receives most
dealership, versus someplace else."
of its military customers from the Marine
Reed previously was a dealer in Fairbanks,
base, but Baladi says an ample number of reAlaska, where he says 70 percent of his busitired veterans in the Yuma area also take adness came from military customers. He says

Hyundai of Yuma's free oil change program is
important in attracting and keeping those
customers.
"It's money very well spent," Reed says. "Military communities are tightknit and word-ofmouth is very strong. So anything we can do in
that community is going to be a huge plus."
He adds: "Plus, it's just the right thing to do."
Baladi says the dealership initially advertised heavily on the Marine base, but it took
about eight months for word of mouth to travel and for people to start using the program.
Baladi calls the program a "win-win" for the
dealership and its military customers. He
would not estimate how many customers
who use the free oil change return for other
paid service.
"Naturally, filters are going to be requested
and brake work is going to be requested," he
adds.
Because Hyundai of Yuma's program burnishes the dealership's
reputation, Baladi insists it will
continue whether or not it makes
a profit.
"We do this program to serve
military personnel," he says. "If
we do go further and measure
profit from it, we don't measure it
to decide whether to keep the
program or take it away." 
Baladi: Serving military
customers is a "win-win."

FEBRUARY 2018

PAGE 45

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - February 2018