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Allen Austin - August 2011 Employee Spotlight


Sometimes life throws you a curveball.  You think to yourself I'm middle aged, I know what I'm doing with my life, and I'm happy.  Nothing could change this.  However the American economy of late has been a malicious mistress, causing many to see change where they never saw it coming.

Take the housing market for instance.  I personally remember in 1998 my parents owned four different large properties with several apartment buildings in them, and my mother's husband told me "property is the way to go."  Skip ahead a couple years later, add a war that was similar to the 60s and 70s' Vietnam in popularity and consensus, and the housing market - along with banks and many other industries - collapsed.

It was at this time that Allen Austin, the target of this month's Employee Spotlight, decided he was at a crossroads.  Do I continue fighting for construction jobs that aren't presenting themselves, or do I take my love of people, mingling, and so forth and make a new name for myself?

Long story short (and as you've most likely guessed by now), Allen made the correct decision and gave up his lifelong love affair with construction, woodworking, carpentry, and the like, and forged a new path as a sales consultant at Handy Chevrolet.  The results have spoken for themselves.

In the past few months since Allen began at Handy's in late March, he has been part of 20% of the reviews accrued by our store, all of which rate him as a top notch sales consultant.

As above, Allen attributes this to his love of people, cars, and hard work.  "Though my wife says I'm an infinite procrastinator," he jokes, "I am really a hard worker.  I've always believed in hard work; that's how you get ahead in life, in whatever you're doing." 

It's this notion of hard work that is so very interesting about Allen, because unlike most folks who will tell you work comes before play Allen has found a way to make the two coexist, thereby allowing his personal and professional life to flourish.  Just like the Silverado 1500 to which he likens himself, Allen is a hard working, do anything kind of guy who is busy all the time.  Speaking of the 2011 Silverado 1500, if Allen could have any vehicle on our lot at this very moment he would take the Silverado 1500 LTZ Crew Cab, a truck of which he's sold numerous and also fell in love with at first sight.
 

Perhaps his few short years out of his native Vermont whence he resided in North Carolina from 1994 through 1996 that caused some of that southern charm you hear about all too often that makes Allen such a customer-first kind of person, whether it's in Chevrolet sales, used car sales, customer service, or building houses.  But no; it's not a personality thing, at least not in that regard.  You see Allen, unlike many a human being, simply thrives on making people's day.  "Whatever I can do to suit the customer - build them a certain type of house, an odd type maybe, or get them a car that's all the way in, I don't know, California:  I'll do it if it makes them smile, because that in turn makes me smile."

In a day when the "do unto others" philosophy seems dead, it's great to see somebody, let alone a fellow employee, that follows it to the letter.

For more on Allen Austin, check out the Handy Chevrolet staff section by clicking here or give him a call and see firsthand how accommodating and friendly he is by calling 888-295-5380.  If you're a fan of Allen's, click here to write a review for him on his own review page.
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