The Road to Exceptional

 B.J. Maurer Ford stands out for many reasons:

• The 100-year-old business is counted among the oldest Ford dealerships in the world.
• It’s still owned by the family that started it in 1924.
• The dealership remains faithful to the same mission it had a century ago: "Delivering quality cars and service to every customer, without exception!" 

Today, Luke Maurer manages the dealership owned by his parents, Matt and Lisa Maurer, as the fourth generation to step into the business started by his great-grandfather. 

He said he believes treating customers and employees like family, being the best person possible, and relying on divine guidance are key to the dealership’s longevity. 

The business' staying power can be traced to B.J. Maurer Sr., who started the dealership in Boswell, Penn., just five years before the Great Depression. When the economy tanked, he went from selling cars quite well to a market in which few people could afford to pay to service the cars they had, let alone buy new ones.

Luke says his great-grandfather responded by allowing customers to keep their vehicles and establishing a barter system for payment. Instead of paying cash for repairs and vehicle payments, customers gave a portion of their crops or provided other services, and the dealership flourished despite the severe economic downturn.

B.J. Maurer has been growing ever since, Luke says. The business, a U300 Ford dealer (meaning it sells fewer than 300 new Fords a year), delivers 15 to 20 new vehicles and 20 to 30 used vehicles a month. 

“There are not too many Ford dealerships of this size, but small towns like ours still need someone to sell and service Ford products and do it in a quality way,” he says of Boswell, population 1,221. 

A Family Affair

Throughout the years, the Maurer family has always been at the wheel, driving the business through challenges and opportunities.

B.J. Maurer Jr. succeeded his father, B.J. Maurer Sr., and later, at age 17, Matt Maurer took over. “My dad became the owner at a very young age, though he’d been working at the dealership for many years,” Luke says. “But he went full time when he graduated from high school.”

Luke joined the business in seventh grade at age 14. His mother would drop him off at the detail bay to wash cars and fetch him later. 

His role shifted and grew over the years. When he got his driver’s license at age 16, Luke began picking up parts and delivering them to the service bay to keep things moving in the shop. At 18, he moved into the service department itself. At 19, Luke got his sales license and began selling cars, and after graduating from college, he started working there full time.

“My entire life, I always had an interest in working at the family dealership,” he says. “I just always enjoyed helping others. I find satisfaction in helping people find the right vehicle and in delivering top-notch service. It’s a fulfilling job and a career I enjoy.”

Excellence Starts with Employees

Luke says the dealership’s 26 employees are an integral part of its success. Luckily for the dealership, it never lacks quality employees. B.J. Maurer Ford is a sought-after place to work in Boswell.

“Whenever we have a role to fill, people reach out to us,” he says. “They have heard about how we run our dealership and what our employees think of us. We fill most positions by word of mouth.”

The dealership seeks employees with a strong customer-first mindset and a passion for helping others. The right individuals are also team players and hold themselves to high standards.

“That’s the person who fits into our culture. They will be successful here,” Luke says. “We can usually tell pretty quickly if someone is going to fit into our culture and be able to do what we do here. It takes a special type of person.”

The dealership retains its employees because, Luke says, every employee knows, “We believe God comes first and family second, and the business after that.”

That means that if an employee needs to take his or her son to baseball practice or daughter to ballet class, time off can be taken with no questions asked. “We tell them to be there for their children, and we try to be very flexible with that,” he says. “Obviously we have processes and procedures that we follow here, but when it comes to family, we encourage our employees to put that first.” 

The dealership says it also strives to pay employees well and guarantees work, especially in its service shop, where every technician is promised 40 hours a week, which isn’t the norm in many dealerships, Luke says. 

During the pandemic, the store put salespeople on salary to ensure they could support their families, says Luke, who recalls that Pennsylvania dealerships could sell cars only online at the time. Sellers also received a bonus when they made a sale.

“We have held onto that structure and adjusted it to make sure everyone who works at our dealership can live comfortably and support themselves and their families,” Luke says. 

A few unexpected perks are in the mix. Luke’s mother, Lisa, owns The Shake Shak in town and frequently treats all employees to burgers, ice cream or milk shakes from the restaurant. She also owns The Yak Shak, a boat rental business next to a lake behind the dealership where she offers free kayak, canoe and paddleboard rentals to employees and their families. 

“If you work for B.J. Maurer, you are part of one big family, and these are the perks that come along with it,” Luke says. 

Community Service Shines

B.J. Maurer Ford’s ingredients for success also include a focus on community service.

“We like to support those who provide such wonderful support to us,” says Luke, who points out that community service builds trust and relationships, driving business to the dealership. However, that’s not the main reason for supporting the local community, he’s quick to add. “It’s simply the right thing to do. It’s nice to feed the cycle of doing things for others.”

Families in need is a key focus area. For instance, the dealership donated proceeds raised at its 100^th anniversary celebration to the Katelynn Reighard family to offset Katelynn’s medical expenses for cancer treatments and planned a fall golf outing to raise more funds. The 30-year-old wife and mother attended Conemaugh Township Area High School with Luke. 

“Nothing can compensate for what they’re going through, but we want to do what we can to help them,” he says. 

The dealership also supports local military veterans and active service members. Luke’s great-grandfather served in World War I, his grandfather in the U.S. Navy, and two of his brothers and his sister served in the U.S. Army.

“Every Veterans Day weekend, we do complimentary oil changes for veterans and active service members,” he says. “We shut down the service department for them. It’s our way of thanking them for their service.”

The dealership also benefits from the veterans, he added, from the stories they relate and the things they’ve learned.

Employees are encouraged to serve at the events or in other volunteer efforts, which help the dealership thrive in ultra-competitive automotive retail, where major auto groups with big pocketbooks command attention.

“A huge auto group might have a nicer facility or better snacks in the waiting room, but we can stand out through better service,” he says. “We tell everyone on our team that the way they treat customers is how they will remember the business. … We worked really hard to build a reputation where our customers see us as more than just a dealership but as a family that supports our employees and our customers.” 

Back to the Future

With a century under the business’ belt, Luke says he’s excited about what’s in store for it after the changes the pandemic brought.

“We’ve adapted to sending customers videos and pictures over the phone, negotiating deals over the phone, and handling sales virtually. All of our internal processes also shifted. We optimized the process to make it clean and efficient.” 

The remote experience and how well it’s done will solidify the future for automotive dealerships such as B.J. Maurer Ford, he believes.

“Sometimes new cars sell before they even come in. Putting cars on the website while they are in transit has been a game-changer for us. It lets people see our inventory faster, and when combined with back-end processes that let us communicate with customers online, we can sell more cars and make customers even happier.”

Another growth aide has come in Five Star Dealer, a tool that helps customers write online reviews of the store, which encourages customers to do so via a text message following a purchase there.

“Customers love it and consistently let us know that this is the best experience they ever had buying a car,” says Luke, who believes the dealership’s livelihood depends on the staff’s work being recognized.

“We need to see the bigger picture in what we do. We are here to sell and service cars, but we are also here to inspire people, be a helping hand, and a light in their life. This has served us well over the last 100 years and will continue to in the years to come.”

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Ronnie Wendt is an editor at F&I and Showroom.