Matick Automotive Group turns to teamwork as it faces supply disruptions
When Paul Zimmermann enthusiastically says “win the day,” he sounds like he is speaking from team sports experience, and he is, given that Zimmerman was a member of the Albion College football team that won the NCAA Division III national title in 1994.
Zimmermann explains that lessons learned through athletics have “galvanized” his team at the Matick Automotive Group, which sells and services vehicles, and which earned the No. 3 ranking among midsize companies in the 2022 Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces competition.
“We have a lot of athletes in our organization, and I don’t call them former athletes because they’re still very competitive,” stated Zimmermann, vice president and partner-owner at the Redford Township-headquartered company. “At Matick we look for those qualities that are ingrained in athletes. We have team members that have competed, and they have that desire to get better, and they will step up and fill in for a team member without being asked, and they’re not worried about the next three weeks or the next three months–their focus is on winning the day.”
Zimmermann says all of the lessons that athletics teach have been needed during an especially challenging period for his industry.
“Our industry has taken on a significant upheaval in the past 12-13 months,” said Zimmermann, whose company operates George Matick Chevrolet and Matick Auto Wash in Redford Township, along with Matick Toyota in Macomb Township. “With the global microchip shortage and the global supply chain shortage, how we sell to our customers and our overall sales strategies have changed.”
But from those challenges, Zimmermann says the company’s leadership team has empowered team members even more, which has included additional reliance on team members for ideas to best serve customers.
“If we were just relying on our leadership team for ideas, we would be in trouble,” Zimmermann said with a laugh. But in a more serious tone he added: “Our team members have 100 percent embraced taking on more responsibilities to serve our customers, and to serve our customers more quickly, including learning how to place an order (for a vehicle) and having more access to inbound inventory. And with everything they do, they embody our team’s E3 formula–energy, effort and enthusiasm.”
Matick Automotive Group
Industry: Auto Dealerships
Top leadership: Karl Zimmermann Jr., president and majority owner; Paul Zimmermann, vice president and partner-owner; Molly Williams, chief operating officer and partner-owner
Home: Redford Township
Employees: 180 (U.S.); 165 (Michigan Employees)
Website: www.matickchevy.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Matick Automotive Group turns to teamwork to manage supply disruptions
