ADI Nominee Michael Crawford Wins F&I Pacesetter’s Award

Michael. Crawford, Dealer Principal of Peoria Kia, has been awarded the 2008 F&I Pacesetter’s Award from F&I Management and Technology Magazine. Mr. Crawford’s nomination was put forth by the Automotive Dealership Institute, which has trained several members of Peoria Kia’s F&I Managers. Of the more than 26,000 considered for the prestigious award, only five were selected.

“We work with hundreds of dealerships around the country, and we considered many of them when it came time to choose our nominee,” reports Alan Algan, Executive Director and CEO of the Automotive Dealership Institute, “but Michael Crawford has transformed Peoria Kia into a textbook example of a perfect dealership: ethical, respectful of every customer, and incredibly successful.”

Much of Crawford’s success stems from his core values. “I think a lot of GMs and dealer principals lose sight of the human element in the equation – and I’m talking about customers and staff,” he says, “My heartfelt desire is to see people treated the way they deserve to be treated.”

Crawford helps bring his heart’s desire to fruition by personally interacting with every single customer who visits the lot. On the rare occasion when Crawford isn’t on-site, he calls every customer from his cell phone, not to close a sale, but to ensure that every customer leaves the dealership with no less than 100% satisfaction in the way they were treated.

However, Mr. Crawford is the first to admit that the ethical practices he advocates must be embraced by every member of his team. “I’m very hands-on,” he admits, “but I’m a firm believer in support people. You can’t get to the next level without the right team.” Crawford believes his ability to consistently “get to the next level” is thanks, in large part, to the specialized education available to professionals in the automotive industry. “The right training can make an F&I superstar,” he says. He points to two of his employees, ADI graduates Buddy Bishop and Jimmy Valentine, as proof of this theory.

“I’m very grateful for my success,” he says, “and ADI has been instrumental in helping me achieve it.”

Mr. Crawford remains active in numerous charitable organizations throughout the community, often organizing events at great personal expense and effort. Crawford’s passionate advocacy stems from his own first-hand knowledge of overcoming economic hardship. “I’m a street kid from North Kansas City, Missouri,” he says, “I’m one of those statistics that wasn’t supposed to succeed.”