Attempting to get driver’s license certifications for her youngsters in Pennsylvania was an “unbelievable” expertise for Beth Beans Gilbert, vp of Fred Beans Automotive Group.
Street assessments in Pennsylvania should be taken by the state’s Division of Transportation or an accredited third-party enterprise. Gilbert described signing up for the take a look at by PennDOT as a “horrible course of” the place she needed to usually get up in the course of the night time to aim to schedule an appointment by the web system.
It felt like a lottery system, Gilbert stated, because the variety of new drivers longing for a take a look at outnumbered the out there take a look at spots. Folks usually pay driving instructors to navigate the system for them to safe an appointment, she stated.
Then Gilbert realized of Jason Fidishun, CEO of John’s Driving Faculty — one of many small variety of companies allowed to manage driving abilities exams within the state — and sought his assist for her youngsters.
She struck up a partnership with Fidishun, with the family-owned auto retailer giving a congratulatory first-aid package and a Fred Beans dealership coupon to his college students who handed the course. However then Fidishun got here ahead with a good greater thought.
In accordance with Gilbert, Fidishun stated, “Hey, I’ve permission to open up one among these driving bases in Doylestown … I can not discover land.”
He requested if he may run his college out of the Fred Beans Nissan dealership in Doylestown, north of Philadelphia. Fred Beans Automotive Group sells 18 manufacturers by 20 dealerships and offered 13,145 new and 14,097 used automobiles in 2022.
Gilbert shortly realized it could possibly be a mutually useful association. Youngsters may simply schedule their driving assessments there, Fidishun’s enterprise would develop, and the Beans dealership may acquire potential new prospects in a special market: brand-new drivers.
“This can be a win-win for our two firms,” Fidishun stated in an electronic mail. “We’re in a position to develop the footprint of our testing websites right into a location with on the spot notoriety due to the respected Fred Beans identify. For Fred Beans, that is an out-of-the-box method that may assist convey drivers into their dealership, which is very necessary on this digital age.”
Fidishun and Gilbert then struck up the identical deal at Fred Beans Volkswagen of Devon, about 45 minutes from Doylestown.
Since partnering in 2019, John’s Driving Faculty has administered roughly 1,000 drivers’ assessments by the dealerships. The numbers had been impacted when the pandemic started roughly a yr into the partnership, however Gilbert stated it has been useful. College students have are available for assessments and ended up shopping for a automobile, she stated. John’s Driving Faculty additionally has purchased automobiles, Gilbert stated.
When college students cross, they obtain an emergency first-aid package for his or her automobile and a $250 coupon towards a car buy at a Fred Beans dealership. The dealership additionally presents worker reductions on driver’s assessments and driving coaching.
“This can be a child’s most enjoyable time of their life. They bought their driver’s license, it is taking place in a automobile dealership — that’ll be their reminiscence,” Gilbert stated. And, she provides: “Possibly whereas they’re there, the mother or dad sees a automobile deal they like or the child buys a automobile.”