Park Place Lexus

At its two locations in Plano and Grapevine, Texas, Park

Place Lexus (PPL) sells and services new and pre-owned

Lexus vehicles, and sells Lexus parts to the wholesale and

retail markets. PPL is part of the family of Park Place

Dealerships (PPD), which includes eight dealerships with 12

franchises.

In 1994, PPL began benchmarking business practices

outside of the automobile industry, with the intent of

emulating the best business practices they could find and

bringing innovation to the industry. Four years later, the

company conducted its first internal assessment using the

Baldrige criteria for performance excellence to identify areas

for improvement and adopted the brand “Experts in

Excellence” as a sign of its dedication to quality.

Today, PPL ranks among the country’s top Lexus dealers.

Between 2000 and 2004, the company’s gross profit increased

by 51.3 percent. In 2005, PPL Members (employees)

generated $387 million in revenue.

House of Quality

With its mission, “To provide an extraordinary automotive

purchase and ownership experience” as a foundation, the

dealership’s “House of Quality” graphically depicts the

organization’s direction and represents its culture. The four

Core Convictions—integrity, outstanding client experience,

commitment, and winning—provide the structure of the

house. Known as “The Big Hairy Audacious Goal,” the

organization’s vision, “Be the unparalleled retail automotive

group in the United States,” forms the roof of the house. 

The dealership uses many means to identify ways to

improve, including an annual strategic planning process and

self-assessment using the Baldrige criteria for performance

excellence. A quarterly meeting, called “Driving Excellence,”

is used by dealership leaders to assess progress to goals and

performance levels. Improvement activities are planned,

executed, tracked, and standardized using action plans that

result from the strategic planning process or through PPL’s

problem solving process known as DRIVE—Define the

problem, Recognize the cause, Identify the solution, Verify

the actions, Evaluate the results.

PPL’s Listening and Learning process provides a

systematic way to identify client needs and then deliver the

best service possible. PPL acquires information about its

clients from a variety of sources, including client comments

and concerns, follow-up interactions after sales, customer

surveys, and focus groups. This information is used to

develop detailed profiles of clients, identify key customer

needs and preferences, refine its service offerings, establish

corporate and Member performance goals, and target

marketing and improvement opportunities. A database that

includes all interactions with clients is available through an

extensive IT network to all Members who deal directly with

customers, from sales consultants and finance managers to

service and parts department Members. 

2005

Award Winner

National Institute of Standards and Technology ● Technology Administration ● Department of Commerce

Baldrige National Quality Program

Highlights

• In 2004, Park Place Lexus Grapevine’s New Car Client

Satisfaction Index (CSI) of 99.8 percent made it the

highest rated Lexus dealership in the nation. 

• Satisfaction among its pre-owned vehicle clients at 

both locations increased from 96 percent in 2000 to 

98 percent in 2004. 

• The company’s gross profit percentage increased by 

51.3 percent from 2000-2004. 

• PPL’s 50/50 Committee meetings, a monthly open

forum for Members (PPL employees), are focused 

“50 percent” on ideas and concerns and “50 percent” 

on solutions. 
Leaving nothing to chance, PPL has established

performance standards for almost every activity that requires

contact with clients, including requiring phones to be

answered within three rings and email to be responded to

within 24 hours. It has determined the key requirements of

clients for both its sales and service departments. For

example, clients require that sales consultants be courteous,

knowledgeable, respect the clients’ time, and honor

commitments. For service, requirements include fixing the

car right the first time and providing an accurate time

estimate for repairs or service. 

All of this attention to detail and PPL’s insistence on

quality and continual improvement has led to outstanding

customer and performance results. PPL’s Customer

Satisfaction Index (CSI) for clients of new cars approaches

100 percent at both locations, placing them among the top 10

percent of Lexus dealers nationwide. Satisfaction among its

pre-owned vehicle clients at both locations increased from 96

percent in 2000 to 98 percent in 2004. 

The CSI for the service department at both locations is

approaching 98 percent. Satisfaction with parts availability

has increased from 96 percent in 2000 to 98 percent in 2005,

among the Lexus best. In addition, 96 percent of service

clients said their vehicle was ready when promised.

For the past eight years, both the Plano and Grapevine

dealerships have surpassed Lexus benchmarks and earned the

prestigious “Elite of Lexus” award. In 2003, PPL received the

Texas Award for Performance Excellence, the only recipient

that year and the only dealership ever to receive it. 

Most important to PPL, the company continues to expand

its long-term relationships with its clients. Between 2000 and

2005, the percentage of repeat clients at the Plano service

department increased from 68 percent to 77 percent; at

Grapevine, from 69 to 79 percent. Almost 70 percent of PPL

customers say they plan to purchase again from the

dealership. 

Right Person, Right Job

In a highly competitive job market, PPL has a stringent

hiring process that includes aptitude and personality tests to

ensure that the organization has the right people for the right

job. Once hired, each Member follows their training plan

that includes classroom training, on the job training, and

coaching and mentoring aimed at helping them be successful.

In addition, every Member who deals with clients receives

Client Delight training. The company also conducts

specialized training related to health, safety, and wellness;

quality improvement and measurement; computer skills;

documentation and reporting; and tuition reimbursement for

technical school training and for other higher education

pursuits that contribute to job performance. Training is so

important to both corporate and individual success that the

number of hours spent in training per Member has increased

from about three in 2001 to more than 32 in 2004. 

To encourage empowerment and innovation, employees

hold a monthly “50/50” meeting. Half of the meeting focuses

on ideas and concerns and half on solutions, such as

authorizing Members to spend up to $250 on the spot to

resolve a client concern. 

As a result of the emphasis on both process improvement

and training, PPL has dramatically reduced the number of

client concerns (complaints). Between 2002 and 2005,

concerns that “promises were not met” dropped from 130 to

three; concerns about misinformation from 22 to one; and

concerns about discourteous treatment from 28 to one. 

Emphasizing Ethical Practices

With a culture rooted in the highest ethical standards,

PPL has zero tolerance regarding unethical and illegal

behavior and practices. Integrity is among the company’s

Core Convictions and a chief characteristic sought in

recruiting new Members. Senior leaders are expected to

“walk the talk” and be models of ethical behavior. Managers

receive business law and ethics training annually, in areas

ranging from sexual harassment to safety and health

requirements. Ethical and legal practices are discussed

regularly in team meetings and in training classes. Suppliers

also are expected to comply with all ethical and legal

practices. 

Being a good corporate neighbor is a way for PPL to give

back to the community through financial contributions,

product donations, and volunteer support to charitable

organizations. For example, each year PPL donates a new

Lexus to the Crystal Charity Ball, which supports children’s

charities in Dallas County, and to the Northeast Tarrant

County Heart Ball to auction and raise funds. PPL’s financial

contributions to area organizations have grown from $22,000

in 2001 to nearly $70,000 in 2004. In addition, employees

volunteer their time and support to local programs such as

Adopt-a-Soldier and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. 

For more information:

Park Place Lexus

1025 Preston

Plano, TX 75093

Telephone: (972) 407-7000

Fax: (214) 224-1905

Email: baldrige@parkplacetexas.com

Web site: www.parkplacetexas.com