Several dozen members of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) met recently at Park Place Lexus Plano for a panel discussion on “Women in Leadership.”
 
The panel was led by Crystal Arredondo, MBA, partner, MPACT Financial Group and Chair of NAWBO Institute of Entrepreneurial Development; Sara Conlee, senior vice president, Bank of America; and Sherry Miller, vice president of Human Resources for Park Place Dealerships. Renee Fraser, PhD, CEO of Fraser Communications, and Past President/current member NAWBO Los Angeles was the moderator.
 
“My secret sauce for success is to pick your battles,” Miller explained. If you are going to pick one, it is imperative to have all of the facts to back up whatever you are about to battle over. Don’t go into battle full of emotion. Go in being the voice of reason. And, even if you KNOW you’re right, know when to step down and when to stand up.”

When it was pointed out that people seem to really enjoy working At Park Place, Miller responded, “It’s really about making people feel valued. Over the past 10 years, we were able to cut our turnover rate in half by tweaking our hiring processes, enhancing benefits, and investing in the training and development of our members. We give them every opportunity to succeed in their respective areas of expertise.”

Lexus introduced a program last year called “The Lexus Difference” that’s meant to improve members’ interactions with women, millennials, and multicultural buyers. Women wield 80% of the influence in a purchasing decision. So whether a woman is the sole decision maker or not, she’s going to influence the outcome. The man doesn’t care whom you’re addressing, but women often feel left out.

Park Place also recently introduced a new sales program that provides negotiation-free, upfront pricing, with dedicated personal consultants to accompany buyers throughout the entire sales process. Called “One Touch,” the program is focused on offering a fair price on both the trade-in and purchase while respecting the client’s time to create an easy, positive buying experience.
 
“Our goal has never been to just sell cars,” continued Miller. “We’re more interested in developing long-term relationships with our clients and their families. We have many multi-generational clients who have bought numerous cars from us over the years, and they wouldn’t trust anyone else to service them.”
 
Park Place Lexus Plano is located at 6785 Dallas Parkway, on the southwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway and Spring Creek.

Ken Schnitzer founded Park Place Dealerships in 1987 with a single Mercedes-Benz dealership on Oak Lawn. Today, Park Place Dealerships employs more than 2,000 people and operates 18 full-service dealerships representing luxury brands including Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Infiniti, Volvo, smart, Jaguar, Lotus, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, and Maserati. For more information about Park Place Dealerships, visit parkplace.com http://parkplace.com> .