Top Workplaces 2023: Patterson’s auto team grows respect, business together

The staff at John Patterson’s OC Auto Team weathered huge victories and inflationary hurdles in 2023 as the dealership group expanded by one.

Guiding them with “beautiful balance” is the namesake and president of the four-dealership group, John Patterson.

His employees in a survey of Top Workplaces in Orange County repeatedly commended their boss for creating a friendly environment that appreciates them, offering support, training and consistent leadership.

“JP is fully engaged,” wrote one employee. “And by him showing face and shaking hands with the higher ranks and showing support to those beneath has a big impact on feeling like we are a team.”

“Like any good relationship, there is communication and growth,” wrote another.

Patterson’s Tustin Mazda dealership is celebrating 20 years of business come early 2024. A commitment to the team and the community has put the company back on the Top Workplaces program for the third year in a row and the 15th overall.

Leadership for Patterson comes from the heart and his faith. “This is God’s business and it’s my job to take care of his business,” he says. That means helping his team see the differences between a moment of happiness and a life lived perpetually with joy.

Patterson says that while he can’t control the forces moving up interest rates and driving up costs for consumers (and car buyers), he can help his team control their attitudes.

“We try and provide an environment where our teammates feel valued, and our guests feel valued,” he says. “Our business model is much more than selling and servicing cars. It’s about giving back to the community. It’s about taking care of a number of those different community services that have done so much for so many people.”

We asked Patterson to share his strategy for keeping a sales team motivated during an economy that’s been buffeted by supply chain and cost issues. His answers have been edited for length.

Q: The market is weird right now, isn’t it? Shoppers are spending but not on everything and perhaps not on high-dollar things like cars. What are you doing to keep the team engaged?

A: When your business is process-driven, it’s so much more rewarding than when it’s just day-to-day-driven. When you come to work with a plan in place and an organized organization that is here to support you with the best tools that we possibly can provide, I think that goes a long way for each of our team members. Whether you’re in sales, service or in our business office and finance.

We’ve got the level of support that we try and provide for our team, and I think that is very cathartic to each and every one of our team members.

Q: What are some of the victories this year for the auto group?

A: We’ve had some tremendous growth. We brought the Kia brand to Mission Viejo, which opened in May, and we’re going to be building another store here in the Tustin Auto Center. So those are huge victories for our organization.

Q: Staff turnover in the auto industry can be high. How do you keep the good people from leaving you?

A: I think the average business has a turnover of somewhere between 20 and 30% on an annual basis and the automobile business has a turnover ratio over 40% on an annual basis for its retailers. We take a tremendous amount of pride in the fact that our turnover is a sub-5%.

So, we like to think that everyone that you’re going to be visiting with when you come to our store today is going to be here next week, next month and next year.

Q: How do you do that?

A: You know, it starts with having a wonderful leadership team. Understand the importance of taking care of each and every one of our team members. When we interview someone to come on board with us, they take a personality profile and assessment to really make sure that they’re a good fit.

They might be the best salesperson in the world. They might be the best technician or service person in the world. But if they don’t have a propensity for the culture that we have, then they’re not going to be a good fit for us and we’re not going to be a good fit for them.

Q: What do you tell your folks ahead of the New Year and perhaps turbulent times if we see a recession in 2024?

A: It’s hard to predict how things are gonna go, and certainly we we can’t control what’s going on outside of the four walls of our stores. We just take what’s given to us and give it our best ever.

We just need to constantly remind ourselves and sales and service that we’ve got a good process in place and a great follow-up system. We’re taking good care of customers whenever they give us the opportunity to talk to them about the car business. That’s going to provide us with more victories than not.

John Patterson’s OC Auto Group

Founded: 2004

Headquarters: Tustin

OC employees: 171

Industry: auto sales

Website: pattersonautos.com

Quote: “Happiness is temporary. Joy comes from something that’s a much deeper feeling of purpose.” — John Patterson, president of John Patterson’s OC Auto Team.