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For New Milford residents, Jim & Jamie Williams, thinking small is a big thing. Why is small so big? This father and son team own Southworth Dodge, “The Biggest Little Dealership in Connecticut” located in scenic Kent, CT.
Jim and Jamie have a goal to give every customer the best deal on any new Dodge car and truck while providing the best personal service only a dealership this size can deliver. Jim has been quoted as saying ‘If you are willing to drive the extra distance to Kent, I will deliver any stock vehicle to your doorstep the next business day. If we don’t have what you’re looking for, we’ll get it and it won't cost you a penny more”.
In today’s competitive marketplace, Jim and Jamie are able to compete thanks to the help of their loyal customers throughout Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Their best advertising to date has been by word of mouth. Jamie told me “Our customers are always advertising for us, whether they know it or not. They tell their friends, family or co-workers about their experience with us, which is the best form of advertising we could hope for.” Customers love their low prices and great service and are always willing to tell their friends. You won’t find any full-page ads in the local papers advertising Southworth’s, those types of ads have little benefit when compared to good old-fashioned word of mouth advertising you receive from a friend. Its funny, their slogan is actually “Small ads, no gimmicks, we pass the savings to you”; which is very appropriate for this father and son team. They don’t want to participate in costly promotions, free giveaways, or gimmicks. They feel these have a negative impact on the industry and the costs are always passed on to the consumer.
The Williams attribute the ability to offer low prices to their low overhead. “Here, you deal directly with the owners. No salespeople, no sales managers, not even a finance manager; we do it all in one easy step for our customers” explained Jim. “People have always been misled to believe that bigger dealerships could give better deals. It’s actually just the opposite.”I asked Jim to elaborate. With a smile on his face, Jim explained “Think about it, at most dealerships you start with a salesperson, they report to a sales manager or in some cases an assistant sales manager, then there’s a business or finance manager. Of course the General Manager’s salary has to be paid and don’t forget the billing and title clerks. Our total overhead is most likely less than the payrolls of our competitors, when you do the math; it’s easy to figure out how we can offer the lowest prices without gimmicks.”
Jim and Jamie wanted to have fun marketing their Dodge dealership. They have done their homework and looked for low cost solutions to market Southworth Dodge in Kent Connecticut. They wanted a simple and catchy domain name and came up with “Get Me A Dodge” GetMeADodge.com. It was simple and easy to remember.
The father and son team want to treat every customer like family. They know the reason people buy from them is because of their service. It was important for them to convey this message on an affordable medium. They reached to the internet and posted their homemade video under “GetMeADodge” on “YouTube. To make it simple, they added their family commercial on GetMeADodge.com too. Jamie stated “it was a lot of fun making this commercial. A friend of ours brought over his video camera and we shot it outside by the sidewalk. Low budget and filled with “road noise” of passing traffic but fun to do, our goal is to have fun in everything we do.
Jamie shared some their latest marketing. “Nowadays with so many ads being thrown at us whether it is the newspaper, radio or television; who knows what gets peoples attention these days. We decided to have fun with Get Me A Dodge. At a recent cruise night in New Milford, bright red t-shirts could be seen advertising the message. Driving down Route 7 in Pittsfield, Up Rt. 67 in Southbury, up Rt. 202 in Northville or even Rt. 22 in Duchess County if you’re paying attention you may see bumper stickers such as “Grab Life” GetMeADodge.com, or “Hemi Power at GetMeADodge.com.” Some of them were good for a chuckle such as “Knock Knock, Who’s there? GetMeADodge.com”, “Simon says GetMeADodge.com” and my personal favorite “My Honor Student said GetMeADodge.com.”
I asked Jim & Jamie what’s next for GetMeADodge.com, but they are keeping it under wraps until they release it to the general public. If you want to get your own GetMeADodge.com bumper sticker, come up to 21 Bridge Street in Kent Connecticut and say, “Get Me A Dodge, and we will give you one! Remember, it’s the other Bridge Street in Kent!”
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getmeadodge[.]gmail.com 
