RV News Interviews Paul Skogebo

Robert Crist & Co.

An RV Dealership Built on Integrity

By Don Magary

Robert Crist and Company (RC&C), an RV dealer in Mesa, AZ, has achieved the rare distinction of becoming a very large and successful dealership without losing the qualities associated with a "mom and pop" store. The man who has guided RC&C to this enviable position is Paul Skogebo, president and CEO. And it is his integrity, friendliness, dedication and innovation that has earned RC&C respect from the industry as well as a loyal customer base.

Crist"-mas Spirit ..... Paul Skogebo, president of Robert Crist and Company, is pictured with Jake "The Snake" Plummer, quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals. The photo was taken in front of the Christmas tree at the Arizona State University Football office. The tree, decorated in ASU's maroon and gold, was a gift from Crist and Company, and will be used every year.

Loyalty is important to Skogebo so he works hard in building relationships with customers and making sure they remain customers. While some large dealers keep expanding their horizons in terms of drawing customers from an ever widening geographic region, Skogebo prefers to focus on the local market and winter visitors ­ the hundreds of thousands of "snowbirds" that flock to Arizona each winter. And that investment has paid big dividends over the years.

Skogebo told RV News in an interview that his company had the best year in it's history last year. That would not have been possible without a dedication to customer care. In its customer satisfaction index (CSI) surveys, RC&C consistently falls in the ninety and above percentile. RC&C uses a CSI service to help manage RC&C's follow-up with customers. Skogebo told RV News, "They call our customers after they have taken delivery and then call them again 50 days later. We get weekly reports including feedback from customers that were not fully satisfied.

"Every week at our managers' meeting we go over any of those where there is a problem. And we address that problem and try to take care of the customer's problems quickly."

Addressing the problem of specific customers has saved RC&C a lot of headaches that other large dealers face ­ such as lawsuits against the dealer and manufacturer.

"Since we have been doing this our dealership has not been involved in a lawsuit in over five years," Skogebo continued. "If there is a problem, we take care of it if we can. We sometimes give away more than we should, but we do take care of the problem. If it's a new coach we will go to bat for the customer with the manufacturer and try to get it resolved."

RC&C has been in the same location for 30 years, and during that time the company has pretty much outgrown the facility. In order to grow, Skogebo opened another dealership a few miles down the street. "We just ran out of room here," Skogebo said. "We only have five acres so we decided to open that second store. The new dealership, World Wide RV, opened its doors last year and is managed by David Skogebo, Paul's son.  continued