Respect credited for years of success
Even before the Don Chalmers Ford dealership was up and running, John Fife was a part of the staff. “I was hired in December (1995) when it was a dirt lot and they were still putting the pavement down out here,” he said. “I came to work on the first of February (1996) and I was out helping them put bumpers on the back of trucks. I was holding them up while the mechanics would tighten them down.”
Fife made a big promise to owner Chalmers and lived up to it.
“I told him I’d sell 15 cars a month and I ain’t let him down yet,” he said with a chuckle. “There’s been a few months with not quite that many, but a lot of months that I went over.”
That’s the way Fife does business, always doing whatever is needed. It’s helped him build a customer base with 7,000 names on it.
“I have one customer I’ve sold 64 cars to,” he said. “Five generations in 31 years. I’ve been the best man at one of my customer’s wedding. Now I’m the godparent to three boys. One of my customers asked me to be his personal representative for his will. It’s been very rewarding. This is a rewarding business. It’s a family business.”
Success, Fife said, is a matter of treating each person that walks through the door with respect.
“One of my best days ever, I had four customers come in here to visit with me,” he said. “It was like they each had an appointment. They came in here and sat with me for about an hour each. I didn’t sell anything that day, but it was the best I ever had in the car business because I remember just visiting with my friends.”
Originally from Kentucky, Fife started out in the U.S. Air Force, serving a fiveyear stint that saw him stationed in Texas, New Jersey, Clovis, Anchorage and Taiwan, where he served on missions into Vietnam.
When he got out, Fife drove trucks before a bad back forced him from the business.
“This old cowboy friend of mine, I asked him if he thought I could sell cars for a living,” he recalled. “And he told me, ‘Ole son, you need to sell what took you to the rodeo.’ So I’ve been selling Fords for 31 years. They’re what took me to the rodeo.”