SDM 2022 Dealer of the Year Takes Care of Business
When it comes to maintaining relationships with customers, this company is at the top of its game, all while increasing revenue and keeping employees healthy, happy and engaged.
Across the board, employees who work at this year’s SDM Dealer of the Year say they feel both love and passion behind what they do. A large part of the reason for that is the culture that is encouraged top-down by their CEO, a second generation leader who took the helm from her father, Leigh J. Johnson. Johnson founded the company in 1968 and is still a major shareholder, although no longer involved in the daily business.
Custom Alarm, based in Rochester, Minn., describes itself as a “customer service company leveraging technology to help find solutions for our customers.” But "customer service" goes above and beyond at the company, including to CEO Melissa Brinkman’s own “customers” — her employees. This is truly a legacy from her father’s attitude about business, Brinkman says. “My dad was a typical entrepreneur doing a startup in his basement,” she says. “It started with him and my mom helping a bit. He would go and sell in the morning and install later in the day.”