Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers: Bixby Residents Opens Business, Continues Serving

Russ Knight is leaning on his experience leading a Tulsa area jobs ministry and his background in sales and employment services as he opens Tulsa’s third Christian Brothers franchise. Knight’s background matches up perfectly with Christian Brothers’ dedication to customer service.

“The Christian Brothers name says ‘Automotive,’ but it’s about serving people and serving them to the best of our ability every time,” Knight told the Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers.

Knight had spent years working with people as both a salesman and with Overcoming Job Transitions (OJT), a local job search ministry. OJT helped Knight find a job in 2009; so, as a way to pay it forward, Knight joined the ministry to help others in similar situations. By 2013, after spending years in the sales business, a friend of Knight’s, who owns a Christian Brothers Automotive franchise suggested Knight open his own location with the brand.

Knight was the perfect choice to continue the brand’s rapid expansion in the Tulsa market, said Christian Brothers Automotive’s Vice President of Franchise and Strategic Development Josh Wall.

“In the past five years, we have nearly quadrupled our home office team in order to ramp up our ability to better serve our franchisees,” Wall told the Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers. “One of the areas where we really differentiate ourselves is that we are all about having the people who own and operate the business being involved in the shop and being on site.”

For example, Knight is the shop’s main shuttle driver, transporting customers to work, home or elsewhere while their car is being serviced.

“That makes an impression on customers when they are being directly served by the local business owner,” says Wall.

“The culture is about taking good care of employees, making sure they are well paid, clearly communicating to them the company’s goals, and providing the training and tools to do great work, with the expectation that they will turn around and give that same care to customers,” added Knight.

Of course, company culture always starts with the local store owners, which is why Christian Brothers takes time and care to find the right franchisees. The company currently holds a 100 percent success rate on store locations, meaning that none of its locations have ever closed.

“We are strategic in choosing our locations and our franchisees,” said Wall. “We seek to find sites that meet our qualifications for population density and average household income. Russ loves people. We look for candidates who will not only follow our system, but also drive that forward and create experiences where the customer walks away saying, ‘Wow, that’s a nice difference.’”

Read the original story here.