Brenden Danford, a sales consultant and aftermarket manager with Currie Motors Ford of Valpo, can sell you the shirt you're wearing and have you come back tomorrow so he can do it again. He began his sales career early, selling Cutco products door-to-door before landing at Currie Motors Ford of Valpo three years ago.
“I sold Cutco cutlery at people's houses for a while,” said Danford. “After that, I bounced from job to job until I found this position at Currie Motors Ford of Valpo on Indeed. I came in for an interview and was hired on the spot. I've been here ever since. I love it; I don't plan on going anywhere.”
As a sales consultant, Danford works directly with customers and manufacturers to make sure everyone gets exactly what they need. More recently, he’s also begun working with aftermarket vehicles.
“Since I've been here as long as I have, I have a pretty stable customer base,” said Danford. “I have five or six customers that come back or send referrals every month, so I keep up with them and make sure everyone's happy. On top of that, I typically handle a big load of the custom factory orders that we have, so I communicate with the manufacturer all the time as well. Every two weeks, I send them email updates. Just recently, I took on an aftermarket position where, three days a week, I am helping customers with their aftermarket purchases and things of that nature.”
Maintaining a high quality of work in all of these duties can seem daunting, but Danford has never been intimidated because he enjoys putting time and effort into making the customers at Currie Motors Ford of Valpo happy. In fact, one of the things that Danford enjoys most about his job is that he is rewarded directly for his performance.
“i wanted to work in an industry where my performance and customer satisfaction reflected me as a person, not a traditional 9-5 job, ” said Danford. “It's competitive with the other salesmen trying to be the number one salesman for the month number or year. Last year, I actually ended up placing first for the year.”
More important to Danford than the money are the relationships he’s built with his customer base since starting at Currie Motors Ford of Valpo. He isn’t just someone they can trust to give them the best car for their situation; Danford has become a friend to many of his clients.
“During my second month in the business, I sold a car to one of my customers, and ever since then they’re willing to drive the 25 minutes from their home to our dealership to just come in and sit and talk for a half hour to an hour,” said Danford.
Danford’s commitment to his customers extends past his shift at Currie Motors Ford of Valpo.
“When I started at Currie Motors Ford of Valpo, the first thing I did was try to figure out a way to generate business,” said Danford. “I was looking at different ways to do it, and I ended up making a Facebook group called Bargains with Brendan. I've had that for three years, and that group has almost 700 people in it. I started it from scratch; I make posts in that all the time.”
Danford was eventually tapped to create social media content for the official Currie Motors Ford of Valpo Facebook and Instagram as well as the Ford of Valpo Performance Facebook page.
Outside of work, Danford enjoys spending time with his coworkers because, after so many years together, they’re basically siblings.
“I like hanging out with the guys from work even though we see each other 24/7,” said Danford. “They're like family, so we hang out outside of work all the time.”
To learn more about everything that Currie Motors Ford of Valpo has to offer, visit its website.
