DETROIT -- When Ed Jolliffe brought his nephew, Patrick Southward, in to be sales manager at Gorno Ford in Woodhaven, Mich., Jolliffe knew he was hiring a bright young man who cut his teeth during four years as finance manager at Toyota of Huntington Beach in California.
What Jolliffe, now 52, didn't know back in 2009 was that Southward would help provide the key to solving one of the most nagging problems dealers face -- the frequent, customer-satisfaction-destroying breakdown in communications between dealership service departments and their customers.
What resulted was a beneficial outcome for both men: a problem solved for Jolliffe's dealership and the birth of a software company formed by Southward, now 33, and his business partner, Will Mapes, also 33.
The software, called Singlethread, first tested and used at Gorno Ford, allows service departments to use text messages to communicate with customers. Since the service started at Gorno Ford in late 2014, about 100 dealerships have signed up nationwide, and the company has spoken with large dealership groups and OEMs about further expansion.