Overall Rank for 2013: 15

Brands: Ford, Kia

Dealer: John Darvish Sr.

Full-time employees: 98

2012 new-vehicle sales: 1,270, up 14%

Benefit highlight: Extensive training

Cool perk: DARCARS Automotive Group hosts a DARCARS day at the Washington Auto Show. A hospitality suite is stocked to host hundreds of DARCARS employees and family members for fun, food, entertainment and access to the auto show.

Rose Bayat, vice president, on showing employees that they are valued:  "We have many events for employees. Some of them are philanthropic or community spirited, which provides employees the opportunity to volunteer and share their time and talent for the good of others. Other events are family oriented. Our managers provide daily positive feedback as they observe employees taking that extra step. All customer feedback received by the dealership is shared with department managers and employees daily."

Bayat on changes in response to staff requests:  "Employees involved with customer commitments expressed communication challenges that created stress and time delays. When customers purchased cars with accessories to be dealer installed or when any commitments were being made, we had a cumbersome way of recording these commitments. With representation from our accounting, sales, finance, service and customer relations departments, an efficient, accurate and hassle-free process was developed. Together, the team created a digital process that would not only document and alert all related parties to a commitment made, but also provide accountability to ensure that all commitments were being fulfilled."