Manager Dawn Rasmussen talks with Mills Automotive Customer Care Center Team Members

The Mills Automotive Customer Care Center (CCC) was created 13 years ago. Wow, how time flies! 

Sue Johnson was the very first team member in the CCC, and she is still here today. We started out needing five team members back in 2004 and have since grown to 12, including myself, arriving in 2005.

Many today know our department as the “CCC.” Some may not know where we are: find us on the north end of the 2nd floor at Mills Ford Lincoln in Brainerd/Baxter.

Besides Sue and myself, others in the CCC and the year they joined the team include Jane Branshaw, 2008; Judy Bakeberg, 2009; Lacey Stange and Hillary Stumpf, in 2014; Anna Hinkle, 2015; Cheryll Reedy, Ashley Sjoman, Jordan Martin, Randy Olson, all in 2016.

We were originally called a Business Development Center, also known as the BDC. This was a Ford-derived program to assist with the digital age coming about for car buyers shopping for vehicles online. We fielded incoming sales calls, followed up on the experience of unsold guests visiting our showrooms, assisted sales professionals in maintaining loyalty with our guests, and obtained additional business with proactive follow-up on private offers the manufacturers created for unique buyers.

Through the years, our Customer Care Center has expanded its duties by generating business for the Mills sales and service teams. 

We have narrowed our focus in CCC to be a revenue-generating source to drive as much business as possible to our five dealerships by incorporating a heightened focus on proactive business.

Our team works diligently to create a world-class experience for our internet shoppers. We also field many incoming calls for most of our MAG locations to ensure our guests are taken care of promptly.

My team is one of the highlights of the Mills Automotive Group! I often tell my team that they have one of the best roles in the group because of the amount of departments we are involved with. We get to work with all of our frontline service, sales, and parts teams at Mills Ford Lincoln, Mills GM and Mills Honda, and The BodyWorks in Brainerd/Baxter, along with Mills Ford Chrysler, Mills Auto Center, and Mills Parts Center all in Willmar.

We have what I like to call a “bird’s eye view” of what is happening at each location, and we get to assist in driving results for each of our dealerships, too!