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Honda Cars of Katy was designed to dazzle car shoppers with luxurious surroundings and leading-edge stylistic flair. The goal, according to general manager Chris Morrison, was to drive his business far ahead of others in the ultra-competitive Houston market and attract customers considering a new Honda car.

In fact, Morrison likens the look of his dealership to that found in another Texas-based business, one long thought of as a retailing legend: Neiman Marcus. “When we built the facility we knew how nice it was going to be,” Morrison said. “Therefore we knew that we were going to be held to a higher standard to take care of the customer.”

But that doesn’t mean shopping for a new or used Honda car in a high-end environment means an end to bargains. “We do have a Neiman-Marcus facility but not at a Neiman-Marcus price,” Morrison quickly adds.

What it does mean is that Morrison’s 50,000-foot facility, opened in 2007 and spreading out over 12 acres, isn’t the only aspect of Honda Cars of Katy that sets it apart. Certainly, a large, glassed-in children’s play area with movies and games does get the customer’s attention: “While the parents are looking for a new car, they can also see their kids in the room and they don’t have to worry about them, so it makes us feel a little more at ease and the customer at ease.”

The dealership’s Odyssey Cafe, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to customers and employees, also adds appeal. And Honda Cars of Katy does have one of the largest inventories of new and used vehicles in the Houston area. But Morrison also is aware that customers don’t buy a new Honda car from a facility; they buy them from people, and he points to his sales associates and service technicians as the other key elements in his business strategy.

Simply put, Morrison wants to offer up the best Honda service Houston has ever seen.

“My number one goal is employee satisfaction,” Morrison said. “If I take care of the associates, they’ll take care of the customers. With that in mind, we train every day at 8:30 a.m. We give them the proper knowledge to be able to present our product to the customers in a world-class experience. We learned a long time ago if we take care of our customer and do it the right way and work hard, then we’ll have the opportunity to do more things.”

That philosophy is echoed by sales associate Javier Balderas. “We want to do it right the first time because if we do it right the first time, you’re going to come back, you’re going to send us your brothers and sisters, you’re going to send us people that you know and you love and you trust. It’s the same way we want you to trust us,” Balderas said.

How do you build on that trust? By ensuring that the kind of Honda service Houston car dealerships would love to duplicate includes spending the time and money to maintain customers’ cars, Morrison said. Honda Cars of Katy boasts a 40-bay service department and a standalone Express Center for lightning-fast oil changes. That’s accomplished by having technicians simultaneously working above and below the cars, thereby turning a Honda Accord oil change into something resembling a NASCAR-style pit stop.

Those technicians are recruited thanks to an employee benefit specifically for Houston’s climate. “We need to attract the top-of-the-line service technicians, and they have to be comfortable,” Morrison said. “So our service bays are air conditioned and heated for the hot summers and the cold winters in Houston, Texas.”

Late delivery drop-offs are allowed at the dealership’s Service Drive, emphasizing service advisor’s Maxine Vanderwall’s contention that Honda Cars of Katy adjusts to its customer’s busy schedules. “Time is of the essence. No one can get time back, and we want to get people in and get people out. We want to make it convenient for everyone.”

All this has led the dealership to lay claim to the best Honda service Houston offers – and the honor of winning Honda’s President’s Award given for superior performance and attention to customer’s needs.

“Everybody has different needs and different wants, and that’s part of what Honda Cars of Katy does,” Balderas added.

For more information on what Morrison, Balderas and Vanderwall call the most extensive Honda service Houston car shoppers will encounter, visit www.HondaCarsOfKaty.com.