I make it a point to try to talk to as many of our customers as possible when they come in, he said. They will say, You're Don Hewlett? I didn't expect to see you on the showroom floor.' Then we'll start talking about where they're from, what brings them in and things like that. It gives me a chance to get to know them and thank them for the business.

Hewlett continues to charm folks with his genuine interest in people, making them feel at home just as he did when the then 23-year-old first began selling cars 50 years ago at Capitol Chevrolet in Austin.

I planned on studying pre-med when I entered the University of Texas, but I loved selling so much I switched my major to marketing, he said.

Those attributes and a desire to run his own store led to him becoming the owner of the Georgetown-based dealership in 1972. Today, Don Hewlett Chevrolet, Buick is ranked as the third largest selling Chevrolet dealership in Texas and the eighth largest in the nation. For the past two years, the dealership has been the No. 1 Chevy dealer in the greater Austin and San Antonio markets.

The Hewlett Family of Dealerships is operated as a tight-knit, family affair with Hewlett as the face and personality of the dealerships while a majority of the daily operations are overseen by his three sons: Don Ross Hewlett, David Hewlett and Mike Hewlett.

I'm blessed to have my sons working with me, Hewlett said. I have stepped back and now leave the daily management and operations to them. They are doing a great job taking our organization to the next level while maintaining our core values and sales and service philosophy.

His sons all attended Texas Tech University, which makes for interesting family get-togethers when the Longhorns and Red Raiders square off on the football field.

Hewlett ancestors have been solving the transportation needs of Central Texans for generations.

My great-grandfather, William Blanks, owned the livery stable and was a mule trader in Lockhart, Texas, in the late 1800s, Hewlett said. My father-in-law, H.G. Pope, started in the car business in 1929 as a partner in Glosserman Chevrolet in Lockhart and worked in that dealership for 49 years. This business gets in your blood. As a family, we have developed a strong sense of loyalty to our brands, our customers, our employees and our community.

That brand loyalty has now expanded to Volkswagen. When Volkswagen of America was looking for a new dealer representative in the greater Austin market in 2000, several candidates were considered, but ultimately, the Hewletts were selected because of their record of success and strong customer first philosophy.

Volkswagen as a product is embraced by the greater Austin market, and we are proud to successfully represent the brand, said Don Ross Hewlett, Volkswagen dealer principal. We built a state-of-the-art sales and service facility, and have a truly dedicated team of professionals operating the store. With the new products on the horizon and our loyal base of repeat and referral customers, Hewlett Volkswagen's future looks very bright.

Today, Hewlett Volkswagen is ranked as the fifth largest selling Volkswagen dealership in Texas and in the top 10 percent in the nation. The dealership was also awarded the prestigious Wolfsburg Crest Award by Volkswagen of America in 2009 in recognition of its success.

Prior to moving to its current facility in 2000, the Chevy dealership was located just off the square in downtown Georgetown. The lack of inventory display space and limited after-hours visibility proved challenging for future growth. So in the late Ô90s, the family began the search for a new location that would allow the business to expand and flourish. They found what they were looking for in a 40-acre tract of land at the intersection of IH-35 and Westinghouse Road in Georgetown.

The new location provided much-needed visibility and convenient access for both sales and service customers. The 68,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Chevy and Buick facility was built with growth in mind because the Hewletts were confident in the Central Texas business climate and their own unique sales and service philosophy of putting their customers and employees first.

With the many roadway improvements completed in the last five years, the dealerships are not only more convenient for their Austin customers, but also for the rapidly growing Williamson County communities of Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown and Liberty Hill.

At the time, Don Hewlett Chevrolet, Buick was the first car dealership to open along that stretch of IH-35. Many others have followed.

We were trendsetters in a way, said youngest son and Customer Relations Manager Mike Hewlett. As the other dealers have relocated near us, the new Motor Mile North was created. That concentration of dealerships provides convenience for customers and has helped spur economic growth in the area.

A key part of our sales philosophy is to carry a large inventory of new and used vehicles so that our customers will have a real selection of options and price points, said Don Ross Hewlett, who is dealer principal of both stores. We also want to deliver the vehicle at the time of sale without having to trade with another dealer to get the unit or order it from the factory. We have significant inventory display space at both our stores that allows us to carry our desired inventory levels. We also have a very active commercial and fleet department at our Chevrolet dealership and carry an extensive inventory of high-demand commercial vehicles, as well.

If you talk to any of the Hewletts about the reasons for their success, the comments are the same and center on their core values and operational philosophy.

Our father taught us that our two biggest assets are our customers and our employees, and if you take care of them, then the money will take care of itself, Don Ross Hewlett said. My grandfather taught us all that it doesn't cost a dime to be nice to somebody. That's what we're all about. There are a lot of ways to sell a car, but there is only one right way, and that is the way we do it.

Don Ross Hewlett, 52, began his full-time career with the company in 1982, but like his brothers, he grew up washing cars, dusting parts bins, mowing the lot and making dealer trades. That bottom-up view of the operation gives the brothers a unique appreciation of the daily contributions made by each of the dealership's 205 employees.

When we say this is a family business, we mean that our employees are part of our family, Don Ross Hewlett said. Many of our employees have worked for our company for years. They stay here because they feel valued and respected and have bought in to our business philosophy. Nothing makes us prouder than to read the many unsolicited letters and e-mails we get complimenting our folks for going above and beyond to help our customers. We simply could not be successful without their dedication and hard work. We carry the name, but they help carry the reputation.

In addition to their great facilities and employees, the Hewletts also attribute part of their success to their commitment to technology.

This business is changing rapidly, said David Hewlett, chief operations officer. The cars are becoming more sophisticated with each new model. There is no better example than the all-electric Chevrolet Volt that will be introduced this summer.

Our customers' shopping and buying habits are also changing. The explosion of information available on the Internet has in most cases led to a better informed customer, and many of our customers had rather we communicate with them by text message or e-mail. I see a day in the not too distant future when our Internet sales department will account for over 75 percent of our retail sales. No one in this business had ever heard of an e-commerce director 10 years ago. We now have one in both of our stores.

The only way to keep up with this change is through the use of technology to make us more efficient. Whether it's our installation of computerized parts, distribution machines or software systems for our Internet sales department, we will continue to invest in technology to improve our responsiveness to our customers.

For David Hewlett, 50, working alongside his brothers has proven to be the tie that binds the trio together. He has been a practicing attorney for 26 years and has handled the legal affairs for the family and company over that period. In 2006, he took a more active role in the business as chief operations officer, while still maintaining a practice with the Austin law firm of Winstead PC.

There is an implicit trust you have with your brothers, and I know they have the best interests of the company at heart, David Hewlett said. We each have unique talents that we bring to the table that make us a good team. We may disagree on strategy from time to time, but we never disagree on the guiding philosophy of creating customers for life and applying the golden rule.

The Hewletts are firm believers in giving back to the community and practice what they preach by volunteering with a number of local organizations and charities. For instance, Don Hewlett served as a board member of the Georgetown Hospital Authority and currently sits on the board of Wesleyan Elder Care; Don Hewlett's wife, Patti, serves on the board of CASA and the Georgetown Public Library; Don Ross Hewlett is an advisory board member with the Ronald McDonald House and is on the board of local Public Broadcasting affiliate KLRU; David Hewlett has worked on the fundraising committee of the Capital Area Council Boy Scouts of America and is on the local board of the American Lung Association; and Mike Hewlett is involved with the Kiwanis Club and is on the school board of the Georgetown Independent School District.

The company supports many groups and organizations, as well.

We have a responsibility to be a good corporate citizen, David Hewlett said. Our communities have supported our business, and it is important to us to give back. We want to be known as a company that pulls its weight.

We also want to foster a feeling among our employees that they work for a service-minded company. Many of our employees do their part to give back to the communities and support charities and organizations that are important to them. It's important that they see that same commitment in their employer.

For the Hewletts, community service goes hand in hand with customer service.

Mike Hewlett, 41, has been working in the business for 16 years and is the customer relations manager for the Chevrolet dealership. His primary focus is on the service department.

Over the span of our relationship with a customer, they are likely to deal with our service department on many more occasions than our sales department because of maintenance and repair issues, Mike Hewlett said. We want each of our customers to feel like they have a dedicated friend in the service department that they are comfortable dealing with, and that knows them and their car. When issues do arise, I try to be a problem solver. If we can provide consistent world-class service in all of our departments from sales and service to the body shop, we will keep our customers and create repeat business.

Most importantly, though, we will generate new customers by our current customers referring their friends and family. When a customer tells us they never knew that coming to our dealership could be so pleasant, it's the biggest compliment we can get.

Our parents set this business on a path of success through their hard work and dedication. Our job is to multiply that success and create a legacy for future generations of Hewletts and future generations of Hewlett customers and employees.

Sometimes it's hard to distinguish the boasts and slogans from true performance in the high-energy, high-decibel world of automobile retailing. But true performance is measured by customer loyalty, sales growth and the long-term reputation established.

The Hewlett Family of Dealerships has turned the volume down and the performance up, and in the process, the Hewlett family and their employees have built an organization dedicated to creating customers for life. That's the real deal.

For more information regarding the Hewlett Family of Dealerships, call 512-681-3000, or visit www.donhewlett.com.