Saying 'Service' In More Than 35 Languages

Buying a vehicle is a big deal in any language. Like all good business transactions, it requires good communication, regardless of the language being spoken.

In a diverse region like Southern California, the staff at Longo Toyota makes good communication a high priority. Guests are likely to find at least one employee who can speak their native tongue and can get their sales contract written in one of many languages.

"Some of our guests are pleasantly surprised when they learn that they can speak to someone in their native language," said Vicki McCoy, Longo Toyota's communications director. "The interaction becomes a more personal and enjoyable experience that often results in repeat business."

Aside from a sales force fluent in more than 35 distinct languages and dialects representing 21 countries, Longo Toyota offers financial contracts written in English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Tagalog — the languages most commonly spoken by its clientele, McCoy said.

If the contract is not offered in the guest's preferred language and that guest has questions, there's probably someone on the staff of 76 sales associates or elsewhere among Longo Toyota's more than 500 employees who can speak the language.

That Longo Toyota has become so multilingual over the past 15 years is by both evolution and design. When Greg Penske, now Longo CEO, joined the dealership in 1987, the staff was already a cultural and ethnic reflection of the increasingly diverse community it served. Penske understood that if he couldincrease its multilingual reach, Longo Toyota would have a competitive advantage in a market people were moving to from all over the world.

Today, about two-thirds of Longo Toyota’s managers and many of its supervisors are minorities and immigrants.

Yet there's something beyond business pragmatism when someone who drives onto the nearly 50-acre facility sees a welcome banner in their native language or finds copies of the Spanish-language daily La Opinion as well as World Journal, a Chinese daily newspaper, in the service department’s guest lounge.

"These seemingly small gestures make a huge impression with our first-time guests and help establish Longo's hospitality," said McCoy.

Spoken at Longo

At Longo Toyota, the phrase "we speak your language" is, well, rather fitting. The dealership’s diverse staff represents 21 countries and speaks more than 35 distinct languages and dialects. Here is a list of some of the languages spoken by Team Longo:

• Arabic 
• Armenian 
• Bengali 
• Burmese 
• Cambodian 
• Cantonese 
• Chie Chow 
• English
• Farsi 
• French 
• German
• Gujarati 
• Hebrew 
• Hindi 
• Hungarian
• Ilocano 
• Indonesian 
• Italian 
• Japanese 
• Kapampaganan
• Korean 
• Lao 
• Malaysian 
• Mandarin 
• Punjabi 
• Romanian 
• Russian 
• Spanish 
• Tagalog
• Taiwanese 
• Teochew 
• Thai 
• Turkish 
• Urdu 
• Vietnamese
• Visayan 
• Yoruba

- J. Anderson, Custom Publishing Writer