AGRR Top TECH
Our technician of the month
Jay Lingle
City Auto Glass and NOVUS Windshield Repair
Name: Jay Lingle
City, State: Rochester, Minn.
Company: City Auto Glass and NOVUS Windshield Repair
Age: 39
Years in Business: Twenty-one years
Family: Wife, Lynn, three daughters, Kelsey (10), Jordan (5) and Madison (2)
Hobbies: Hunting, fishing and golf
Best thing about the auto glass business Outside work and personal contact
Worst thing about the auto glass business The cold weather
Jay Lingle, co-owner of City Auto Glass and NOVUS Windshield Repair of Rochester, Minn., is the latest addition to the AGRR Top Tech® honor roll. Citing Lingle’s dedication and team player attitude, Ginny Peterson, customer service representative, and Mark St. Peter, co-owner, wrote to AGRR on behalf of Lingle and were delighted with the resulting recognition of their co-worker.
Lingle and St. Peter
opened their current business on May 1, 1991. The shop is one of four Minnesota-based
shops—the largest of which is located in St. Paul, with two others in St. Cloud and
Duluth. They also maintain a website address at www.cityautoglass.com.
Lingle’s shop has nine employees including two customer service representatives, a
salesperson and six installers including himself.
Lingle’s wife, Lynn, travels quite a bit in her position as a phone system consultant, and as a result, he willingly adds Mr. Mom to his list of responsibilities. He frequently cares for the three girls when their mom is out of town, and recently brought his youngest, Madison, to work for the day when she couldn’t return to daycare. Ginny tells us this is not unusual for the office that already feels like a family. Lingle does not have a lot of free time—his two older daughters play baseball, one also plays soccer and the oldest is in dance. Only the youngest is not yet involved in any extracurricular activities.
By all accounts, Lingle is a dedicated sort. Even though he is part owner, he still insists on going on the road each day and taking his share of the workload. His staff has tried to convince him to stay in the shop more, but he won’t hear of it. He does admit, however, that the cold is beginning to get to him, but quickly adds that it’s just too hard to stay in after being on the road for so long.
Steps to success, like everything with Lingle, are pretty straightforward: take pride in what you do. Follow up. If you commit, follow through. He feels that it is this “pride factor” that makes him and his shop stand out. He told me that the people he works with also take pride in their work and that when they go out on the road it is not just another day or a paycheck. He also mentioned that there is the added incentive of profit sharing for his employees.
Lingle feels that the biggest challenge he is faced with is finding quality installers. Dealing with insurance companies is not a problem for him. He says his shop has a good reputation due largely to the customer service staff’s rapport with the insurance companies. “Some days are always easier than others, of course,” he says. n
Barbara Cummings serves as assistant editor of AGRR magazine.
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