Top100PRIVATE

COMPANIES

BY KRISTA SIMMONSFort Worth Business Press

R ay Gulam, director of the com-mercial leasing division at D & M Leasing, believes whole-

heartedly in the three Rs of business:referral, retention, repeat business.

And it’s this philosophy that haskept D & M Leasing on top of itsgame.

“Seventy-five percent of our cus-tomers are repeat … if we give themgood service, they’ll come back to us,”said Gulam.

Roger Lee, president of D.R2

Marketing, is a repeat customer, hav-ing leased eight vehicles with D & Mover the past 15 years.

“It’s just so easy,” said Lee of therelationship. “You avoid all the has-sles. All my transactions have beendone over the phone.”

Lee explained that on the wayhome from the airport one day, hedecided he wanted to trade in his SUVfor a smaller car. He told D & M whathe wanted. The company asked him“What color?” and it was ready forhim within an hour of his arrival. The

paperwork was even in the front seat,ready to go.

After experiencing the company’scustomer service firsthand, Lee eventu-ally went to work in the marketingdepartment at D & M, which laterspunoff into a separate company,D.R.2 Marketing. Lee co-owns theagency with Mike Hernandez, whoalso owns D & M, Mortgages U.S.A.and Sellstate Realty. And Lee still leas-es from D & M today.

Gulam says it is this focus on cus-tomer service and satisfaction that has

kept D & M going strong, despiteindustry challenges such as risinginterest rates, increased competition,war and the economy.

“Over the years, we’ve really triedto take care of our customers, and dowhat’s right by them,” said Gulam.“They are the crutch of our business.”

D & M Leasing was established in1976 as an auto leasing companyby Don Davis and Davis Moritz. In1988, Hernandez, 45, became apartner, eventually buying out Davisand Moritz.

Hernandez got his degree in engi-neering from A&M. One of his col-

lege roommates was John DavidMoritz, who introduced him to Moritzand D & M. He eventually joined thecompany and helped open an officein Tampa, Fla. called Apple Leasing, aformer division of D & M.

D & M provides customized leasingprograms and, in addition to leasingopportunities, offers several other serv-ices.

It is currently the largest leasingcompany in the nation in terms of vol-ume, leasing 7,000-8,000 vehiclesper year.

Company ‘makes leasing easy’D& M Leasing

D & M Leasing2505 N. Hwy. 360, Ste. 600Grand Prairie, 75050Phone: 800-654-1288Web: wwww.dmautoleasing.comProduct/service: New and pre-owned autoleasingNo. of local employees: 126Top executive: Mike HernandezYear founded: 19762005 sales: $235,275,6525

#15Joe Graber, vice president of D & M Leasing.