SafeWay Driving Goes Back to Its Roots During Annual Convention

Gary Fowler is diligently working to make the roads safer while bringing modern technologies to driver training in the Sienna Plantation, Texas area. With no traditional office space, Fowler and his team have created great success in their development area--all while he worked a full-time job.

It’s no surprise then to learn that at SafeWay Driving ’s Second Annual Strategic Partners Convention, Fowler was named the Strategic Partner Of The Year.

Trading in chalkboards and classrooms for a digital learning experience designed to reach the more technologically savvy generation it serves, SafeWay Driving has modernized the driver training industry. Getting their community accustomed to SafeWay Driving’s proprietary web-based system was one of Fowler and his team’s first objectives. With innovative marketing and community relationship building, they have been able to change their community’s long-standing ideas of what driver’s education looks like.

“Through getting out into the community and letting them get to know us and the mission of SafeWay Driving, we have been able to change perspectives. Offering free clinics and utilizing social media to get the brand’s name out has been effective,” Fowler said. With intentional focus on these key points, Fowler and his team have seen an increase in their enrollment numbers and incoming transfer rates.

This is one of the many reasons why Fowler was recognized this year at the annual convention. He credits the support and sense of camaraderie within the SafeWay Driving system for making such a momentous year possible.

“It really is a team partnership. They are listening and are working to make it the best system it can be. It really is a two-way street,” Fowler said.

He also emphasized a feeling of really being heard. And there is no doubt SafeWay Driving is listening. His marketing innovations and community relationship building efforts were exactly the ideas that the convention aimed to facilitate sharing and learning from amongst their Strategic Partners.

Held at their corporate office in Houston, franchisees like Fowler gathered from around Texas for this two-day convention to discuss strategies and learn from one another. Holding true to its theme of relationship building and support on a local level, the convention featured break-out sessions, including topics such as the value of public relations, engaging on social media, pricing discussions, operations and insurance workshops.

SafeWay Driving was also excited to announce that they were adding another layer of support for their Strategic Partners. Through the revamping of their website they will be able to include individual landing pages for each territory they serve. This is another big step in their already successful efforts to modernize the brand. Awards were also given out in categories such as Spirit of SafeWay Driving, Operational Excellence and Strategic Partner of the Year.

The company also used this opportunity to welcome new leadership, with Ann Littmann heading her first convention as CEO. While last year the focus was on maintaining momentum and celebrating their record breaking growth, this year, relationship building and learning from each other’s unique strengths was paramount--a concept that Littmann keeps central in her leadership style.

“We really wanted to engage with our partners, learn from the lessons of the past year, problem solve and really hear what they had to say to us. Our partners are the ones in the communities. They know what is working and what is not,” Littmann said.

SafeWay Driving’s second annual convention was a time to come together as a brand and deepen their bonds over their shared commitment to making the roads safer and preventing “the phone call” no one wants. With the company’s rapid expansion throughout Texas, establishment of their non-profit Foundation for Safe Driving, and dynamic Strategic Partners like Fowler, 2017 will no doubt be a big year for SafeWay Driving. They are looking forward to digging deeper into one of their most valuable company assets--and that’s the relationships they have with their Strategic Partners.