Scaling with purpose: Building performance and profitability across 30+ stores

Assurant Dealer Success story: Premier Automotive

Dealerships with strong growth and profitability profiles don’t get there by chance. They achieve it through a clear operating philosophy, a team that’s aligned around it, and a partner who’s close enough to the business to help execute it every day.

Premier Automotive has grown from a single Toyota store in New Orleans to more than thirty locations across eight states, with annual revenue exceeding $1 billion. Founder and President Troy Duhon credits much of that trajectory to a simple principle: Retention drives profitability.

Assurant is the partner helping Premier put that principle into practice, from compliance training and product strategy to culture-building across a rapidly expanding organization. This is the story of how hands-on collaboration and shared priorities help Premier Automotive build a scalable model for performance and customer loyalty.

Training for skills, confidence, and compliance expertise

Delivering consistent customer experiences at Premier’s scale requires a training approach that reflects individual store dynamics and a deep understanding of enterprise-wide goals. Assurant earned Duhon’s confidence by investing that effort up-front. “They treat my business like it’s theirs,” he shares. “They get to know me on a personal level. They get to know my stores. Once they develop the culture, they know how to apply best practices, best procedures, and compliance to my store.”

Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all training program, Assurant spends time learning the culture at each Premier store before tailoring the approach. That means understanding Premier’s priorities around retention and transparency, then building a training framework that reinforces those priorities at every level of the F&I operation.

The format matters, too. Assurant develops short-form video training tools designed to reinforce and help F&I professionals continue learning on the job. Duhon says the impact has been immediate. “The feedback from my F&I people is that these training videos have made them more confident in their presentations,” Duhon says. “And I watch my numbers get better.”

That confidence translates directly into stronger product penetration and a more consistent customer experience across every Premier location. When the team feels prepared and aligned, performance follows. “From a culture perspective, they bring everybody together. Very hands-on, very involved, and a lot of empathetic leadership.”

Building retention into every product conversation

Duhon thinks about profitability in longer cycles than most. His focus isn’t on maximizing the front end of any single deal but on keeping customers connected to the dealership over the life of the vehicle. That means the F&I presentation needs to do more than generate immediate revenue. It needs to give buyers a reason to come back.

Assurant works with Premier to structure a product strategy designed to drive repeat business. With products designed for the flexibility to meet customers’ needs and driving habits, Premier and Assurant continue to create a customer-first product portfolio that supports both the customer relationship and the bottom line. This approach requires a provider willing to understand what a dealer group is actually trying to accomplish before recommending a solution.

“Assurant works with me to sell customer-focused products that truly bring the customer back. There’s a guiding force of retention. The higher the retention, the higher the profitability.”

Turning compliance into a competitive advantage

As regulatory scrutiny has increased, many dealer groups have had to rethink their pricing strategy. Premier Automotive moved early, transitioning to a pure pricing model where every customer pays the same price for service contracts and GAP products regardless of credit score, background, or any other factor. For Duhon, transparency is the foundation for customer trust. Creating fair, consistent experiences is key to how the group strengthens relationships, increases customer loyalty, and ultimately drives long-term profitability.

Assurant helps design and implement the pricing model, building it around integrity, transparency, and zero favoritism. As Premier grows, Assurant provides the coaching and tools to retrain F&I teams on the Premier process. The results reinforce the strategy. When customers trust the process, they return for their next vehicle and refer others. Duhon sees that cycle play out across his stores.

“At first, a lot of my F&I people were like, 'woah.' But when you think about retention and transparency, F&I sells products that build loyalty. Everyone pays the same price and customers keep coming back.”

A partnership that extends beyond the business

Duhon cofounded Giving Hope, a nonprofit that operates food banks across multiple states and builds orphanages around the world. He also runs community programs serving thousands of people daily. Philanthropy is central to how Premier Automotive operates. Every vehicle sold contributes to the foundation’s work.

Assurant supports Giving Hope both financially and with volunteer hours, sending teams to serve alongside Premier’s staff multiple times a year. That level of involvement strengthens the working relationship on both sides of the business.

The partnership’s level of commitment was evident early on. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, four of Premier’s five stores at the time were destroyed. Assurant stepped in with a significant financial contribution to help the group recover. “You don’t always expect a vendor to do that,” Duhon says. “But a partner does. When we needed them the most, they were there.”

Twenty years later, Assurant continues to help strengthen Premier’s culture by providing hands-on support and access to advanced training modules as the group’s footprint grows. That kind of consistency across decades reinforces why Duhon sees the relationship as a true partnership. “Assurant knows that retention is the main objective. They gear their training to that every day, because they know the culture of Premier Automotive.”

Stronger performance through shared priorities

The Premier Automotive story illustrates what’s possible when a dealer group and its F&I partner are working toward the same outcomes. By investing in cultural alignment, retention-focused product strategy, compliance-focused training, and transparent pricing, Assurant helps Premier build a business model that scales without compromising the values behind it. It’s a collaboration built on shared priorities and proven through sustained results.