Sandy Sansing isn’t just a name on the side of automotive dealerships and on thousands of cars all over the Gulf Coast.

There’s a person behind the name — in addition to running seven dealerships, Sansing is a husband, father of two, grandfather and a passionate supporter of local charitable causes, especially those that involve children.

Sansing, who recently purchased Bayview Ford in Daphne from Damon Wickware, is a Pensacola native. Five of his dealerships are in the Pensacola area, and he also owns Southern Chevrolet in Foley.

Giving back

He believes his success in the car business is a gift from God, and he and his staff give back as much as possible, Sansing said.

"As a Christian, God’s blessed me, and I believe that when you’ve been blessed, you need to give back and help others,” Sansing said. “We’ve been very, very big community sponsors. I believe in the community.”

Sansing sponsors more than 55 little league athletic teams and sponsors yearly middle and high school spelling bees. He also partners with Pensacola’s WEAR-TV3 to raise funds for Communities Caring at Christmas and Cram the Van.

Sansing is on the board of directors for several organizations, including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Gulf Coast Kid’s House and Baptist Hospital in Pensacola.

He has also given away more than 1,000 scholarships to students attending his two alma maters, Pensacola Junior College and the University of West Florida.

Sansing and his wife Peggy are also passionate about international missions and have traveled to Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya to support orphanages, medical centers and schools.

Although most of Sansing’s community support has been in Pensacola, he said now that he owns two dealerships in Baldwin County, he’d like to spend more time, effort and money here. He has already made a contribution to the Eastern Shore Art Center, he said.

“I love the people here. The friendliest people in the world are in Baldwin County,” Sansing said. “I love the atmosphere and the business climate, and the people are just so nice. We will do more and more as we get situated here in the Fairhope and Daphne area. We want to sponsor little league teams, and we want to get involved helping kids.”

Customer satisfaction

Sansing said although giving back to the community is high on his list of priorities, he and his staff’s number one goal is to provide a positive car shopping experience to their customers.

“Most people do not enjoy car shopping,” Sansing said. “They don’t feel good about it. But we do our best to treat people like they want to be treated. We’re not in this for any one sale or one transaction; we’re here for the long haul.”

And providing exemplary customer service is impossible without happy, hardworking employees, Sansing said.

“The car business is not always a fun place to work, but Mr. Sansing is one of the best guys I’ve ever met,” said Greg McDonald, a finance manager who has worked with Sansing for eight years. “He’s honest. I’ve never heard him tell one lie. He’s a great guy to work for.”

McDonald first began working at Sansing’s Hyundai dealership in Mobile, which he sold six years ago. After the dealership was sold, McDonald drove to Pensacola every day so he could continue working with Sansing. When Sansing bought Bayview Ford, McDonald volunteered to transfer.

“I don’t plan on working anywhere else,” McDonald said. “We do business a whole different way.”

Past and future

Sansing didn’t start out in the car business. He began his career selling adding machines to businesses in downtown Mobile.

“I had a 30 pound adding machine under my arm in the middle of the summer, and I had to wear a coat and tie everyday,” Sansing said. “I walked door to door. I had to sell $10,000 worth of adding machines, and then I could go to my next school, which was posting equipment for accounting offices. I kept moving up the ladder, and I became the youngest sales manager in the southeast, and they moved me to Pensacola.”

At 27, Sansing started Digital Systems Inc. with a friend, and within four years, it became the nation’s top seller of computer systems to CPA and accounting firms. But after a few years, he realized he didn’t want to be in that business for the rest of his life.

“I was in my 30s, and I didn’t know what I was gonna do,” he said. “I had a little bit of money I had made — not enough money to really retire, but I was kind of at a crossroads. A friend of mine had worked for Chevrolet as a district manager. He said, ‘You ought to get in the car business.’ I knew nothing about it. I’m not a car nut. But he encouraged me to do it.”

Sansing bought his first dealership in 1986 from a fellow deacon at First Baptist Church Pensacola.

“It’s been a great business,” Sansing said. “I’ve loved it.”

In the future, Sansing plans to pass the business down to his son, David.

“I’m grooming him to take over for me,” Sansing said. “He’s been to all the academies and all the schools. I don’t ever want to quit, but I want to turn more of the day-to-day operations over to him, and he’s perfect for that.”

Sansing said as he gives David more responsibility, he and Peggy plan to spend more time with their four grandchildren.