Flexible hours works its magic at Cotswold, am-online

Flexible hours works its magic at Cotswold

By Tom Seymour
|
17 May 2013

Neale said: “They don’t sell and this is a key element of the team structure. It totally changes the behaviour and the dynamic in the showroom.”

The product geniuses are incentivised on the number of
test drives they do and on customer satisfaction results.

It puts them in a position to explain to customers that they’re not a salesperson and they’re not there to sell anything.

This method might send alarm bells ringing for a lot of traditional dealers, but it’s part of Cotswold’s attitude to challenge the way the business operates at every opportunity.

It doesn’t matter if a customer wants three test drives or 10 quotes, the product genius is there for the customer and there is no pressure hanging over them, as it would with a sales executive, to push to reach a volume target.

When it gets to the point where the customer wants more details on cost and finance, that’s where the retail manager is introduced.

The product genius and retail manager then stay with the customer throughout the buying process, including handover.

The retail manager also has the autonomy to conclude the sale of a vehicle.

There’s no running back and forth to a sales manager, which means the customer only ever has to deal with the product genius and the retail manager.

The way the teams are set up avoids the situation created in most dealerships where a salesperson will only be interested in what has the most value to him.

Hulcoop said: “The product geniuses’ number one objective is to make sure that a customer leaves this business with us having furnished them with everything that they need to know, making sure they know what the next stage is, with nothing left to chance.”

Customer feedback from the business has been positive with people feeling relaxed and unpressured in the showroom.

Cotswold took inspiration from Apple, but also retail concepts on the High Street, supermarkets and airlines, taking best practice from across the retail industry.

Neale said: “The problem with existing sales execs, and you can’t blame them for this, is they are rewarded and paid on volume and profit.

"Clearly that’s going to breed a culture of sell as many as you can for as much as you can.

“We want to turn that completely on its head and think, actually, if we give the customers the experience they want, we will end up selling more cars and hopefully being slightly more profitable because customers are more comfortable spending money with us.”

It’s a fairly radical structure and changes the traditional automotive sales funnel.

Was there resistance to this new culture and way of working?

Neale said: “Everyone can be a little concerned at change, but if you explain the reasons behind it and you involve people in that process then they feel far more a part of it.

“And the response from the team has just been incredible.

They themselves have come up with some fantastic ideas on what we can do with the concept.

I think it’s also been accepted because of the calibre of the team we’ve got.

They want to make it work and they see the benefit.”

One of the most important aspects for these new product geniuses is that they can work a five-day week with a guaranteed Saturday and Sunday break every month.

This answers one of the biggest problems dealer groups have with recruiting and retaining young talent.

The product geniuses can have time away from the business and come back absolutely focused on delivering a great customer experience.

Author: Tom Seymour

Freelance writer

Freelance writer for AM, Tom Seymour has been a specialist B2B journalist covering the automotive sector for over 14 years. He started his freelance career in 2015 and currently writes for a variety of automotive, business and technology publications.

Comments (2)

Login to comment

Comments

neilthedeal - 20/05/2013 14:44

Does the management team lead by example and work similar hours as the slaves they employ in sales, lets not forget the most successful Managers/Leaders, have historically come from a sales background, not accounting or operations. More importantly do these so called senior exces have the trained skills to manage this process? I've seen so many unqualified people in management roles in automotive, who haven't got the very basics to become good leaders!!!
- 0
- 0
- Steve Gwilliam - 23/08/2013 12:56
  
  @neilthedeal - Well said. The people that tend to escalate up the career ladder normally have friends in high places. There is little finesse in the Motor Trade, and you are very controlled by the people above. If your not a yes man, generally these places aren't for you in time. As for leadership, what Leadership???. Dictatorship maybe. It just sounds like a New Idea To try and stop the Grace brothers revolving front door. Why can't people see, if anyone has anything about them, they see generally the people above have little ethics, and who can work properly with people they don't respect. Their are always Good people, but many left the Dealerships along time ago. Young people through no fault of their own can be manipulated a lot more easily, with a flash car etc.!!!. I am however not for one second dismissing their talent. I wonder how long it will take for the new fantastic idea to be renewed again. If these places were Warranty companies their burn rate would have sent them down a long time ago.
  0
  
  0
- Steve Gwilliam - 23/08/2013 13:12
  
  @Steve Gwilliam - And the old term for these people was runners. Its no New idea, its been around for around twenty years. Was a preferred practice of volume Dealerships. Like most other things give it a flash New name and claim the idea as your own. Another example of looking after Number One
  0
  
  0
Busterrabbit - 10/03/2014 16:46

Are Mini/BMW going to abolish sales targets then? I doubt it. My wife was "tucked up" with a 14+% PCP by Cotswold Gloucester on a new Mini two years ago so they are definitely NOT thinking about customer retention! Booking a service recently was abysmal with the phone call directed to some snob in the BMW side who said "I don't know why you've been put through to me" and then wanting to charge £30 for a loan car. Meanwhile the sales side have been bombarding her with phone calls and emails to order a new Mini, despite not being able to see one! When challenged about the rip-off APR rate for her current PCP and why she should trust Cotswold again, the "salesman" had no answer. Cotswold were still pushing the numbers late last year despite production of the "old" Mini having stopped. They are still doing the same with the new model even though virtually no one has driven one. Who would, or should have to put up with a 7 day working week? The pay structure of sales staff, with a low basic and high commission focusses on maximising profit now, at the expense of what's best for the customer or customer retention. Does any modern car (let alone a £22k Mini) need "paint protection" at £500+?
- 0
- 0