“Across the industry, valeters and drivers get paid minimum wage. But we’re looking at acknowledging with greater fairness that importance people play in the company and we are discussing pay above the minimum wage, which will form part of phase two development of the business,” he said.

“I don’t want to hear anyone say ‘I’m only a driver’ or ‘I’m only a receptionist’. This year the focus will be on ensuring customer-facing staff in particular understand how critical they are to Marshall.”

For the past 18 months, BMW’s UK dealer network has been rolling out what it calls product geniuses to help advise customers on all aspects of the model range and its technology. The people filling these newly generated roles are enthused by technology and gadget-savvy, and are tasked with exciting prospective buyers about the cars and providing insightful information during test drives.

At Knights BMW and Mini in Staffordshire, the product geniuses are not subject to incentives, but AM understands other dealers do offer bonuses with this role. At Knights, if customers are interested in buying once they have been informed about all the details of the model, they can then talk to a sales executive for the transaction.

Ian Dow, Knights BMW group aftersales director, said this structure has been working for the business, with a mixture of non-volume driven staff taking the sales pressure away from customers and then still having sales executives in the mix.

However, he does have doubts over the future of how sales teams are structured within automotive retail.

“Customers are coming to the showrooms more informed and they already know very specifically in most cases what they want,” he said.

“With the high penetration of finance deals and PCPs in the market, I do wonder where the role of the sales exec lies in the future. But there will always be the pressure of an end-of-quarter sales campaign and product geniuses won’t help when you’re pushing for target.”

In the US, Tesla Motors has come up against strong opposition for trying to follow its own path. In owning all of its retail sites globally, including its sole UK showroom in London’s Westfield Shopping Centre, it controls the entire sales process and operates outside the traditional franchised dealer model. Nevertheless, its sales staff are incentivised to sell.

George Ell, Tesla Motors country director for the UK and Ireland, said: “We’re focused on helping customers to make the right decision. We will spend as much time with the customer as they need and it’s a no-pressure environment.”