Dealer Insight: Amarjit Shokar, Romford Mazda

Romford Mazda was recently named the top Aftersales Dealer in the brand’s UK network. The annual All-Stars awards, now in its fourth year, celebrates the top 25 Sales and top 25 Aftersales dealers, as well as star performers nominated for individual stand out performance and contribution in the Mazda All-Stars Sales and Service Leagues.

The man at the helm of Romford Mazda is dealer principal, Amarjit Shokar, who has won “Dealer Principal of the year” five times at the Motor Trader Awards. Taking over the business in 2007, Shokar has driven the dealership up the Mazda leaderboards by giving a lot of focus to the customer experience, both in sales and in the workshop.

Motor Trader spoke to Shokar on his approach to running the dealership, creating trust with the customer, and how automotive retail can learn from other industries.

For Shokar, the phrase “a family run business” extends beyond the people who work at the dealership. He said: “We took this business over in 2007. We’re a family run business and when we say family run, we mean we treat staff like family, as well as the customers. When they bring their car here, it’s not just their car, it’s our car. What we try and create is an environment and a feeling that keeps them coming back to us.

“This idea is not just based on the experiences that we see from other car dealers, but it’s also other industries. For example, when we go on holiday to Dubai, the reason we like going there is because of the way we are treated. You land at the airport and there’s someone waiting for you, and the hotel staff know your name, they bring your towels, they’ll bring you some dates and take you to your room and get you checked in. So, we try and bring that level of care into our dealership.

“In terms of value for money for the customer, not every visit has to be paid for. Customers will come in and ask us to check something and we’re happy to do that. It’s about having them come back and the only way you’re going to do that is if you look after them. It’s like if my nephew came to the dealership and he wanted something small done, we’re not going to charge for it. And we do that with our customers too. We’ve had people come in and buy their seventh and their eighth car. Then you have a relationship where customers trust you and they believe you, and I think that’s come from the culture we’ve created; the family culture.”

It’s not just a change in attitude and process Shokar has implemented, he has also addressed the physical dealership. He added “When I first came here in 2007, the showroom needed modernising. The layout here was very old fashioned with sales desks in a row. The service area had a tall counter, where customers came and stood. I looked at other industries, again like hotels, and there you walk in and are sat down at a desk, and I think this is the most important piece when you’re talking to a customer; you must only be talking to them. It’s all got to be personal. So, the sales desks were spread out across the showroom because they then became private, and if there was a customer at any place in the showroom we were able to see that they were looking and if they needed help. The service area is the same. It’s no different to seeing the salesman, a customer comes in, they have their own private desk area, and their requirements for the day are discussed. That’s customer satisfaction is more likely because we establish what it is that’s going to satisfy them and then deliver that.

“When we first got the business, we had two front of house members of staff. The trouble with that was that we were finding as we were getting busier the service advisors had no time to make phone calls to book people in and as a result we would end up with empty diaries for the future. So, what we then did was employ a separate part time person just to make our phone calls. Since then, our business has gone from doing £30-35,000 a month to £50,000 a month.

“We also introduced an online booking tool. Increasingly nowadays with busy times and different working hours customers just simply want to go online and book their car in for a service. Choose whether they want a very good clean or just an average clean, whether they want collection and delivery or whether they want to pop their car in.”

Rising up the ranks

Now a highflyer in the Mazda leagues, Romford wasn’t always a top performer. Shokar said that prior to his arrival the business’ position in the Master League was “very low”. He added: “We sat down with the service department and asked what does a customer expects from us? And we wrote that down. And then I asked, how are we going to deliver that? We produced a simple sheet to set out our processes for each part of the customer journey. Now the service advisors are confident in the way they are handling customer requests and the customer sees that.”

Mazda is a brand that has held a firm position in the UK market for several years, scoring well in the NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey (9th position overall in the latest) and attracting a loyal customer base. The OEM has now begun its move into the EV world with the MX 30 EV SUV with plans to transition further models to EV and hybrid powertrains.

On Mazda, Shokar said: “If you look at the Mazda brand, it’s not a big brand. I’ve been lucky enough to go to the factory and if you have a look at the way that people work, they also have this family type of attitude, this camaraderie and togetherness. When I started in 2007, we were saying to people please have a look at Mazda, it’s a good car, drive it and you’ll love it. What we’re finding now is that the brand has evolved. The cars look very nice, and the technology is incredible, and that’s drawing customers to the business. It is becoming more premium. People are loving the cars and it is now more than just the loyal base, but we still have those Mazda owners on their seventh and eighth car.”

And how is Shokar approaching the new EV stock? He added: “We approach all sales looking to be correct and fair. For us, there’s no other approach. Just because the electric car requires less work, our philosophy is that this doesn’t mean you should go out there finding more work. Do what’s required, be honest and be correct, and that will bring more customers to your business.”

Looking forward Shokar said that he and his staff are “going to carry on doing what we’re doing”. He concluded: “With electric coming our brand is going to evolve, and we’re going to do that with the brand. We haven’t really changed what we’ve done since we bought the business. We’ve just reacted to what our customers want and what our business needs, and that’s what’s made our business grow. It has made our business strong.”