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JFE Nissan dealer principal Matthew Holcombe reveals how he puts best practice to work in this special Dealer Insight sponsored by AutoProtect.
Inspired by the slick efficiency and professionalism of an F1 pit lane, JFE Nissan is raising the standards bar for volume aftersales workshops
Ideas to improve the best practice credentials of a dealership can come from many and varied sources and for Matthew Holcombe (pictured), a trip to the Dubai F1 grand prix provided the inspiration.
Holcombe, who has been with the southwest-based Wellington Motor Group for the past 12 years and dealer principal at the group’s JFE Nissan outlet in Exeter since 2011, was on a Nissan dealer incentive trip to the race. The itinerary included a behind-the-scenes tour of the pit-lane setup of multi-titlists Red Bull Racing and Holcombe was inspired to rethink the set-up of his workshop.
As a result the 12-bay service centre has undergone a five-figure transformation to install clean-room working conditions which replicate the F1 pits, right down to the fitting of specialist flooring and cutting-edge lighting.
The technicians now have new tools and overalls and a new full-time maintenance technician post has been created with the task of maintaining surgical conditions of cleanliness.
Each bay now has three cameras installed giving customers a 360-degree view of their car at all times, which they can watch on a TV screen in the dealership or remotely on a laptop, tablet or smartphone.
The changes have gone down well with existing and prospective customers.
“It has worked really well not just from a service perspective, but for sales as well. Our aftersales service is very transparent and when our customers see the workshops before they buy a car it gives them confidence in us. They are reassured that we see the entire process all the way through,” he said.
Holcombe expected some resistance from his workshop staff but found they bought into the concept as they saw it as in investment in them.
“They felt we were investing and trusting in them and that was a turning point. For a long time we’ve had lovely showroom facilities, now the workshop comes up to the same level and our workshop staff feel more valued and have become more efficient as a result.”
Recent workshop data proves the point – efficiencies have increased by 12% in the last three months and the centre has topped Nissan’s aftersales CSI league over the same period.
Now Nissan is looking closely at what has been achieved at JFE to see if it could work elsewhere in the network, although Holcombe believes it can only work amongst those who see the workshop as a fundamental part of their retailing activities.
“Some don’t really focus on the discipline and the cleanliness in aftersales that they should do: they don’t treat it like a retail environment, they think there is a wall between what the consumer sees and what is delivered – which is wrong.”
Andrew Charman
JFE Nissan Fact File
Name of business: JFE Nissan
Established: 10 years (part of Wellington Motor Group)
Location: Exeter, Devon
Brand: Nissan
Staff: 40 (18 in aftersales)
Ramps: 9
