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Just Citroen director Max Croft tells how the dealership has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two years in this special Dealer Insight sponsored by AutoProtect.
Motorists waiting at the busy level crossing in Cross Hills, near Keighley in West Yorkshire, have an excellent view of the premises of Just Citroën.
Max Croft, one of the business’ four directors, has been in the motor retail business since 1993, rising to managing director level. Changes within her previous employer persuaded Croft that she needed a new challenge, and she initially set up a used car business with three former colleagues. But she had worked with Citroën for most of her career, and discussions with the brand identified the Keighley outlet as ripe for hers talents.
“The company previously here was looking to expand its other brands and this Citroën centre had become a bit of an outpost. I liked the challenge of fixing something that was broke,” she said.
Just Citroën launched in May 2012 and for the new management team the first priority was to restore staff morale. While customer satisfaction is always seen as an industry priority Croft believes that employee satisfaction should come first; “It’s an unwritten contract – we don’t do mediocre or average, we work hard, we want to be the best at what we do.”
According to Croft not enough dealer bosses realise that staff relations are a two-way street.
“We see it as a privilege when people come here every day to work. Yes they are getting paid but we hear too many in the motor trade talk about the costs of people – we don’t view them like that, we build mutual respect.
“We wanted to build something in the right way, where our staff were engaged, respected and cared for. We don’t have anyone on the minimum wage, we promote people to be professional and good at their job. If they do that we are a fantastic company to work for and we look after them.”
Such efforts by the staff are rewarded – once every quarter the entire centre has a night out, and ad-hoc activities, such as barbecues, are staged in the summer months during working hours; “Everyone takes part – there’s no us and them in our dealership. Some dealers have the attitude of ‘you can’t have fun on my watch, not with what you cost me’ but not us, we are all human beings.”
Croft believes that happy staff produce satisfied customers and a consequent rise in CSI scores.
“Customers sense it, there’s nothing worse than walking into a dealership where the sales manager is not giving you the right attention because he’s worrying about various things.”
The site’s branding is quite deliberate as it maximises on the business’ long standing association and expertise with the French carmaker.
“Just Citroën says that we specialise in Citroën, we know everything about them, we are passionate for the brand, a great advocate for them. When we took over the technicians were fixing all sorts of cars and they hated it, because they didn’t understand these other brands, they kept having to go to other dealers to use their diagnostics.
“We say, you want or run a Citroën, come to us. We’ll look after you, because our staff know all about the product. These cars will go wrong occasionally, and it’s what we do at that point, that will differentiate us from the competition. And Citroën is a good brand, it’s progressed night and day from what it was 20 years ago.”
Rebuilding the centre’s customer base, however, was a challenge.
A heavy marketing focus included branding 13 cars in Just Citroën livery and strategically placing them in areas such as the local supermarket, and attending local fetes and community galas, along with traditional press advertising.
Low aftersales absorption was countered by supplying a service pack with each car sold, while halo Citroën models such as the DS3 helped to bring customers through the door where they could experience Just Citroën standards of service.
“A lot of customers had never been near the garage, and word of mouth proved vital. It’s a real community – if you kick one person 400 people limp, but if you look after one person they tell everybody. It took about three months but by the summer people were saying ‘give them a chance, they’re alright’.”
Croft knew the vehicle parc had to be built up and transparency in sales processes helped this.
“We have four main offers, which is far simpler and transparent for the customer, while the salesman does not have to cope with various codes in his manual pointing to profits from particular items. This makes him more knowledgeable, and he sounds more confident and believable when for example he’s making a part-exchange offer to the customer.”
The results were impressive, with 635 cars sold in the first full year, a 50% increase in volume. The goal in 2014 is to consolidate at 700, with 750 thought to be an optimum level for the size of the site, meeting the target of claiming 10% of the local market.
“We are in a medium-sized territory location –
we are never going to sell 1,500 cars a year.”
Growing car sales should in turn lead to increased aftersales and Croft is confident the best is yet to come from this area.
“We now have a database that when we get to 2015 will benefit us – all the effort and investment in marketing will pay off and we can pull back a bit on that as the business matures. You put the graft in year one and two to benefit in year three.”
Given the drive of Croft and the rest of the management team, she admitted the pace of growth within the business has still taken them by surprise.
“It’s exceeded our expectations – we don’t know where we are going to get to yet, but we are enjoying getting there…”
Just Citroën Fact File
Brand: Citroën
Location: Keighley, West Yorkshire
Established: May 2012
Staff: 20 (8 in aftersales) Ramps: 4
Andrew Charman
