Dealer profile: Pembroke Motor Services

Local motorists passing the familiar Haverfordwest showroom of west Wales dealer group Pembroke Motor Services (PMS) cannot help but notice that major changes are underway.

The Chrysler Jeep signage has been replaced by Nissan branding as the dealership, owned by John Green, switches to the Japanese brand with a £500,000 investment in the seven-car showroom
and a 16-bay workshop.

Green has been running the PMS business since 1992. He specialised in selling used cars until 2008 when he took on the Fiat franchise. Alfa Romeo, Chrysler and Jeep followed soon afterwards.

The Nissan move marks a departure for Green and the management team as they come to terms with the demands of a new brand, building a new customer database and meeting Nissan corporate identity standards.

How did you land the Nissan franchise?
Currently we are a Jeep sales outlet but we are working out our termination and remaining service agents, which was our decision.

Terminating with Jeep provided the opportunity with Nissan. We heard that the brand’s dealer in Nayland, six miles away, had handed its notice in so we approached Nissan.

We are currently being fitted with the latest corporate identity. The interior has been completed and the exterior will be transformed over the next six weeks, with the height of the centre roof being raised by four metres.

How are you building your customer base?
We inherited a database but not a very large one. Our launch budget, which includes a contribution from Nissan, takes in TV advertising on Sky and Welsh channel S4C.

I was surprised at how cost-effective TV advertising is. It’s very good value, especially with the Sky Adsmart service that targets people just within your territory. We will probably go on TV more regularly. It’s certainly on a par with print advertising.

We will be looking to put some of our previous Jeep customers into Nissans but you have to be careful. You can’t say to a customer: “We told you that car was the best on the market but now you need to see this.”

We are continuing with Jeep servicing as customers come to us from 100 miles away.

How are you marketing to the local community?

We are the oldest car dealer in the locality, and so we have a large database we can contact. But it’s important to get the balance right when speaking
to our customer base, contacting them enough times but not too often.

We are making the most of digital marketing. We use texting, Facebook and we send out digital newsletters. We spent £8 on Facebook advertising a £2,995 Seat Ibiza, and we received more than 2,000 views and sold the car to a family buying for their 17-year-old son, who lived 35 miles away and had never heard of PMS.

What’s it like working with Nissan?
It’s intense. Nissan is a full-on franchise and a step-up for us. We will have to learn new skills. We’ve identified people with ability who will be trained and of whom there will be a lot of expectation. They will be carrying out tasks they haven’t previously been expected to do.

We know how focused Nissan is on its standards and even with a strong reputation you can find you are not meeting the expectations of customers or your manufacturers. So we need to put controls in and monitor every element of the business to ensure we are giving our customers the value for money
and service Nissan requires.

Currently we are in the honeymoon period. It’s something all the staff are extremely excited about. The huge investment from us and Nissan
has re-incentivised our people.

What’s your staff retention like?
It’s very good. One of my valeters has been with me since the day I started. Recruitment is hard, it is difficult to find right level of skills. We recruited one person on the Fiat administered apprenticeship scheme, which worked well and he’s now a senior technician. When we added the Subaru/Isuzu franchise we recruited a junior salesman in mobile phone sales. He had no product knowledge, but did have good experience of dealing with customers on a face-to-face basis and closing sales. And we’ve just recruited a service receptionist who previously arranged contracts in the rail sector. If you recruit from within the industry you have to pay more to get the best people. For junior positions recruiting outside the industry is working especially well for us.

How do you find today’s market?
Whereas in recent years the emphasis has been on giving manufacturers their new car volume, now because the market is declining, we are able to revisit our strengths in used cars and we are probably selling more used than new now. We have the knowledge and manufacturers have so many used cars of less than 12 months old to sell. Such cars represent great value for money.

What is the biggest challenge for a rural business in Wales?
The biggest cost is meeting a manufacturer’s expectations. Maintaining the demonstrator fleet is a major challenge and you sell most of your demonstrators at substantial losses. As a new car dealer our biggest challenge is the costs of maintaining the brand.

Are electric vehicles in demand in your area?
I didn’t really think much about EVs when taking on the Nissan franchise. They don’t really register with our customer base at present, but they will come to do so, especially cars such as the latest Leaf with its extended battery range. We will need to get people into the cars.

For us to make a success of EVs we will have to offer extended test drives to customers. It’s going
to be more challenging to get the EV message out to customers in rural areas – it’s in its infancy but we are starting to see more people coming in to talk about EVs.

How is 2017 shaping up for new car sales volumes and market share?
New vehicle sales are declining but so long as we can show manufacturers that we are maintaining market share in our territory we will be doing well. We remain an authorised repairer for Jaguar Land Rover, and we are investing in that, adopting the new CI. Going forward it is about making sure we achieve the volume Nissan expects us to achieve. It’s a wonderful opportunity, representing a true volume manufacturer in two important  sectors, crossovers and electric vehicles, that are mushrooming.