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Earlier this year the factory-owned TrustFord group opened a purpose-built FordStore in Epsom, Surrey, with GM Lucy Curtis at the helm
TrustFord Epsom opened in April following a £4m of investment programme. The new-build dealership in the Longmead Industrial Estate replaced two separate sites operated by the group in the Surrey town. This impressive looking new business plays an important role within a large central market area operated by the factory-owned dealer group.
In keeping with the FordStore concept the site has space to display the full range of Ford cars including the top-end Vignale models and the Mustang muscle car. It also has a dedicated Transit Centre and room to display 100 used vehicles.
Across the road is the new Epsom TrustFirstParts operation supporting the surrounding motor trade and TrustFord’s own Surrey workshops.
In charge is Lucy Curtis, who joined the group in October 2004 as a sales executive before moving on to become business manager and sales manager. She was appointed general manager of the TrustFord Surrey CMA at the end of 2014.
Why did TrustFord transform the Epsom business into a single FordStore? The building of a new centre was seen as the perfect situation in which to establish a FordStore. We had a fantastic opportunity to create one from scratch.
What’s the differences between the old sites and the new entity? It’s a £4m investment, replacing the previous TrustFord Epsom dealerships based at Kiln Lane and East Street. We have an 18-vehicle showroom with dedicated stands, interactive displays and a customer seating zone with free Wi-Fi and USB connectivity.
In terms of product we can now sell iconic cars such as the Mustang, Focus RS and Vignale, which has its own dedicated area. We have plinths on which to display vehicles and these change every quarter in line with the product Ford Motor Company is promoting.
How did you tell customers about your new location? We wrote to our customer database long before we moved. Every event we’ve taken part in, every mailing we’ve carried out, we’ve included a note reminding customers that we have moved. We’ve had a change-of-home bill board on display in Epsom, promoted the move on our website and we’ve carried out mail and leaflet drops. While today digital marketing is very important to us, we find that traditional paper-based marketing still has its place. The initial reaction from customers has been very positive.
How difficult was it to recruit new staff? All staff transferred from the previous sites, but we’ve added to the sales force and employed two more technicians. We’ve also incorporated the Transit centre from Cobham into this site, moving its team here. We haven’t found recruiting difficult due to TrustFord’s established processes. We don’t recruit locally but through our group assessment centre. We also have our own group learning and development manager internally and staff attend training courses with Ford Motor Company at the Henry Ford Academy in Daventry.
Were there any difficulties with different teams working on one site? It was a challenge for us as three separate teams had to be brought together. But we held several team meetings, ensured we communicated with the staff, made sure everyone knew where we are going what our goals are.
We’ve only been in here five months but the teams have been absolutely fantastic in working together.
How do you deliver customer satisfaction? We have our purpose, our principles and our ambitions spelt out and clearly visible. The first thing for us is happy staff, because their behaviour with the customer will be infectious. So long as we have happy staff they will produce happy customers. And we have our customer service scores for sales and aftersales. Team work is important, each department is key to each other.
How are you finding the used car market at the moment? Our used performance is strong. Since moving here we are now holding a lot more stock, particularly as by relocating the Transit Centre we have been able to turn our Cobham site back to a full used-car forecourt. We have also improved processes related to pricing and the quality of stock photography.
What’s the biggest challenge now? It is a tough, very competitive market. It’s still a challenge to bring in existing customers, to make them aware we are in a new and fantastic facility, while needing to reach out to conquest business, the people who always buy a Peugeot or a Nissan.
We had our launch in August, where the centre was officially opened by our CEO Steve Hood, and straight after we invited our customers in and we had a Ford GT on display, which created a lot of interest.
During our opening we handed out long-service awards. One of our technicians had been with the Surrey CMA 45 years, another for 25 years.
How has 2016 performed and what’s the outlook? Based on volume this year, we are a long way up. We’ve seen a massive increase in sales. At the end of August my dealerships had sold 700 more vehicles than last year. I think it’s down to our people and our focus on processes and the way we do business. I’ve seen no evidence that the Brexit vote has impacted us. My prediction is that we can only get better. We are looking very positive.