A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm

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At MTI we want to promote best practice in the car trade and we are convinced that the majority of dealers work tirelessly to achieve this. OK the reputation of the trade has had a sustained battering but I can’t think of any other industry which has made the investment and commitment to deliver better products, facilities and service especially here in the UK.

Car showrooms are now places where customers are happy to spend time in. They are clean, fresh and inviting. You can watch your car being worked on and enjoy, for the most part, nice coffee in ambient surroundings and that’s only right and proper considering the potential investment being made. After all you wouldn’t go into Gordon Ramsey’s eateries and expect anything less than excellence which obviously reflects the prices you will be expected to pay and nor should you have to endure sub-standard facilities in car showrooms when the outlay is so much greater.

We have many insiders who successfully operate independent showrooms up and down the country due to their experience and expertise, not to mention their sheer determination to compete with main dealers who offer state of the art facilities aimed at instilling the confidence in their customers to want to buy from them.

It is a difficult and competitive business but one which often sees anyone with a few quid setting up in car sales. You don’t need any qualifications and therefore people often think ‘how hard can it be?’

You buy at one price and sell at a higher price, simple. Well anyone in the trade will tell you if only it were that simple! But I digress, the point is that as car professionals we do not receive the recognition we deserve for the progress we have made over the last decade in delivering better products and better services not to mention delivering a better and wider choice.

That said we also have to try and improve the perception of the average consumer that the car trade is unfair and not transparent in its dealings. Car makers and dealers are constantly carrying out exit
surveys and satisfaction studies which bombard customers and cajole them into giving marks out of 10, even for how sunny it was when they visited the showroom. But in reality to really engage with customers and prospective buyers we need to align customer expectations with the products and services on offer and the only way to truly discover a common ground and an improvement is through interaction and by asking customers to tell us how we can improve.

From a dealers point of view by promoting their business by interacting directly with customers and prospects in the social media arena they can add bottom line to their business.
Simple isn’t it?