Meeting face-to-face

I have circa 90 customers to look after, and I am their main point of contact.

Face‐to‐face discussion is key to building relationships. Here at Skoda we strive to be fully engaged with our customers and them with us, so making time to meet in person is central to what we do. I team this with regular follow‐up communication (telephone, email & ecomms) to really build strong long‐term relations.

Finding the right fit

Understanding the customer’s need and requirements plays an important role in selecting the correct vehicles for their needs. Rather than just benchmarking against what their drivers are currently using, I try to take the time to really understand the reasons why the current vehicle was selected. For example, if a certain option was required or if the boot‐space needed to be a specific size.

Often this presents further insight and from there I can present the best vehicle solution.

Out on the road

We have a fantastic mobility policy hereat Skoda and as such I’m currently driving a Skoda Octavia vRS 2‐litre diesel hatchback which I will typically keep for three months. As I also look after the central London area, I use the trains and Underground a lot as it’s easier and faster to get around the capital this way.

Typically, I do about 25,000 business miles each year on average. My colleague Alan who covers the North and Scotland will do a fair bit more!

Catering to all

The Skoda range offers plenty of choice to fleets big or small, and we have a great Local Business Programme to support and deliver to the SME fleets. The fleet range includes the new Skoda Fabia (launched Jan 2015) which is making moves in the salary sacrifice market with its low CO2, competitive P11d and technology; and in the highly competitive job‐need category, the Skoda Octavia continues to dominate with best‐in class whole‐life costs and space.

Building a rapport

I'm a people‐person at heart so for me getting customers engaged with our brand is the best part of my role. This includes meeting new and different people each week as well as hosting and staging some fantastic customer experiences which is always great fun – even more so when our customers get back in touch to say what a fantastic time they had with us.

Changing perceptions

The only challenging aspect of my role would have to be those few (and I literally mean a few) customers who still have reservations about Skoda. I see this as a great opportunity to show them how far we have come as a brand and get them as excited as I am about what else is to come from Skoda HQ in the future.