It is also a Suzuki dealership where Club members in the Swindon area can claim exclusive model discounts.
So we wanted to know more about the Pebley Beach award winning business model and asked their Managing Director, Dom Threlfall, to tell us what they are doing that clearly many others aren’t.
This sentiment is neatly summed up in Dom’s quote.
“I believe great customer service is the key to business success – whatever business you’re in”
Top Ten Customer Service Takeaways

And so do we Dom, hence FOXY’s TOP TEN small and simple but spot on customer service favourites that Pebley Beach put into action and explain why they are on our FOXY Lady Approved list ahead of others…
1/ Reserved parking bays near the main entrance for customers with an appointment
2/ Expecting staff to walk customers back to their car
3/ Using a piece of tape to remind our technicians where the car seat was positioned.
“We’ve had married couples asking us to keep the tape in place, so that they know how far to put the seat back or forward for their partners!”
4/ Welcoming MoT and car servicing reminders.
5/ Simple online booking systems to free up staff to deliver personal customer service.
6/ The ability to watch technicians work on your car via a smartphone (a Hyundai service which Dom hopes will be rolled out nationally).
7/ A strategy to identify and recruit rising stars as apprentices, training them with a view to the future. Pebley Beach has won Awards for this approach as have many of their long standing staff as a result of this.
8/ Recognition that Pebley Beach is a community business requiring ethical behaviour at all times, manifesting this in upright and transparent customer dealings. The red and yellow football card photo above is a good example of this – it’s sarcasm that gets yellow and red cards at Pebley Beach…
9/ Managing an Aftersales (aka garage services) Charter so customers know what they can expect from Pebley Beach.
10/ Finally customers are encouraged to leave a voice mail message for Dom if he’s not in the business at the time. This is an excellent way to head off customer concerns that might otherwise escalate.
Other customer service initiatives
In recognition of his ability to convert good ideas into measurable actions Suzuki has sponsored Dom to attend the NADA Expo, the annual convention of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association where US dealers come together to compare the latest services and developments. And it’s said that whatever is hitting the spot in the US it will soon do so in the UK.
Certainly that is true about the female friendly car dealership business model askpatty.com that launched at the same time as FOXY in the UK. And where the number of women drivers exceeded the number of male ones ahead of this happening in the UK.
“No-one does customer service like the Americans,” said Dom “so I was looking for great ideas that I can adopt in the UK.
“But best practice doesn’t just come from within the industry. Every time I’m at a restaurant, book into a hotel, or even order a pizza I’ll replicate anything that’s given me a great customer experience.”
Dom is also in demand as a business speaker and shared a platform at the Customer Service Summit in April 2016 with Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service; Linda Moir, former director of In Flight Services, Virgin Atlantic; Catherine Hutt, principal consultant (automotive) at Frost & Sullivan; and Captain Gary Barrow of King’s Royal Hussars, giving delegates an unusual insight into how the Army tackles this topic.
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We’ll be returning to Pebley Beach later in the year to see what new NADA initiatives Dom might adopt and to measure the success of our FOXY Lady Approved services in terms of increased numbers of female customers. They are usually wary women who spot that Pebley Beach is the first dealership in Swindon to meet our standards ie our female car buying choice.
And as you can see from Dom’s approach, he is leading the car dealer field in Wiltshire by recognising that it isn’t just women who expect more from garages and car showrooms – men are equally delighted when the quality customer service bar is raised.
The challenge for other car dealerships is clear – they need to think as creatively about their own customer services, not just follow Pebley Beach’s examples.
“The greater the competition, the higher the customer service standard gets.”
says I, welcoming this challenge as ever.
FOXY
FOR MORE INFORMATION…
See Dom at the Swindon Business Show demonstrating Pebley Beach systems efficiencies as a means of increasing the time available for staff to maintain the (often missing elsewhere) personal touch.
Here’s the Pebley Beach website.
Here are the exclusive Suzuki car deals for Club members.
And if you’d like to join the Club to enjoy services like preferential car insurance rates for women and such like, here’s how you can.