Tag Archives: Suzuki

buying a new car, car dealerships, women

Norwich’s female friendly garage and car dealer choice

Grant Long, NMG’s MD – photo ack: AM -Online.com
The Norfolk Motor Group (NMG) is a family run and FOXY Lady Approved garage and car dealership group in Norwich.

This means it is both a Female Friendly Approved business and employer in Norwich.

To join our approved network requires automotive businesses to demonstrate a minimum package of credentials which NMG has exceeded, for the following reasons.

Ladies Evenings

We first met NMG in the run up to their Ladies Evening in mid-February when more than 120 local women drivers attended this highly social evening covering important motoring-related issues such as driving attitudes & behaviour, DIY car maintenance checks and an entertaining session providing memorable advice and demonstrating self defence techniques.

These events are always fun first.

But they also inform and educate women about their critical personal safety, driving safety and vehicle safety. Everyone comes away with at least one important and timely message, and of course this reflects positively on the perceived ethics of the organiser because only businesses that truly want to give something back to their local community are prepared to invest the time and resource towards a free activity which isn’t actively selling cars.

New Car Sales, Used Car Sales and Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

Having said that, NMG’s main business is obviously selling and repairing cars.

They hold Kia and Suzuki franchises so if you drive these makes of cars, or would like to, in or near Norwich, this is where to come to buy them, trade them in or to have them serviced and repaired.

NMG also sell other makes and models of approved used family cars as well as Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) so it’s a business that covers the majority of transport needs.

And which women know they can trust.

Signs Of Measurable Quality

We look for all signs of measurable quality before accepting garages or car dealers on to our network. This is because used car sales and car servicing are unregulated areas in the motor industry and too few staff are licensed to do these jobs.

One of the best things about choosing a franchised dealership rather than an independent is the reassurance that they have been approved by the manufacturer they represent.

Another standard FOXY looks for is EITHER that the business (used car dealers and independent garages too) operates to a Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) Approved Code of Practice scheme OR is listed on the IMI Professional Register.

In this case many members of NMG staff are Master Technicians, others are trained in the latest electric and hybrid technologies and the business is a member of the CTSI’s New Car Code, Car Sales Code and Service and Repair Code operated by The Motor Ombudsman.

From a customer service point of view, NMG is open 5 and half days a week for car servicing, MOT, repairs and parts. There’s a courtesy bus, a fleet of courtesy cars and a local collection and delivery vehicle service.

Sales Departments are open 7 days a week, including most Bank Holidays, and only close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Easter Sunday.

They also support many local groups, schools, clubs & charities.

Female Feedback

The final yet critical ingredient is for FOXY to monitor female feedback in addition to NMG’s existing and very high customer satisfaction scores. By using our certificates in their business they are actively courting ALL feedback and giving females a gift membership of FOXY Lady Drivers Club as a thank you for their time. The point of this is that whilst we all expect feedback to be positive, if it wasn’t, NMG still wants to know, so they can put it right.

And perhaps that’s the main reason why this business passes our FOXY test with flying colours.

1/ Because their motto is ‘Nobody Tries Harder Than NMG…Nobody‘!
2/ Because they evidently want to do a better job for women drivers, by joining this scheme.
3/ Because they are dedicated to doing this from the top of NMG to the showroom floor – we’re dealing with NMG’s Managing Director who definitely sees this as a long term commitment.

All this is good news for women drivers in and around Norwich. If that’s you, then I invite you to visit their branches in Norwich and put your name down for a future Ladies Evening at 79 Mile Cross Lane.

They may even offer you a gift membership of FOXY Lady Drivers Club for doing this.

FOXY

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For More Information

NMG’s HQ is 79 Mile Cross Lane in Norwich, NR6 6TX
Please read NMG’s business story.
Kia and family car sales tel: 01603 775100
Suzuki new and used cars tel:01603 418700
NMG family car, WAV and SUV centre tel: 01603 401044

buying a new car, car shopping, women

Suzuki discounts for Club members

suzuki_q4

The best thing about Suzuki Cars is their reliability record which has remained too much of a secret for too many women drivers till now.

And now these cars are available at very special rates to Club members.

As a dealer in Scotland explained to me recently…

“I find it easy to recommend Suzuki because these cars simply don’t break.”

Valid until 31 December 2016, Club members are entitled to these fabulous affinity discounts on brand new Suzuki cars after three months membership.

If not for the member herself she can share this benefit with a member of the family living at the same address, subject to a maximum of one affinity car sale per 12 month period.

FOXY affinity discounts on Suzuki models

Discounts vary by model as you can see in the poster.

To whet your appetite, the top 30% discount applies to the SX4 S-Cross 1.6 SZ-T MT model reducing the RRP of £19499 by £5652.94, making this a truly impressive and affordable car for just £13846.42.

We recommend you put Suzuki on your shopping list for a small and compact OR rugged and 4×4 vehicle that’s fun to drive at the same time as being environmentally friendly, economic to run and great value to buy.

New models include the face-lifted S-Cross, the Celerio and the Baleno in addition to the better known Suzuki Vitara and Suzuki Swift models.

The best way to see if a new Suzuki is for you is to call in to a Suzuki dealership, identify the model that’s right for you, arrange a test drive and discuss the best FOXY affinity Club deal. This will depend on the offer in place that sales period.

How to find out more…

We suggest you browse the range of Suzuki models at the website.

Then visit your nearest Suzuki dealer to discuss this and arrange a test drive.

And if any females need a new insurance quote it’s got to be FOXY Lady Insurance of course.

To qualify for this Suzuki offer, members will need to show their membership card which will then be checked and verified by Club HQ.

These are great cars and foxy offers. We recommend that members check them out and catch them when they can!

FOXY

car dealerships

Great customer service translates into business success

Business of the Year, Wiltshire Business Awards
Business of the Year, Wiltshire Business Awards
Pebley Beach is an award-winning and FOXY Lady Approved car dealership in Swindon.

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

Sarcasm gets a yellow and sometimes red card at Pebley Beach
Sarcasm gets a yellow and sometimes red card at Pebley Beach

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.

women

Women outnumber men as winners of UK Worker of the Year competition

2014-uk-woty-logoThe UK Worker of the Year competition aims to find and reward the UK’s hardest workers.

Now in its fifth year, women have won on three out of four occasions. Maybe (some) women work harder or enter more competitions than (some) men but chances are that a marvellous man will level up the gender odds this year!

This award is sponsored by Dickies, famous for their stylish workwear, in association with Suzuki.

This year’s lucky winner can choose between a fab Suzuki S-Cross car, a Suzuki V-Strom 1000 motorcycle or a Suzuki ATV Quad.

Not just that, however, but the winner will also have the chance to win a HUGE cash prize of £100,000 if they successfully predict the outcome of a race at the British Superbike meeting at Brands Hatch in October.

Shortlisted UK Worker of The Year runners up aren’t forgotten either; they receive generous holiday vouchers to make up for their disappointment.

Recent winners

dickies1

The first UK Worker of the Year Winner was John Stone in 2010 but men haven’t had a look in since.

After that charity worker Anna Simpson won in 2011 followed by inventor Di Mayze in 2012.

Last year, farmer Judi James (in the photo) saw off seven male contenders when she was crowned UK Worker of the Year 2013. Clearly a prolific multi-tasker, she had set up her own RSPCA Freedom Foods veal production unit alongside her daily farming duties whilst raising money for a breast cancer charity and inspiring other women to take on farming as a profession. That’s impressive!

Needless to say she was keen to encourage others to enter the competition in future, saying

“I would urge anyone who hears about the competition to have a go at entering or to nominate someone else. It costs nothing except a few minutes of time and those few minutes could prove to be incredibly worthwhile. It’s great for me to be recognised for my hard work in what is a male dominant industry.”

Maurice Morton, Sales & Marketing director at Dickies explained the thinking behind this competition.

“Back in 2010 we wanted to do something to recognise and reward hard workers in the UK. In each case the four winners were stand-out impressive ones. We are confident that the 2014 award will remain the feel-good factor it has been during such tough economic times; it exists to remind our workforce that they have so much to be proud of and to look forward to.”

About the 2014 competition

UK Worker of the Year is a ‘free-to-enter’ competition and is open to anyone aged 17 or over (on the date of the launch), who works in the UK.

To enter UK Worker of the Year 2014 or to find out more about the competition please visit www.ukworkeroftheyear.com or email workeroftheyear@chicanemarketing.co.uk.

The ultimate winner of the 2014 competition will be announced at the final round of the British Superbike meeting at Brands Hatch on October 18th.

Good luck everyone. Whoever wins will deserve it, that’s for sure.

FOXY

marketing to women, motoring

Girls ride bikes too…

Most female bike riders want to be treated like girls not boys.

Girl Torque is Suzuki’s new website resource for female motorcyclists with news, features, advice and information with a female twist and a women only Track Day launch on 14th September at Donington so we can take to the track and test the latest GSX-R models to suit ourselves.

Suzuki GB’s Michael Le Flay doesn’t see female motorcyclists any differently from male riders but says he understands the subtle differences and challenges faced by females in such a male-dominated pastime.

“For example, riding clothing sizes can be difficult to judge, as much as it may be for for a new rider to understand the differences needed when it comes to seat heights.”

So we women can’t judge clothing sizes or understand getting bike seat heights right… bless!

Even so it’s good to see that Suzuki clearly recognises that women don’t want to be treated like men. Why would we when we’re so different?

But clearly girls who ride bikes are more like men than those of us that buy cars – the name ‘torque’ is a clue that male and female bikers like speed and performance. Women are less interested in chat about torque than men when it comes to buying cars we find.

Vive la difference.

FOXY