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'Can do' style wins all round
Page 72
Page 73
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A north of Scotland dealership has claimed Fodenis Dealer of the Year
crown. Emma Penny reports.
When a sales director tells you he is known as "John Foden" by some of his customers, it's a clue he's dedicated.And after 30 years of selling the same marque, there can be no doubt that John Birnie, who heads up the sales department at Morayshire-based Baillie Brothers, is certainly committed to his task.
As proof of that, the company has just been crowned Foden's Dealer of the Year, beating off competition from dealers who sell far greater numbers of vehicles.
The dealership, on the edge of the picturesque town of Elgin on the Moray Firth coast, sells about 30 new Foden trucks a year and a fair number of used vehicles as well". also sells for Isuzu Truck as well as being a service and parts dealership for Renault Truck.
Birnie, though, concentrates on Foden. He started his career with the manufacturer working for Scottish dealer Beaverbank, before Baillie Brothers took on the business about 15 years ago.
Family members It's a strong business, started by three brothers whose offspring now run the firm — and Birnie married into the family, While he runs the sales business,family members run the parts and service departments, the store, the IT system and the family haulage business — and one brother drives for that part of the firm.
John Baillie, who runs the haulage business, believes running trucks is one thing that sets them apart from the competition.
The transport operation includes everything from eight-wheel tippers to bulk powder cement tankers, glass collections for recycling and bagging and supplying decorative aggregates for DIY stores."We run 21 of our own vehicles and so we know the pressure operators are under if they have a vehicle off the road. We understand the job first hand, and know what standards to expect."
That is particularly important for one of the firm's most important markets — timber haulage. About 30% of the trucks it sells are for this vital local industry, and it's one where trucks have to perform regularly in less-thanideal off-road conditions. Birnie believes Fodens sell well because they are robust. "People are coming back to Foden.They are building a very good product now.They have also sorted out their service offering, and it is much better than it used to be."
The double-drive option, which is popular with timber hauliers, is a particularly strong point, says Birnie, and the manufacturer has kept prices down, which has also helped sales.
But with the Working Time Directive (WTD) likely to have a major impact on timber hauliers, Birnie is keen to ensure they stay in business, and Baillie Brothers has recently joined with a local timber transport business to run a seminar on the WTD. This explained the problems caused by the WTD, and that costs would have to rise.
"Anything happening to the timber industry would have a big effect on us. Most of the trucks we sell are on a three or four-year maintenance contract, so if they disappear it would cause a big problem for our workshop."
It has become increasingly busy as the dealership has started to sell a high proportion of new vehicles;it sells far fewer used trucks now, says Bintie. -The culture is changing. VOSA is tending to target older vehicles, and ownerdrivers who would have spent the weekend repairing their truck are now buying new so they can have the weekend free.
The servicing department is open from 7am to 2am every day, with two vans covering out-of-hours.And if the firm is having difficulty obtaining parts quickly enough,it will go as far as taking the requisite bit off one of their own vehicles to keep its customers' trucks running.
That "can do" culture which the business is keen to embrace means Birnie is also willing to do things many other dealers might refuse to even consider. "We do a lot of niche stuff, particularly for the local council which wants to use vehicles for two or three jobs.! like sitting down with customers and being able to offer them a bespoke service."
Double drive
This tailored service included converting some used Fodens to double drive for clearing runways; the plastic cabs are suited to this type of work as they don't rust.A couple of doubledrive Fodens converted to sweepers has led to more work — the firm has now produced about 20 of them.And all of this also means there is more work for the workshop and parts departments. \ "An Irishman was looking for a 60t/m crane with a double drive axle and couldn't find anyone to do it.We grabbed it, and did it because we knew exactly what he needed," says Birnie.
He believes this positive approach is helped tremendously by the fact that he hasn't got a computer—and he is adamant that he doesn't want one. "I know exactly what can and can't be done, rather than having to look it up on a computer that doesn't know the answer!"•