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Eskimos
CM meets MAN TopUsed sales executive Lynette Merrick, who has used her people skills and product knowledge to sell more than 40 trucks in 16 months
Words: Kevin Swallow / Images: Tom Lee
Lynette Merrick became a TopUsed sales executive in January 2011, after spending the previous seven years at the MAN dealership in Nuneaton as a service receptionist.
Just two days later she sold her first truck. “I sold a truck to GKB Logistics, based in Markfield, Leicestershire. It was a metallic blue TGA XXL 56-plate,” she said from the MAN stand at the 2012 CV Show. “Last year I sold 30 trucks and I have sold 11 this year so far [up to 25 April].” The sales she has completed this year are primarily down to the groundwork she put in last year covering the CV and LE postcodes, so customers are coming back and reordering from her. “Syston Freight, based in Leicester, has taken four trucks off me and I am talking to GKB Logistics about another truck,” she adds.
This year she hopes to sell 45 and admits it’s more of a personal goal than a financial one. “It has been a real learning curve. I think the customer service side of my previous job has stood me well,” she explained.
A strong knowledge of the products
Her time behind the counter has also helped her develop a strong product knowledge of the MAN vehicles and she is also preparing to take her Category C licence later in the year.
Her customers are predominantly after tractor units and cite fuel economy as a big issue. “I have sold on the merit of the fantastic fuel economy result from the CM TGS roadtest [CM, 8 December 2011].
“The retail prices are creeping up; operators are more interested in repair and maintenance and service contracts, and more operators are going for in-house finance,” she said. All 11 deals made this year have involved MAN Financial Services (MFS) and the majority of the deals she struck last year for second-hand trucks signed up with MFS as well. “People go for 10% and 90% MFS on finance leases over three years,” she said. ■