Getting back to business. Q&A with Jacob Freshwater from Fresh Motors

Fresh Motors is an award-winning car and van dealership based in Norfolk. We caught up with Jacob earlier in the lockdown period to understand his experience of having to shut down. So we invited him back to see how he’s getting on since reopening and asked him to share his insight on how he’s found getting back to business.

Q: Looking at our poll just now. Which of the three Government funded campaigns would be most beneficial to your business?  

I would have also voted for VAT discounts. VAT is a heavy part of cash flow on both commercial vehicles and cars. So that would be a great benefit for us.

Q: When we last spoke you were telling me about closing your two sites down due to COVID-19. One of which had just opened and the paint was still wet. Can you update us on your journey? How have you been managing your business whilst you’ve been closed?

We survived. I guess that’s the most important thing. We also managed to get the second site open and we got our MOT station up and running. As for the main operation, we are open. We opened on the 1st June on a strictly appointment only basis and our premises allows us to do that quite nicely and we ask for one customer to visit the site, should they want to view the vehicle. We have also implemented a number of awareness measures around the premises for customers, ensuring that we minimise any risk to them.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit more about those awareness measures that you put into place?

As I mentioned we’re strictly appointment only. We’re spreading the appointments over a decent amount of time to stop multiple people showing up to the site at the same time. We’ve got a no customer zone and a one-way flow through the showroom to restrict the free movement of customers. We’ve also got sanitisation stations in place and we’re offering PPE on arrival including gloves & seat covers, which we’re saying are mandatory should customers want to move freely around the stock. So, they’re the main physical measures we have in place as well as the hazard tape to promote keeping a safe distance.

Q: We get a number of commercial vehicle retailers tuning into these webinars and I know that you’ve got a split of cars and commercials vehicles. Have you noticed any difference in demand between cars and commercials since reopening?

I hope everyone is experiencing this, but I did not expect the industry to kick off and bounce back as quickly as it did. It was almost like it was on pause and someone pressed play. Everyone is enquiring, everyone is wanting to view vehicles, everyone wants to buy stock. It’s something which I’ve never experienced before which is fantastic. I believe a lot of the Government support and assistance with businesses particularly in the commercial world has allowed companies to continue to replenish or add to their fleets, because now they need vehicles to move goods more than ever. So, commercials were fairly buoyant and we were receiving offers from others retailers to buy our stock off us at retail prices. Demand in that area has been great and commercial is doing really well.

 Q: Can you tell me what you’ve been doing with your prices since you’ve come back?

We’ve held strong we haven’t really done anything. We have put some vehicles up in price as we believe they weren’t reflecting the true value. We don’t see the need to discount anything really, given that stock is difficult to get hold of right now due to the spike in demand we’re very much holding strong.

Q: You mentioned earlier about your appointment only policy and the measures you’ve put in place. What have you seen in terms of buyer behaviour when they arrive on site? Can you tell me some of the experiences you’ve had in this past week?  

This is really interesting and is probably common trait across a lot of dealers. Some customers have absolutely no regard for any measures. They walk straight in as if nothing has happened and I think that tells you a lot about the buyers that are coming into the showroom today. I think there will be two phases. 1st phase is the consumers at home really keen to get involved with their new vehicle purchase and I think the more conscientious buyers are around the corner. We are getting customers now, who are appreciating the measures we put in place when they do come down. I think that represents the demand. People have been at home for a number of weeks, they are very well informed, they know what vehicles they want, and they just want to come down and buy them. But I think the more contentious buyers are coming.

Q: I’ve heard from a number of retailers this week who have told me that since reopening on 1st June that pent-up demand is being realised and people are turning up to forecourts in their droves. Sometimes in families of 3 or 4, ignoring hazard tape and handling vehicles. It must feel like a waste of time when you’ve gone to all the effort of putting these measures in place?

Yeah at times you think about it. But we have to remember that this is also for the protection of staff. We want to make sure that they feel safe and protected and we have a policy where we are forcing customers to put gloves on when they are walking around the showroom. In the indoor environment we are ensuring that everyone follows the same flow through the showroom and we’re really hitting the drum there to ensure that everyone complies. I think that everyone does understand eventually, and we’ve not had any resistance to it once explained.

It’s interesting that you mentioned the more cautious buyers as well. Our own research showed that 16% of our customers were very comfortable and very likely to turn up once retailers were allowed to reopen and that’s what retailers are experiencing now. It’s the more cautious buyers that are researching their purchases now that we need to be mindful of and prepare for. The measures put in place are more likely to give those customers confidence, rather than the customers we’re experiencing now.

Q: You mentioned leads before, we’ve seen record numbers of leads through out platform since June 1st. Are you handling your leads any differently now than you were prior to COVID-19?

I think at every touch point we have with customers, we are promoting the COVID-19 awareness at the start of the conversation, just to try and appease customers that we do have measures in place. Also, keeping them in the loop of what we are doing, letting them know that we are open, but we are appointment only. Asking them to bear with us, in that you may not be able to view the vehicle immediately. So, I think that’s the key message that we’re giving everyone to start with when they do make an enquiry and then build the conversations from there really.

Q: You mentioned appointment only. Are there measures that you put in place during lockdown such as click and collect or home delivery that you will continue as business as usual going forward.

Yeah certainly, as I mentioned on the webinar I attended earlier in lockdown, I’ve tried to use this time to improve the business in areas that we really didn’t think about prior to the lockdown. From a contingency point of view, we’ve never experienced anything like this before, but contactless handovers and deliveries which allow customers to sign from their own device has been helpful. I think as a business it’s highlighted cleanliness and hygiene standards as areas we can improve, so from a valet perspective every vehicle will be sanitised from now on, whether we’re in the pandemic or not. A measure like that can prevent the spread of any virus or infection, which is important for elderly or vulnerable customers.

Q: I know when we spoke last week you were saying that in a time of reliability, that uncertainty is the rational tipping point to getting people into their next vehicle. Can you expand on that?

Yeah it’s A to B, it’s transport. Consumers and businesses need reliability in their transport, whether that’s to get to their job or deliver parcels for their courier. As I mentioned earlier with the financial support, this is the time for reliability, if they don’t have reliability, they might not be able to fulfil their needs or their job. So, from our point of view there’s an opportunity to really maximise that and that’s how we’re marketing to a lot of our commercial customers.  

Q: What would you say are your biggest challenges right now after the first couple of weeks back?

I’m sure everyone will agree with me it’s stock and the shortage of it. Also, we haven’t brought all of our staff back as yet, the reason being is I wasn’t sure how the first couple of weeks would play out. Managing costs, staff and the volume of demand, whilst working out when it’s best to bring all of the staff back. They’ve been the two biggest challenges I’d say.  

Q: You touched on stock there Jacob and I know that many retailers that we’ve spoken to, that’s been their biggest challenge. With the amount of sales done this week, the challenge is now replenishing that stock and some of the wholesale prices are coming through a little bit steep. How do you look at what to stock next? Do you use any tools or data?

We do use a lot of the insight tools provided on Auto Trader, including Retail Check and the Market Insight dashboard when making a lot of our buying decisions. We get offered 2 or 3 vehicles at a time, they can be similar, so we’ll always use a mixture of gut and overlay that with the insight and previous experience to make those buying decisions. Which is really key now as we need to turn the stock quickly and we don’t want to hang on to something too long.

Q: What’s your outlook for the next 3 to 6 months, the rest of this financial year?

As a business I’d like to get to a good position where all the staff are back, we feel confident in the market and where consumers have confidence that the pandemic has disappeared or no longer the threat that it is today. I think we need confidence in the market and the economy to really move forward. From my perspective I’d like to have both sites up and running so we can move premises, but I don’t know if that’s going to be this side of Christmas now.

Q: Well I wish you good luck in that. Finally, what would be your advice to those watching and those who haven’t yet opened in those territories and countries that are waiting to reopen.

My advice to them as a business would be that if we can survive this pandemic with the confidence that we’ve got in our models, it’s great. We can survive a time where the Government tells us we can’t trade which is a good stress test of any business. But I think being aware of the changes we can make to our businesses that can give customers the confidence we need for everyone to start coming back to market and buying vehicles. I would say that tiny little changes that you hadn’t even realised you neglected in a business before the pandemic can give you the edge that you need, simply by taking a different view of your business.

In case you missed it, you can catch up on this webinar in full any time on demand here.

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Jacob Freshwater bio

Jacob Freshwater is the Managing Director and founder of Fresh Motors, a contemporary used car and commercial dealership based in Norfolk. After selling cars from his parents driveway to help pay his way through university, Jacob set up Fresh Motors in 2015 with a small commercial unit stocking 20 vehicles. In the five years since Fresh Motors have won many awards, Business Transformation of Year Highly Commended – Auto Trader Click Awards 2017, Rising Star Winner - Car Dealer Magazine Used Car Awards 2017,  Rising Star Winner – Auto Trader Retailer Awards 2018, - Rising Star - Motor Trader Awards 2019 Finalist and most recently the Fastest Growing Dealer award at the Motor Trader Independent Dealer Awards 2019. Fresh Motors now operate across 2 sites, employ 8 staff and have over 100 vehicles in stock and are in the process of opening their service, repair and MOT facility.