How Luscombe’s Leeds are retailing smarter

Last week saw the last of UK forecourts reopening, with forecourts in England and Wales allowed to reopen from Monday 12 April. We’ve been keeping track of how the market has performed through last week and we’ve been hearing some amazing success stories including that of Luscombe’s of Leeds who last week sold 87 vehicles from 83 advertised vehicles. A staggering result made all the more impressive by the fact that no discount was applied to any of the sales. As well as demonstrating just why Luscombe’s were awarded the Retailer of the Year award at last year’s Auto Trader Retailer Awards, these strong results showcase just how strong buyer demand is right now.

Commenting on last week’s performance, Sam Luscombe, Innovation & Development Manager at Luscombe Motors said “We were somewhat unsure as to what the week would look like. While pent up demand was expected, we had already been operating at over 100% of our 2019 and 2020 sales volumes throughout lockdown, so to beat our previous record week by 40% was beyond what anyone could have expected and shows just how strong demand is right now. Particularly telling was the volume of online/distance business we still managed to achieve, suggesting that online demand remains strong and has now been supplemented (not substituted) by those who were waiting for physical retail to reopen”.

Prior to forecourts reopening, our Brand Director Marc Thornborough spoke with Sam who shared how the car dealership navigated  lockdown and what learnings they will be implementing as lockdown restrictions ease and that have contributed to their successful forecourt reopening. Here are some of the highlights.

Marc: Delighted to  speak with you Sam. What have you noticed when it comes to changing consumer behaviour over the last 12 months and what has Luscombe Motors done to adapt?

Sam: For us, it was more of an acceleration of things we already planned to do rather than a full turnaround. However, overnight we did need to change how we interacted with consumers when lockdown first struck. Things like Zoom and WhatsApp, things that we didn’t plan to add to the consumer journey, became the norm since consumers were already using these digital tools to communicate with friends and family.

Video became crucial overnight. No longer was it a job to be done, it became one of the only mechanisms to speak to consumers, helping us to do more of the sales process when not face-to- face with consumers through lockdown.

Marc: So what was the biggest challenge for your sales team in terms of adapting to the new retail experience that consumers are demanding?

Sam: The biggest challenge we faced is maintaining our award customer experience when face- to- face interactions were no longer an option. Customer experience isn’t just about being friendly, it’s about communication and keeping customers fully informed through the buying journey. Video has been key to this, not just to help sell cars but also with handovers with customers getting a video the day before they pick up the car to allow them to see everything they would see in person with no risk. Even when the pandemic ends, we’ll still be utilising video as it’s a better experience for customers and it’s far more efficient for our teams.

Marc: Will you continue with some of processes that you have put in place since the pandemic hit?

Sam: Absolutely. Online transactions are one of the things that has been a necessity but we’ll be continuing with it as it’s something we had on our radar two years ago when we decided to change our website.

Our main goal with the updates to our site was to give buyers the same experience online as they would have on our forecourts. We questioned why should someone browsing our site at ten at night have a different experience to somebody browsing at two in the afternoon who can ring up and speak to someone at the showroom.  The changes focussed on adding as much information on our site as possible, extending the online session and allowing consumers to get further down the buying journey online so that if and when they visit the showroom, they do so as a far more knowledgeable and qualified lead. This can culminate as an online sale and the fact that there is the ability to reserve online doesn’t necessarily mean they will buy online but does nudge them to accelerate their process in case someone else reserves online.

Marc: How have Luscombe’s gone about maintaining their award-winning customer experience and ensuring customers still have a retail experience when buying a car online?

Sam: For us its all about maintaining trust with customers and transparency is key to this. People don’t like to be sold to which is why we have always said we won’t sell you a car, we’ll help you buy it. So the key for us is to do everything we can to help buyers buy the right car for them by helping educate consumers with easy to understand, i jargon free adverts all whilst providing a personal experience no matter how (whether in person of online) they decide to but their next car.

Marc: You talked about 2020 being a record year for Luscombe’s. What are some of the factors that have contributed to that performance?

Sam: It’s really a combination of many factors some of what I have already mentioned. Our staff’s willingness to adapt to changing consumer behaviour but with our same mantra has been key. A great example is email, which has always been the lowest form of enquiry. But now our email enquiries are a primary tool for lead generation which has been a change for our sales team. Video again has been crucial as well, allowing customers to get a full view of the vehicle remotely.

We’ve also taken lessons from other industries to improve the buying experience. For example, we now use WhatsApp to share the real time location of a vehicle delivery with a customer on the day of delivery, something that people are used to when it comes to buying online.

Marc: Post pandemic, what does your forecourt experience look like?

Sam: We’re keen to avoid reverting to type and thinking retailing is going back to normal. We will still cater to the two extremes of buyers who either want the full online experience or a fully in person experience. However it is the middle majority that want the best of both that will be the largest customer segment and who will progressively look for more online tools so that is where we are looking to invest for the future.

For us, there’s no reason to go back to the way things were.