Support from Douglas Stafford’s Customer Contact Centre team has helped a dealership achieve impressive sales at its special offer weekend event.

High Wycombe Citroen dealership Worleys asked Douglas Stafford’s contact centre team to support its event weekend which was targeted at existing and past customers.

Members of Douglas Stafford’s contact centre team were given a list of Worleys customers who had been sent a letter inviting them to its invitation-only event.

The customers were contacted by Douglas Stafford’s customer service advisors and appointments were made for as many of them as possible to come and talk to Worleys sales team.

“The calls made by the Douglas Stafford team made the weekend a huge success and I very much doubt that would have been the case without their help,” says Worley Citroen dealer principal Nigel Findlow.

“In fact we were so busy over the weekend that I actually had to get a couple of extra people into the showroom to help out.

“We made 23 sales from it as a direct response which, as a small dealership, is very good and I think we’ll break 30 by the end of the campaign. “If we hadn’t got Douglas Stafford doing the phone calls it wouldn’t have been even half the success it was.”

For more information on how Douglas Stafford can help make your sales event a success, please call Geoff 0800 783 1913 or email: [email protected].

Douglas Stafford has appointed a new IT Support Technician to further strengthen its in-house IT team.

Ian Withall, who previously worked for GTI Computers (Portsmouth) Limited, will specialise in server maintenance, support, backup procedures and VOIP telephone systems.

“Ian brings a new dimension to our IT department,” says Douglas Stafford Operations Director Ben Sargeant.

“His experience in the IT field is vast and he brings with him experience of the latest technologies that will benefit the IT infrastructure within our business with the aim of increased stability and expansion.”

Douglas Stafford’s company yacht Lady Diane has been kept busy over the past few weeks with no shortage of takers for days out on the Solent.

Representatives from many of Douglas Stafford’s clients including Hendy Group, Essex Audi, Toyota, Vertu Motors and Renault aftersales have recently enjoyed days out at sea.

“Our sailing days are very popular and are a great opportunity to get to know our clients better in informal surroundings,” says Douglas Stafford Project Manager Maureen Sebastian.

“Everyone aboard gets a turn at the helm and can get involved in hauling sails – but there’s also lots of time to relax on deck.

“I’d never sailed before and went out for the first time recently and had a great day. The weather was perfect and we stopped off in Cowes for a nice leisurely lunch.”

Douglas Stafford has appointed a new Client Relationship Director to strengthen its management team.

Jason Jeggo has more than 25 years of experience working with high profile companies within the automotive, retail and communication sectors.

“Douglas Stafford is a really innovative and forward-looking business and it is a fantastic time to be joining the company,” says Jason. “In a competitive marketplace it is more vital than ever to the success of any business to monitor and constantly strive to improve their levels of customer service and, through that, their customer retention levels.

“Douglas Stafford is the market leader in helping businesses to do that – and does it very effectively.

“I’m looking forward to working closely with Douglas Stafford’s wide portfolio of clients, making sure that we are always delivering exactly what they need, and developing relationships with new customers.”

More and more franchised dealerships are losing business due to motorists keeping their cars for longer and using independent garages for their repairs and servicing, reports Motor Trader magazine.

Performance improvement expert Douglas Stafford can assist dealers in reconnecting with their past customers in order to bring business back into their workshops.

“With car parc ageing as a result of year-on-year falls in new car sales since 2005, much of the increase in demand for service and repair work is for vehicles over three years old,” says the magazine, citing the 2011 Castrol Professional Car Service and Repair Trend Tracker.

“Franchised dealers are losing out to independent garages in service, maintenance and repair work for older vehicles.”

With this decline in business it is vital that dealerships remain in contact with their past customers and encourage them back into their showrooms and workshops.

This is one of the areas which Douglas Stafford specialises in and its expert advisors in its Customer Contact Centre provide clients with cost effective services that significantly increase sales.

Douglas Stafford realises that keeping in contact with past customers is essential, especially in today’s market. Its highly trained staff can increase aftersales revenue by creating service bookings and keeping records enabling customers to be contacted on behalf of the dealership at the right time in the future.

For more information on how Douglas Stafford can help dealerships, please visit www.douglasstafford.com

Two members of the Douglas Stafford team have visited Triumph UK’s head office and factory in Hinckley near Leicester to see how the company operates and to learn more about the brand.

“We joined some new members of staff on their induction day and were given a very interesting introduction to the company,” says Douglas Stafford Contact Centre Operations Manager Madelaine Cook.

“We learnt about the history of Triumph, their presence in the bike market and we were also taken through all of their bike ranges and the many extras that you can get for them.”

Madelaine and colleague Richard Bithell then went on a tour of the Triumph factory. “We saw different bike parts being manufactured and watched as a whole bike was built from the start to it being wheeled off the end of the production line,” she says.

“It was fascinating. Triumph is a very well-respected British brand and it was also interesting to see all the hundreds of motorbikes they had in boxes ready to be shipped off all over the world.”

Two members of Douglas Stafford’s team recently went to an open day at the Hyundai Academy Training Centre in Buckinghamshire.

 Hyundai has created a purpose built centre in order to improve the learning environment for its staff and the large majority of the company’s training, both technical and commercial, now takes place at the centre.

 Douglas Stafford Project Manager Kathleen Field and Account Manager Geoff Osborne spent time touring the training centre in order to learn more about how Hyundai operates and trains its staff.

 “The centre is superb,” says Kathleen. “The length Hyundai goes to in order to thoroughly educate and train its staff about its products is hugely impressive.

 “They have eight fully interactive classrooms for sales training, a mock showroom where these skills can be tried out and they also have a full workshop with two ramps for the aftersales training. On each of the classroom doors the numbers are written in English, the Korean Symbol and Korean word.”

For more information on Douglas Stafford, please visit: www.douglasstafford.com

Douglas Stafford has appointed a new account manager to further strengthen its team.

Geoff Rehr will be looking after the company’s Audi and Volkswagen accounts and managing a project team.

“I’m very excited to be joining such a dynamic and vibrant company,” says Geoff. “Douglas Stafford is a very innovative and go-head company and I’m really pleased to be working with a really talented team.”

South Africa-born Geoff has spent the past 12 years running a temp agency specialising in the transport sector and previously worked in relocation services, predominantly for the Nationwide Building Society.

“I enjoy working in a fast moving and ever-changing environment and mystery shopping certainly provides that,” he adds. “I have a wide range of business experience and I am looking forward to putting that to good use at Douglas Stafford.”

For more information on how Douglas Stafford’s services can monitor, analyse and improve your business performance, please visit: www.douglasstafford.com