Scania to add value to sales
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N Karen Jones is the new aftersales director at Scania distributor Derek Jones Commercials, and she'll be hoping to interweave the company's sales and aftersales messages as tightly as possible.
"Every time somebody buys a truck from us. our aftersales people will visit him within a fortnight to explain what we can do," she says. "We're not just talking about service and parts. We've got accident repair and paint shops. and we're bodybuilders too. "We also do a lot of trailer maintenance, and we've made car transporters a bit at a speciality.
The vast majority of Scanias we sell are already supplied subject to two-year repair and maintenance contracts. but we want to convince the customer to extend that contract," she adds. "And the investment we've put in means that no operator in our territory is more than 20 minutes from a Scalia dealership."
Jones is happy to face up to the challenge posed by independent parts factors: "They can't compete with the warranty we offer, they're by no means always cheaper—and we supply genuine Scania parts."
Derek Jones Commercials is based at Islip in Northamptonshire, with outlets at Milton Keynes. Peterborough, Northampton, Corby, and Crick, and a maintenance unit at the Wellingborough premises of fleet operator KwikSave. Last October it appointed Pip Bayley Truck Centre at Blunham in Bedfordshire as a service dealer.
Jones is also overseeing business development, training, and marketing activities within the company.
The post of aftersales director is a new one. "We've got 90 members of staff involved in the provision of aftersales services. and we've reached the point where a cohesive approach across all our depots is now essential," says managing director Derek Jones.