Ford dealer TrustFord needed new ways to engage with customers and base marketing around its people. The ‘people buy from people’ concept resonated with judges.

They agreed with TrustFord’s statement the business had “unlocked the power of this purpose, using our people, by developing a marketing strategy to promote its purpose”.

Not only is TrustFord winning and retaining its customers, it is improving staff wellbeing and satisfaction, concluded the judges.

In recognising the transformation in car retail, with the emphasis on speed and ease of communication, TrustFord took the opportunity to create a new fast purchase and delivery service. 

The starting point was to offer the customers the ability to see the car they wanted, buy it and drive it away within an hour, using social media as the lead, plus radio and digital advertising, dealership point of sale, website content and PR. It was encapsulated in the TrustFord Now strategy.

This has been extended to aftersales with Service Now with the same ‘always on’ approach.

TrustFord drives personalisation and relevance with improved one-to-one communications, propensity modelling and targeting through the use of artificial intelligence tools, as well as events and exhibitions, including four Ford Store, 15 Parts Plus and Quick Lane openings.

For its people the group is developing a new benchmark standard in retail excellence that will be used to train and assess general manager performance, to help them strengthen the customer experience in dealerships, drive stock turn and improve profitability. Each site has to pass a test to be accredited.

Despite a challenging 2019 market, marketing results have been strong. The number of customers driving away on the day of purchase from a TrustFord dealership reached 5,029 in the first quarter of 2019; the group’s passenger car market share is up from 14.7% to 15.9% year-on-year (up 6% on Ford’s national position), and service reminder hours delivered improvement of more than 4% in the same period. 

 

Highly commended: Rockar

Finalists: MB Motors, Rockar, TrustFord

Award sponsored by: eBay Motors Group