IQ Magazine Issue 19

iQ profile
of stock, but we as a group, given our size, have a
third of a billion pounds’ worth of stock,” he says.
“That is going to give customers more choice, and it
means that, with our scale, we can negotiate better
deals with our various suppliers, making us more
competitive,” he explains, concluding, “This is not
only good news for our customers, but is also good
news for our shareholders.”
But the biggest challenge has come with the impact
of technology and how this has affected consumer
behaviour.
“If you go back 15 or 20 years, the customer would
typically visit 5 or 6 car showrooms. They would go
from showroom to showroom, picking up brochures,
doing test drives, getting a range of what car they
thought was ideal for them, getting an idea of what
their part exchange might be worth and what finance
deals were available,” recalls Mr Gupta. “Today,
through technology, customers don’t need to go into
the showroom, they can do all the research online, so
instead of visiting 5 or 6 car showrooms, they’re now
visiting just one.”
However, the vast majority of people still make
their actual purchase at a dealership, so although
behaviours have changed and footfall has dropped, it
is all about seeing the advantages.
“It is a good thing, because it gives the customer
more choice and access to information. And it also
helps us, because our conversion rates are much
higher,” he explains. “If the customer already knows
what they want, it means that although we see less
people, when a customer walks through our door, the
quality of that individual from a sales point of view is
very high.”
The Evolution of a Company
The key to overcoming the challenges of an evolving
sector is to ensure your company evolves with it,
which is exactly what Marshall has done.
For example, by embracing advances in technology
and replacing paper with iPads, Marshall has made
its sales processes less cumbersome for its customers.
“Using technology is a much nicer experience for the
customer than filling out forms. It also gets rid of that
natural barrier of sitting behind a desk,” explains Mr
Gupta.
Another example of embracing technology is the
design of the company’s website and in-house
systems. As Mr Gupta tells us, “If a customer in
Cambridge visits our website, they can see what any
of our cars are, anywhere in the country, at any one
time. Likewise internally, we’ve got the same sort of
systems - all designed to put the customer first and
give them more choice.”
This constant development continues to this day, with
2016 marking the biggest acquisition the company
has ever seen, that of Ridgeway Motor Group, worth
£107m - a transformational deal for Marshall, which
Mr Gupta ascribes to the support of his strong team:
“I’ve bought and sold over 140 dealerships in 9 years,
so I’ve got a lot of experience myself, but presiding
over something of that magnitude was a big project.
It took us 8 or 9 months to get it across the line, and
there was a huge amount of work from the team,”
he remembers. “I’m very lucky that I’ve got a great
team of people around me, so we were able to get it
delivered.”
The Evolution of a Continent
Another landmark that was seen in 2016, was that of
Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Of
all the speculation surrounding the UK’s ‘Brexit’, the
potential negative implications for the motor industry
have been high on the list of discussions.
However, although not pretending to be able to
predict the future, while some are panicking, Mr
Gupta is remaining calm, believing that the nature
of the industry will be its biggest protection: “Last
time we had a big
recession, back
in 2008, we saw
consumer confidence
go through the floor
and ultimately sales
of high ticket items,
be that cars, be that
houses, be that travel,
went through the
floor as well. But I
think there’s one big
issue 19 | page 24