Waikato Business News April/May 2018

SPECIAL ADVERTISING WRAP
From previous page
Successful move
The Drive Happy Project has been
welcomed around the country
but nowhere more so than in
Hamilton where the new vision is
being rolled out at the spacious
new eye catching store. Toyota’s
move to the site at Kahu St, off
The Boulevard, in late March went
so well that staff were selling cars
throughout the shift.
“By the end of Friday which was
the move day, we had everything
that was customer facing set up on
the site so it looked as though we
were all organised even though out
the back it was still a bit of a mess.
And amongst all that we sold two
cars,” says James.
“All of the team did an amazing
job getting here and setting up and
dealing with everything that was
chucked at them. Moving is always
a bit like that.”
James says the terrific response
from customers was partly down
to Foster Construction who not
only completed the new store
ahead of schedule but also had
sealed the site and placed signage
up weeks before opening.
“From the outside the site
The team
looked like we were mostly open,”
says James.
“There are a lot of people
who come out this way anyway
and they all would have seen the
Ebbett Toyota signs.”
Ebbett Toyota’s new site within
view of The Base shopping centre
is nearly double the size of the
past site – 11,000 square metres
compared with 5700 square
metres – and also features a
streamlined customer experience,
an extended workshop, a fabulous
cafe and plenty of space for car
parking. There were 28 customer
car parks in the city site whereas
the new Ebbett Toyota site has
110.
James says architects Chow Hill
worked closely with him and put a
lot of time into the design and flow
of the building.
“We were trying to understand
what it is like for the customer
when they drive in,” says James.
“Where do you park and how do
you find your way through the
building?”
“People in this day and age
are so busy so it’s all about ease
of use and accessibility. The new
showroom provides a great flow
for customer experience.”
When Toyota customers
drive in they look straight at the
main drop-off point. Every new
Toyota model sits on the front
yard available for customers
to test drive. The showroom
features three delivery bays and
the complex features an 18-bay
workshop including two “express
bays” which can throughput 25
vehicles a day each. The entire
complex including the workshop
is air conditioned and heated in
winter.
Customers will also notice a
different look and a warmer feel
to the Toyota showroom, moving
slightly away from the usual Toyota
Corporate Identity of white walls
and grey tiles. Chow Hill’s design
has incorporated a touch of green
to the carpets and a warmer
looking colour of tiles.
James says Ebbett Toyota’s
additions to the Corporate
Identity are now available to other
showrooms to introduce.
Drive Happy a great philosophy
James says he loves the philosophy
behind the Drive Happy Project.
“It’s a really upfront, honest
and transparent approach. The
price is the price. No longer do
you have to worry about whether
your neighbour can buy a car for
a better price or is he a better
negotiator than me?
“If you have just bought a new
Hilux and you paid $54,000 for
it and you go to a barbecue and
your mate says he paid $52,000
at another dealer that annoys you
and you lose trust in that dealer.
Those days are gone.”
James thinks not having to
haggle over the price suits both
the customer and the salesperson,
neither of whom enjoyed the
process.
“All the research says that
customers don’t really enjoy the
negotiations. They don’t like the
uncertainty.
“When you’d go through the
negotiation to a stage where the
customer was happy to buy the
car, that was often a horrible
experience for the customer but
also it wasn’t a pleasant experience
for the salesperson or the
dealership. Now that experience
is gone and instead of worrying
about what the price is going to be,
Popular cafe
we can make sure we are helping
people into the right vehicle for
them.”
“Now the customers can
make most of the decisions at
home. They already know what
the price is so there is no guess
work anymore. They are no longer
thinking ‘the car is advertised for
$50,000, can I get it for $40,000
and make it fit my budget?’
“This process just takes price
out of the equation so we can both
go on a journey together to find
the right car.”
James says the Drive Happy
Project is all about simplifying
life for customers, from being
able to view and test drive a wide
range, not having to haggle over
price, and enjoying certainty
about after sales service, and
evolving a sustainable business
for future customers, staff and the
community.
“We want our customers to be
able to come into our stores and
basically walk away knowing that
they’ve had a great choice and
there’s been no hidden agenda.”
JAMES HARVEY
Toyota, Lexus
CEO
PAUL FISHER
Used Vehicle Sales
Manager
NICO TOME
Workshop
Manager
ALISTAIR SILCOCK
Hamilton General
Manager
CINDY WARD
Finance and Insurance
Manager
COURTNEY
KEATING
Café Manager
ADAM JOHNSON
New Vehicle Sales
Manager
LOANA JENNER
Customer Life Cycle
Manager
LENNON SINGH
Lexus Brand
Manager
James is thrilled with the impact of
the café which employs two fulltime
barista’s. The cafe is open to
the public and has already begun
to attract workers from businesses
in the area.
“Yesterday I was told that at
one stage there were only two
seats left in the café and we’d
thought 18 seats was going to
be easily enough. So that is very
promising.”
James said it’s also great to be
working with a customer and to
be able to offer them a real coffee.
The café uses organic beans from
Kokako Organic Coffee Roasters
and James says the alignment
with fair trade and a sustainable
business is a great fit for Toyota.
He wonders how Ebbett Toyota
managed before without a café.
“Often customers come in
with kids and who are unsettled
or hungry and if they are talking
about buying a car or how to
finance it, it’s not much fun for
them if the kids are unsettled.
Now the kids can grab some food
and be entertained for a while. It
brings another dimension to the
store.”
“Overall, the new store has
been great,” says James.
“I’ve turned up to work with a
smile on my face every day.”
James says he’s enjoyed the
opportunity to refocus even
more of his attention on how the
customer should be treated.
“I’ve always been focused
on doing the best we can for a
customer and now with the new
store it’s given me a chance to
actively be around, working with
the team and concentrating on
what it all looks like here for the
customer.
“This is all new for them, most
people are coming to the site for
the first time so I’ve been out
on the service lane welcoming
customers and guiding them into
car parks. It’s also been really cool
to see members of our staff step
up into leadership roles.”