The Garage 289

opinion 24
View from the top
Bill Fennell, Chief
Ombudsman and
Managing Director at
The Motor Ombudsman,
the automotive
dispute resolution provider,
takes a look at what we can
expect for the year ahead in
the sector.
Despite the concerns of
political and economic instability
as we start another
year, it’s far from doom and
gloom. Three years ago, the
number of new cars sold in
the UK hit nearly 2.7 million
in the space of 12 months,
an all-time high. More than
500,000 vehicles were registered
in March 2016 alone,
thereby making it the biggest
ever month for sales since the
bi-annual plate change began
in 1999.
The positive repercussion
of this, is that fast forward
to 2019, and these cars will
need to have their first MOT,
which shows the potential
volume of work that could
be going through garages up
and down the country. This is
without taking into account
the older vehicles that were
already on the road prior to
this that still need to be serviced
and repaired, as well as
a used car market which is
expected to remain strong. In
addition, some motorists will
also see their initial threeyear
manufacturer’s warranty
and servicing plan expire in
2019, and may therefore look
beyond the franchise dealer
network for a reputable local
business to continue maintaining
their vehicle.
I think that the aforementioned
figures lay the foundations
for what could be a
profitable period for the independent
garage sector, and
one of the busiest in terms of
the number of cars passing
through workshops. Combined
with what is already
a competitive environment,
with thousands of garages
and MOT stations vying for
business, standing out from
the crowd has never been so
important. This means that
making a good impression on
and offline in the eyes of the
consumer is essential for the
formation of long-term rapport
and trust.
One way for garages to do
this, if they have not already
done so, is to become accredited
to an established
Chartered Trading Standards
Institute (CTSI)-approved
Motor Industry Code of Practice
for Service and Repair,
such as that offered by The
Motor Ombudsman. This allows
them to demonstrate to
both new and existing customers
that they set the bar
high when it comes to the
quality of their service and
workmanship. It also means
that the business has committed
to using Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR) to
help conclude an unresolved
issue with a vehicle owner.
The benefit of this is that it
can steer away complaints
from often costly and timeconsuming
legal action, and
is a facility that a neighbouring
garage may not have the
liberty to offer customers.
In addition to The Motor
Ombudsman’s ongoing investment
in the promotion of
its accredited garage network
that businesses can take advantage
of, social media will
continue to play an important
role within the dispute
resolution
process as we
go through
the year and
beyond. With most products
and services available nowadays
at the click of a button,
consumers equally expect
an instant response when
something goes wrong. From
our own monitoring of the
digital sphere, we are seeing
many turn to Twitter, especially,
in the event of dispute.
They often use the channel as
the first port of call to publically
vent their frustration
in the hope of getting a swift
response to solve their problem
without having to pass
through a more formal procedure.
Nevertheless, although
social media is a useful tool
for answering a basic query,
or for providing an update to
a consumer as part of good
relationship management
strategy, it ultimately does not
serve as a valid substitute for
an effective internal disputes
handling mechanism.
Aside from
the use of social platforms by
consumers as a virtual mouthpiece
to attract attention, we
are encouragingly, also seeing
garages reaping the benefits
of positive marketing exposure
and interaction with
motorists, whether this is
through providing road safety
tips, running prize draws,
or promoting special offers.
With an increasing reliance
on web-based technology for
how we operate and communicate
today, I am sure that
social media will continue to
gain even greater prominence
within independent garages
for the purpose of prospecting
and preserving customer
loyalty, thereby complementing
the more traditional approaches
of advertising and
word of mouth.
Looking ahead in terms of
our own activities, The Motor
Ombudsman itself will be
focused on driving consumer
confidence even higher in the
sector using intelligence gathered
from the latest industry
trends, whilst giving peace
of mind to businesses that
they are implementing best
practice across processes
in their organisations to
deliver satisfaction and
avoid the occurrence of
disputes.
For more information
on how your business can
become accredited to The
Motor Ombudsman’s Motor
Industry Codes of Practice
from less than £19+VAT per
month, visit www.TheMotorOmbudsman.org/garages/tmo-accreditation.
24 Opinion.indd 1 04/02/2019 10:22