By William Coleman
We all want a good customer journey when buying but the after sales process can sometimes be significantly more important, especially when buying something high value like a motorhome or caravan. This is something that Lowdhams fully appreciate as they open their brand new service centre and after sales department.
The brand new facility, based in Nottingham, boasts an 18 bay service centre, 24 vehicle dispatch station and an eco friendly wash bay. All these brand new additions are part of a pioneering plan to increase the capacity of Lowdhams after sales care and to set a new standard for customer experience.
The dedicated caravan facility is in addition to the company’s motorhome service centre near Bingham and the further facilities at Lowdhams’ Huddersfield branch, and gives the company a total of 50 service bays across all sites.
The development was officially opened by John Lally, director general of the NCC who said that for any business to continue to prosper, it needs to invest for the future. “In opening this new workshop facility, Lowdham Leisureworld is clearly making a significant financial investment to support their growing customer base,” he said.
He praised the company’s customer focus adding that: “Lowdhams constantly looks through the eyes of its customers, always reviewing services, facilities and procedures in their quest to provide the best in customer service.
Steve Sharpe, managing director at Lowdhams, said that one of the main improvements that customers will see is a shorter lead time before being able to collect their new caravan or motorhome. “Previously, our workshops couldn’t keep up with the retail side of the business, so customers had a long lead time which wasn’t ideal. This changes that and helps to rebalance the business.”
The design of the new caravan service centre has been carefully thought out to make the space as practical and flexible as possible for the team of more than 30 highly qualified technicians that will be working there. The building is designed around a single entrance and access way, allowing more space around each vehicle, and at the same time creating a warmer and more comfortable environment to work in.
Outside is a new dispatch area with room for 24 vehicles in total, and four covered collection bays, allowing customers to complete their handover in comfort, whatever the weather; all part of the team’s commitment to supporting their customers through the journey from purchase and collection and on to an excellent after sales experience.
Lowdhams was one of the first dealerships to be independently inspected and gain NCC Approved status, and John Lally says that the company has long been influential in helping the NCC to champion best practice for dealerships. “This consumer-facing code of practice covers leisure vehicle sales and puts in place a framework for dealerships which ensures that consumers are treated fairly and in an open and transparent manner. Both Roger Crafts and Steve Sharpe give up their valuable time to support their trade body for which I am extremely grateful,” he said.
Steve is now focusing on the second phase of works which will see the former service bays redeveloped to double the size of the existing showroom and create better facilities.
“The third generation of the family is coming through the business now and we just want to make sure that the business is future-proof, and that we keep looking after people in the right way so that they keep coming back to us; that’s what family businesses are about.”
