Selling, or servicing…which is needed in an enforced EV market?
Not intending to panic everyone but in less than nine years, if you want a new car, it is going to be electric, which made Iain Robertson reflect on an entire industry that has been based on hard-nosed brand representation, with maintenance taking a back seat.
Think about what we have at present in the UK; around 35 branded makes, a network of main dealers, a confusing plethora of models and a broad range of independent, group and brand-related service centres. ‘Consumer choice’ is the much-vaunted industry statement of intended fact. In around nine years’ time, we shall have upwards of 45 brands, few of which will need a dealer network, a significantly smaller range of EV models, each with less than half-a-dozen variants related to trim level and number of electric motors, most of which will demand minimal servicing. A shift to online acquisition will be much in evidence.
Plug-in Hybrid EVs have already been granted a five-year reprieve (to 2035) before their lifelines are stemmed. Of course, with petrol, diesel and gas-powered vehicles still being sold legally until 31st December 2029, although unconfirmed at this stage, they may have a future life of a further 20 years but they will be taxed off the roads, along with hefty fuel duties and probably increased insurance premiums subsequently. While this might not sound the death knell on the 150+ years of the Internal Combustion Engine, as non-fossil, zero-emissions alternative fuels may provide a viable alternative solution, there is likely to be a hiccough.
However poorly managed it has been at times, the art of salesmanship has been central to the motor industry. While each brand has fronted its own style of training courses, which has invariably settled on the unique-ish features of each and their related ‘what-that-means’ benefits to the consumer, with some even ring-fencing their training structures, the reality has always lain at the door of service provision. However, we all know the car salesman capable of selling ice to Eskimos, the ways by which we avoid that person like the plague, whether he is wearing a Boss suit, or a sheepskin jacket, but invariably end up doing a deal with him, because very little has altered since the pre-ICE days of horse trading.
However, largely character-free EVs reside on an early premise of not having to be sold at all, mainly because the consumer has a choice restricted only by unit price, range potential and partial brand preference. The consumer will need an EV to maintain individual mobility, regardless. Even the maintenance provision could become less dealer orientated, being much reduced from the outset. Therefore, with less reliance on motor dealers, reduced reliance on service centres, but more significant reliance on electricity resources, big job losses are on the horizon.
Yet, I repeat, with less than nine years until ‘E-Day’, it is abundantly clear that the industry average refuelling stop, necessary every 100-ish miles, for 30-minutes at a time, for a hoped for further 100-ish miles is going to make longer journeys hell on earth, especially if the publicly accessible charger network is in a ropey state (suffering from breakdowns, failures, damage and lack of immediate spare parts that already afflict its far from adequate nationwide coverage). The nightmare is exacerbated, if the family is also in tow and there is little to entertain them, apart from asking dad/mum wearingly, how much longer this is going to take.
The importance of a domestic charging infrastructure, which, apart from grant subsidies, has been all too readily ignored by government, which has also failed to consider its neighbourly, community value, is vital. Yet, to the majority of charger manufacturers, their wholesalers and installer agents, selling to satisfy commercial needs is already proving to be a step too far. The bottom-line is that installers are only providing a service, where brand preference has tended to be price-led, based on grant availability. In most cases, the consumer does not care which brand of charger is attached to his property wall.
The grant programme, which has been managed poorly by government, is in desperate need of an overhaul. However, to avoid the headlong fall into a lowest-price-led market, which propagates a ‘cowboy installer, quick buck’ element, while price transparency might be considered as a benefit, removing it completely in a service-led scenario could be more beneficial market-wide. However, none of this should be entertained without placing safety high on the installer’s list of priorities. The issue for the charger manufacturer lies in where it emphasises salesmanship, because for one brand to succeed over another demands a features and benefits presentation in order to service both perceived and often overlooked aspects.
My ‘go-to’ brand is SYNC EV. Its compact, stylish and features-packed ‘box’ is already praised highly around the industry, because of its ‘designed and developed by installers for installers’ stance. Yet, there is so much more to it, as each installation occupies less time, thanks to ease of fitment but also instant latch-up to power supplier, which means that the installer can get more done in a working day, without having to resolve connection, earthing, or other problem areas. It is these features and their associated benefits that are being ‘sold’ to both OZEV and NIC-EIC qualified installers, who appreciate the unerring efficiency and safety consciousness of the SYNC EV products.
It is the power suppliers that are the predominant brokers in the charger scene. They cannot afford to absorb the very risks that a company like SYNC EV manages out of the equation so proficiently. Yet, while the impact of the wholesaler cannot be underestimated, it is the integrity and survival of the professionally qualified installer that must be supported by the purpose, functionality and capability of the charger manufacturer. If that also means retained profitability, then the installer is recognised appropriately.
Be under no illusion, however subtle, real salesmanship resides in the high-quality of the product, which must sell itself and price is not the criterion. The end-user, the consumer, who possesses only superficial concern about branding, gains immeasurably from the professional and personal support provided throughout the process, which means that the service provision must also be sacrosanct. Therefore, while a new EV may not rely on personality, the true sales and service provision lies with the domestic and small business charger installer, which SYNC EV satisfies to perfection.
