6:00 pm, October 13, 2021
It doesn’t matter how prestigious the car is, a customer will only shake hands on a deal if it works for them.
That’s exactly how dealers feel about their finance provider, too.
Good rates and excellent customer service is what dealers need, and in this area dealers know which companies excel and the ones that do not.
Close Brothers Motor Finance is certainly one of the firms that excels, with dealers really valuing the service it provides.
It followed up its win in this category in both Car Dealer Power 2019 and 2020 with another this year, cementing its position as the dealers’ favourite in the prime sector.
Established in 1988, it works with more than 8,000 dealers in the UK and Ireland, and its self-stated mission is it understands its customers and offers vehicle finance that’s right for them.
‘Winning this award for the third year in a row means so much,’ managing director Sean Kemple told James Batchelor.
‘Over the past few years we’ve been on a significant transformation programme, and it’s obviously having an impact – it’s just great for the team.’
He added: ‘It’s great to hear we’re giving a great service to dealers, and it’s coming through loud and clear! We also hear this in the surveys we run.
‘Our account management and operations teams and our underwriters, dealers rate really highly which is absolutely fantastic.
‘During the November lockdown last year, we had to roll out a new pricing structure in line with the FCA guidance which was quite a challenge for ourselves and our dealers.
‘But the feedback was really strong in how we lead our dealers through that change, and of course we then went into another lockdown.
‘We’ve done quite a lot around dealer engagement, hubs and information on how they look after their colleagues, and dealers have been feeding back how much they valued these.’
For Kemple, it’s clear why they’re a three-time winner of this category – its people.
He added: ‘I know a lot of organisations will say it’s the people, but as a colleague in Motor Finance, the way the company has treated me personally has been fantastic – and we get that feedback from all of our colleagues.
‘It’s most certainly the people, but there’s also something about Close Brothers where if we could bottle our people and sell it, we would be really, really successful. It’s unique and something I can’t put my finger on.
‘We work as one team on behalf of our dealer partners. We say a happy colleague equals a happy partner.’
You can find out more in our special winners video above.
