Rolling into the 21st century
Unlike most manufacturers, Rolls-Royce doesn’t have customers queuing up at its doors. We explore the firm’s global dealer of the year Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London to see how it’s standing out from the crowd.
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the words “Rolls-Royce”?
Unattainable luxury, ostentatiousness, or a manufacturer inadvertently linked to wealthy old pensioners with money to burn.
These are all past stereotypes associated with the West Sussex-based brand, and ones it’s fighting hard to shrug off.
At the forefront of this is Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London, which is described by those that work there as the “window to the world”.
Once a place where the front doors were locked unless you had seven-figure sums in your bank account, where the lights were switched off outside of opening hours and where cars were positioned at right angles to the walls, the dealer is now an open, light and inviting place. It even welcomes tourists.
Claus Andersen, brand director at the HR Owen dealership, has been instrumental to this turnaround, although he’s far too modest to admit it.
Andersen has previously worked with Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Bentley so knows high-end brands like the back of his hand, and was brought in to a “business that had some difficulties”.
Despite only being at the Rolls-Royce franchise for three years, its fortunes have been turned around significantly in that time — so much so that it’s been awarded Rolls-Royce Global Dealer of the Year.
Julian Jenkins, regional manager at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said about the award: “The award is highly prized and competitively sought after. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London’s achievement is testament to their focus and dedication to providing exemplary service befitting of the Rolls-Royce brand.”
The firm operates from two sites — a Mayfair-based showroom (positioned next to a Bentley dealer) and a huge servicing facility based seven miles away in North Acton, which also cares for othher manufacturers in the HR Owen group, too.
“When you’ve got a split site, your sales and servicing teams are taking apart from each other, whereas I can join them both with my role, which is very important. This communication didn’t happen before.”
The dealer’s 3,000sq.ft showroom houses just four cars, which is useful when a fifth model has just joined the line-up — the Cullinan SUV, but more on that later.
Andersen and his team openly admit Rolls-Royce isn’t an easy brand work with, and one of the biggest struggles is attracting the customers in the first place.
While most of us will probably contemplate a new car purchase for a couple of day, the period between a Rolls-Royce customer expressing interest in a model and then settling on it can be two years — sometimes more.
“We don’t have clients queuing up at our doors, we have to go out and find them and work with them,” says Andersen.
This is a big part of marketing manager Sadie Stone’s job. The showroom has become known for its events, which aim to attract new or existing customers. Golfing days, supercar Sundays, champagne receptions and exclusive meetings at Goodwood events are all things that help to bring in business.
“Purchasing a Rolls-Royce is so much more than buying the car, it’s entering into a lifestyle. At the end of the day, it’s a very expensive object and you want as much to come with the car as possible,” says Stone.
Friends of customers are actively invited to events in a bid to drum up trade, which has definitely worked as Andersen describes the dealer as the “most successful it’s been in a long time”. Although in typical Rolls-Royce fashion, he won’t quote numbers.
Other efforts Andersen and his team have gone to include building their own one-of-one editions, and also building the awareness of Rolls-Royce Financial Services to make models more accessible. So, rather than someone having to stump up £360,000 for a new Phantom, they can pay a meagre £4,000 per month for one.
One thing for certain is that sales figures are set to increase with the recent launch of the manufacturer’s first-ever SUV — the Cullinan.
In a surprise move, the Cullinan was unveiled to the world from the London showroom, with the dealer recording an “extremely successful” number of orders since then.
And what about the firm’s bespoke aspect — perhaps one of Rolls-Royces key selling points, with near unlimited possibilities providing you have the money to pay for it. Sadie recalls one particular customer who had a car’s interior built to match her crocodile-skinned Hermes handbag — worth £90,000. That’s not a typo.
But surprisingly not all owners want a car unique to them.
Andersen explains: “To some customers, bespoke is of little importance — it’s purely about the ownership value. It’s about having one and waking up in the morning knowing they’ve got a Rolls-Royce. It’s a sense of reward to themselves.”
Some customers even ask the dealer to specify for models for them, while others wait to buy bespoke models not built to customer order, which are often highly collectable.
All aspects of the firm — from servicing through to sales and marketing — has been thoroughly modernised so the brand can appeal to the ‘new money’ generation, as well as remain true to the loyal old gents.
To rejuvenate a dealer is no easy task, but Claus and his team have managed it in spades. The showroom feels open to all, and that element of austereness has vanished.
In this day and age, you never know whose wallet is exploding with wealth, and whose is in debt. You can’t make this distinction on face value, which is why dealers such as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars can’t pick and choose clients based purely on the watch on their wrist. This dealer has realised that, and because of that alone, it’s truly worthy of its Global Dealer of the Year status.
