ARE YOU BEING SERVED?
JULIE DAVID is on a mission — and some of it undercover. The managing director of Peugeot UK aims to transform the showroom and online experience of customers when choosing, buying or leasing its cars. upwardly mobile and edging towards premium class, Peugeot’s pitting itself against rivals such as Germany’s Volkswagen and Korea’s Hyundai. But its crop of stylish models on offer and coming down the line is better than how the public perceives the brand image and experience. And that has to change, she says.
When Julie took over 18 months ago, she undertook secret ‘mystery shopper’ trips to showrooms with her sons. She noted: ‘one little thing — someone not talking to you, or ignoring you, and that’s it. you’ll never go there again.’
Her best experience was from the youngest and least experienced dealer, she said.
So impressed, in fact, that she went back later to reveal her identity and congratulate him.
Her worst was in the showroom of a global performance car company.
‘i was totally ignored. i still get a bad vibe when i see their cars,’ she said.
That hands- on feedback is driving a big showroom revamp, the way cars are sold and how customers are treated, with more standardised pricing and less haggling.
She has a friend at Peugeot’s French HQ — the global Ceo is Coventry-born Linda Jackson. She, too, undertook secret mystery shopper missions and encountered — and exposed — sexism in the showroom when she was ignored in favour of her late husband.
Peugeot’s new look is epitomised in the recently unveiled 408, a feline fastback set to go on sale next year with hybrid and petrol power. it features sophisticated styling, a bold grille and a new-look lion’s head badge.