Selling In The Motor Trade

Simon Bowkett
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Simon Bowkett, from Symco Training, shares tips and ideas on selling in the motor trade from a sales and aftersales perspective, as well as interviews with industry leaders sharing some of their best practices. To find out more visit www.symcotraining.co.uk

  1. Why 'How Are You Funding the Car?' Is the Wrong Question

    12H AGO

    Why 'How Are You Funding the Car?' Is the Wrong Question

    Customers say cash for a reason. It is not usually because they are cash buyers. It is because they have been conditioned from the day, they first paid a plumber to believe that saying cash gets them a better deal. In this episode, Simon breaks down exactly why your team keeps hearing that answer in 2026, the assumptions that kill finance deals before they even get started, and the specific questions and phrases that open customers up instead of closing them down. What's covered: • Why customers say 'cash' and the psychology driving it  • Why asking 'how are you funding the car?' is the wrong question for your sales team to use  • Assumptive payment questions that presuppose finance and get better answers  • How to use inflation framing to anchor monthly payment expectations before presenting a deal  • Why salespeople believe your dealership is expensive on finance rates, and how to fix that belief  • Neil Carrahar's approach to the cash objection: working with the grain, not against it  • The 'savings or external lender' technique that strokes ego without starting an argument  • What information to gather early so your business manager can stack the deal properly About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    25 min
  2. The One Question That Sells GAP at Pickup, Every Time

    MAY 14

    The One Question That Sells GAP at Pickup, Every Time

    Most salespeople ask about GAP insurance once, get a no, and move on. This episode is about what happens when you go back. Simon runs through a single sweep-up technique, one cheeky question asked at the point of collection, that consistently turns previous rejections into policies sold. The logic is simple: by the time the customer arrives to collect their car, the mental pain of the purchase price has already passed. When you frame a GAP premium against what they already pay for comprehensive cover, the numbers do the work for you. This is a short, direct episode aimed at business managers and salespeople who are still selling GAP and want something practical they can use today. What's covered: • The cheeky question opener that gets permission to probe on price without putting the customer on guard • How to use the customer's own insurance premium as the comparison point for GAP cost • Annual and monthly framing options for cash buyers and finance customers • Why collection day is the right psychological moment to revisit GAP with someone who previously said no • A clean response to the I am a safe driver objection • Why business managers should personally introduce themselves to cash customers at pickup • How the sweep up works alongside earlier GAP presentations rather than replacing them • Why customers who dismissed GAP before are genuinely more open once they are collecting their car If you are a business manager or sales manager who wants one more GAP sale this week, this episode is worth ten minutes of your time. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    6 min
  3. The One Thing in Your Dealership AI Will Never Replace

    MAY 7

    The One Thing in Your Dealership AI Will Never Replace

    AI is not magic. It is not going to replace your sales team. And it is almost certainly not going to save a broken process. What it will do, if you use it properly, is give your people time back, cover your leads after hours, and flag the problems your managers are too busy to catch. Will Benedicks and Brent Wees have been doing this at dealership level, not in a conference presentation, in real stores with real results. This is what that looks like. What's covered: • The single most important thing to do before buying any AI tool  • RIPE: the prompting framework that makes AI output actually usable  • Why uploading customer data into a personal ChatGPT account is a data protection problem waiting to happen  • How after-hours AI lead response generated an extra four and a half car sales per month from 1.7 percent uplift  • The catfishing trap: why your AI-powered website can make your showroom look incompetent by comparison  • How one dealer built an overnight AI agent to audit ROs, catch discount patterns and brief the team before they hit      the floor  • Why people who cannot use AI will be replaced by people who can, even if AI itself does not take the job  • What AI will never replicate in a dealership: the relationship that closes a sixty-thousand-pound car Will Benedicks runs a dealership group that has put AI to work across the customer journey, from lead response to showroom handoffs. Brent Wees consults with dealer groups on AI implementation and publishes a no-hype weekly newsletter on what the platforms have actually added and how automotive teams can use it. Both know what these tools look like when they work and when they do not. If you are still waiting for the right moment to get serious about AI in your dealership, this episode will tell you where to start and, more usefully, what not to waste your time on. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    32 min
  4. Your AI Prompts Are Lazy. Here Is How to Fix That

    APR 30

    Your AI Prompts Are Lazy. Here Is How to Fix That

    Most dealers are using AI like a glorified Google search. Type something in, get something back, move on. That is not wrong exactly, but it is leaving a lot on the table. Brent Wees and Will Benedicks have a sharper way of thinking about it. Knowledge is now scalable through AI. An agent scales the execution of that knowledge. Most people are only using the first half. In this episode, they walk through the RIPE framework for writing prompts that actually do what you need them to do, explain what separates a basic prompt from a working AI agent, and describe how they got eight countries worth of dealers to build a vendor evaluation agent live at NADA in under 35 minutes. There are quick wins in here for sales, service and marketing. The kind you can actually go back and use today. What's covered: • The difference between using AI for an answer and building an agent that automates the execution  • RIPE framework in full: Role, Instructions, Parameters and Exceptions, with real dealership examples  • The NADA hackathon: how a vendor evaluation agent was built live with dealers in 32 minutes  • Why lazy prompts waste time and how to brief AI the same way you would brief a new sales consultant  • Sales quick win: washing customer communications through AI to turn a six out of ten into an eight  • Service quick win: using AI to translate fault codes and technical findings into plain customer language  • Marketing quick win: using AI to plan quarters ahead instead of waiting to be told what to put in market  • How to prompt for the prompt, and why this is the fastest way to build your AI literacy Brent Wees is a certified AI trainer with 25 years in automotive marketing, including agency work with Toyota and Lexus. He builds hands-on AI hackathons at dealer conferences specifically because he knows that dealers learn by doing, not by watching slide decks. Will Benedicks is Operations Director at Proctor dealerships, with a career that started on the showroom floor and spans sales, finance, compliance and multi-site operations. He is also the kind of person who puts his hand up in a room full of senior operators and asks the question everyone else was too embarrassed to ask. If you have ever typed a lazy prompt and wondered why AI is not delivering for your business, Brent and Will fix that in this episode. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    45 min
  5. Why Retail Down Wins: The Former Voice of CAP on How Dealers Should Be Valuing Stock

    APR 23

    Why Retail Down Wins: The Former Voice of CAP on How Dealers Should Be Valuing Stock

    Most dealers are still valuing used cars the way they did ten years ago. Buy it at auction, add a margin, put it on the forecourt and hope the price holds. That approach does not work in a market where Chinese brands have no residual history, EV prices have swung dramatically, and live data can tell you within minutes what a car will actually sell for in your postcode. Derren Martin spent years as one of the key voices at CAP and now consults for Cazana, a retail-down pricing platform that gives dealers a transparent look at what comparable stock is doing in their area right now. This episode is for the used car manager who wants to know exactly how to value stock in 2025, not how it was done in 2015. What's covered: • The donor vehicle method for valuing Chinese EV brands that have no UK pricing history to work from • Why retail down beats trade up, and why relying on what you paid at auction first is the old way of doing it • What Cazana surfaces that CAP and Autotrader do not, including full vehicle history and MOT advisories • Why used EVs still sell at the right price and why the dealers avoiding them entirely are taking the bigger risk • The 30 to 40 day speed-to-sell benchmark, and the signals that tell you it is time to adjust • Why a used EV always has a floor value, because the battery pack holds secondary-use worth even at end of life • How Chinese brands are reshaping dealer footprints and what a mixed stock strategy looks like in this market • Where AI is already being used in valuations and the limits it still runs into with low-volume or new-to-market     vehicles Derren Martin was the voice of CAP's used car valuation operation for a number of years, working with dealers, leasing companies and OEMs across the UK market. He now consults for Cazana, which was rebuilt after Cazoo collapsed and is competing with CAP and Autotrader on both data depth and price. If you are a used car manager trying to stay ahead of EV pricing shifts and the Chinese brand wave, this is the episode to put on. Darren Martin spent 12 years at CAP HPI, eventually directing the full valuations and forecasts operation across all vehicle types. Before that, 17 years at Vauxhall across fleet, van sales and residual value management. He now consults independently through Black and Gold Consulting, with clients including Chinese brands, legacy OEMs and large retail groups. If you are responsible for used car buying, stock policy or forecasting in any form, Darren's view on where the market is heading is the kind of context that is hard to get anywhere else. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    34 min
  6. The PCP Timebomb in Chinese Brands: Former CAP HPI Director on What Is Coming for Used Car Values

    APR 16

    The PCP Timebomb in Chinese Brands: Former CAP HPI Director on What Is Coming for Used Car Values

    There is a number that should get every used car manager's attention. The OMODA J5 7 was the biggest selling car in March. The deal was around £299 down, £299 a month. That is an extraordinary amount of car for that payment, and it is working. The problem is that car becomes a used car in three years, and the used car market for Chinese brands does not really exist yet. Derren Martin ran the entire forecast and valuation portfolio at CAP HPI for several years. He knows better than most what happens when new car volumes are not matched by a credible used car strategy. He is not predicting disaster. But he is clear that the residual value risk is already being built in, and most people in the trade are not thinking about it yet. What's covered: • How CAP HPI valuations are built and why human editors, not algorithms, are still making the calls  • Why Chinese brands have grown at a speed the legacy manufacturers genuinely did not expect  • What happens to residual values when PCP deals are driven by interest rates rather than real demand  • The channel management decisions, daily rental, Motability, fleet, that either protect or destroy used car values  • Why Stellantis carrying too many brands in the same market segment is a long-term structural problem  • Which smaller Japanese brands face the biggest risk of losing UK relevance  • What a dealer should be doing right now to think ahead on used Chinese brand stock  • Darren's prostate cancer diagnosis at 48, how a locum nearly turned him away, and why men in the trade should       ask for the test rather than wait Darren Martin spent 12 years at CAP HPI, eventually directing the full valuations and forecasts operation across all vehicle types. Before that, 17 years at Vauxhall across fleet, van sales and residual value management. He now consults independently through Black and Gold Consulting, with clients including Chinese brands, legacy OEMs and large retail groups. If you are responsible for used car buying, stock policy or forecasting in any form, Darren's view on where the market is heading is the kind of context that is hard to get anywhere else. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    43 min
  7. The Central London Dealer Who Can't Sell EVs, No Matter How He Prices Them

    APR 9

    The Central London Dealer Who Can't Sell EVs, No Matter How He Prices Them

    You'd back central London as prime EV territory. Josh Apps from V12 can't move them. He'll sell a red-on-red Range Rover faster than a well-specced Tesla every time. That counterintuitive reality is one of several sharp observations from a dealer who built a credible high-end business in one of the most expensive places in the UK to operate, with no forecourt, no showroom, appointment only, and overheads that would make your eyes water. On top of that, why the Auto Trader Deal Builder rollout felt like a bully move, what Google entering the market actually changes, and practical advice for any sales manager weighing up whether to leave the main dealer world behind. What's covered: • The Deal Builder rollout, why dealers felt steamrolled and what Auto Trader got wrong • Auto Trader's data play: why the transactional data is the real long-term asset  • Google entering car retail and why it could give dealers genuine leverage for the first time in years  • Why used EVs still do not move in central London, even at low price points  • Social media targeting as an emerging channel for specialist stock  • The honest advice Josh gives anyone thinking about going independent  • The V12 model, appointment-only, no showroom, high-end stock, central London overheads  • Why starting small with cheap, easy-selling stock is still the right move for new independents Josh is the founder of V12, a central London independent operation built from nothing in 2022. He runs it appointment-only with no glass box, high overheads, and a reputation built entirely on relationships and knowing what to buy. He came into the trade from outside the main dealer world and has grown the business into something talked about well beyond where it sits geographically. If you want an honest view of where independent retailing is heading, the platforms, the EVs, the overheads, and the margins, this is the episode to listen to. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    22 min
  8. Josh Apps, Founder of V12 Automobil | From Pro Football to Selling £1.5m Cars in Central London

    APR 2

    Josh Apps, Founder of V12 Automobil | From Pro Football to Selling £1.5m Cars in Central London

    What happens when a former professional footballer and football agent walks into the motor trade… and decides to build a dealership with "more care, more style, and a lot less ego"? In this episode, I'm joined by Josh Apps, founder of V12 Automobil in Central London. Josh didn't grow up in the trade. He's built V12 from scratch since 2022, and he's straight-talking about what actually works when you're buying and selling everything from a £20k GLC to a £1m+ hypercar.  We get into the real mechanics of his business, like underwriting stock, consignment done properly, why some dealers go bust with SOR, what he's seeing on Carwow and Motorway, and how he thinks about margin, risk, and stock turn in a market where plenty of people are trying to make £5k the easy way instead of £9k the stressful way.  Episode highlights: The mindset shift from football + agency life into running a dealership, and what skills actually transfer. Josh's take on consignment/SOR: why it can work, why it often blows up, and the process that stops you "playing with other people's money". How he sources stock day-to-day (dealers, auctions, Carwow/Motorway, LinkedIn, banks) and why access to stock is both easier and messier now. The uncomfortable truth about online buying platforms: inflated offers, knock-backs, cars reappearing, and how it creates friction for customers and dealers. A proper "car dealer war story": the Range Rover that turned into an engine rebuild, a transport job, and a stress test in customer service. The simple but rare philosophy that's kept his reviews and referrals strong: do the right thing even when it costs.   Finding this useful? Follow the show About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

    36 min
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About

Simon Bowkett, from Symco Training, shares tips and ideas on selling in the motor trade from a sales and aftersales perspective, as well as interviews with industry leaders sharing some of their best practices. To find out more visit www.symcotraining.co.uk

Information

  • Creator
    Simon Bowkett
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    277
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © (c) 2021-2022 Symco Training Ltd.
  • Show Website
    Selling In The Motor Trade

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