This week we are joined by Jonathan Sharman, CEO of AutoBi. Jonathan has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the trade from selling cars to managing large dealer sites. He now focuses on aftersales and bringing real time reporting enabling teams to catch issues quickly and react to changes.

We discuss the importance of being able to pivot quickly whilst implementing changes, keeping your WIP low and looking at the volume of parts stock.

As we know part of the key to selling a second, third or fourth car to customers is the service department, so this episode is beneficial to all.

Here are the highlights:

{03:23} Door to door

{12:19} Experience all parts of the business

{19:35} Motivating Technicians

{28:35} Two ways of making money

{39:51} WIP Control

{42:59} Parts Stock

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

We continue our debrief of the 2025 NADA Convention in New Orleans in this episode.

As Simon explained in Part 1, the conference features keynote speakers and breakout sessions, as well as large halls of exhibitors.  We focus today on more of the breakout sessions attended and what we gained from them.

They covered subjects from AI and Sales Process to service retention and influence in the motor trade.

Here are the highlights:

{01:42} David Lewis

{12:29} Sean Toussi

{18:44} Chris Mandery

{20:54} William Springer

{28:52} Brian Crossin

{35:16} Jay Vijayan

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

Fresh off the plane from the 2025 NADA conference in New Orleans,  Simon talks about his take aways from NADA, and why we attend year on year. There was such a lot to discuss, so this is the first instalment with another to follow the week after.

This year’s conference was definitely one to remember, with snow storms and flight cancellations delaying the start. Anyone attending was glad to get there in the end!

We always come back from the convention with new contacts made, fresh ideas and the motivation to implement them.

Here are the highlights:

{03:26} Why attend

{08:40} Plan

{16:42} Ryan Leak

{27:47} Chasing failure

{30:32} Joe St John & Kerri Wise

{39:50} Decision Fatigue

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

We are delighted to welcome Phil Williams – CEO of Direct Affinity CX. Phil has 37 years’ experience being a supplier in the motor trade.  He started his career in subprime finance before starting Direct Affinity after the credit crunch in 2008.  

Phil is passionate about great customer experiences.  One important element in building a good customer experience, is the culture in your business. 

Another is to close the loops. One way of doing that in sales is to examine your lost sales process. On average 33% of these enquiries are still in the market to buy and 50% of those are happy to come back into your dealership. These are opportunities not to be ignored.

Here are the highlights:

{05:49} Credit Crunch

{10:24} What makes a great business

{15:49} Moments of truth

{30.03} Lost sales

{36:15} Close the loop in aftersales

{44:50} Predictive CSI

{47:43} Keeping staff motivated

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

This week Stuart Wallbanks, one of our own consultants joins us talk all about sales process, the key to sales success and training.

Stuart started hie career in Platts Longton, before working with Reg Vardy and then moving on to training.  He explains in his view what makes a good trainer, sales person and manger.

We discuss how some sales mangers can get fearful of second facing a customer, as they haven’t kept their sales skills fresh, but it can be very easily rectified.

Here are the highlights:

{02:42} Reg Vardy

{07:37} Paul Cummings

{10:25} Credibility

{14:40} Process and Rapport

{27:26} Buying a Rolex

{33:52} Scared to Second Face

{45:25} Erase Negative Language

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

We continue our interview Jono O’Byrne, Sales Director for Endeavour Automotive.  

Starting off with being a mentor and learning from Billie Jean King. Jono has also worked in a couple of different agency modules, so he shares the benefit of his experience.

We also look at how you move up the career ladder from sales to management, and making the job yours to lose.

Then closing with Jono’s top tip.

Here are the highlights:

{01:54} Billie Jean King

{08:40} EV Targets

{17:48} Value of traditional car dealer

{20:43} Agency with Volvo

{23:43} Best Customer Experience

{30:55} Sales to Management

{32:48} Energy is the currency

{34:08} Get your job on merit

{38:12} How tight is your sales process

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

We are delighted to welcome Jono O’Byrne, Sales Director for Endeavour Automotive.  Jono tells us about his journey in the motor trade, experiences and mantras. Simon trained Jono when he was first starting out, so it was lovely catch up again. 

There such a lot to discuss, and so much inspiration given, that we have had to split this interview into two episodes.  In this part we look at Jono’s background, how to manage 23 sites, points to assess when looking at your business and his mentors.

Here are the highlights:

{03:57} Working at George Corbett Motors

{06:51} Moving to the UK

{10:10} Working for Marshalls

{11:20} Difference in the Irish Market

{19:30} Sweat the Small Stuff

{20:45} Communication

{27:25} Priorities

{32.05} George Corbett and Daksh Gupta

{39:25} Ask Why

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

Umesh Samani - Owner of Specialist Cars Stoke,  and Chairman of the IMDA, joins us to chat about selling used EVs. We focus on used electric vehicles from an independent dealer’s point of view. The challenges buying and selling them initially creates and the opportunities afforded once mastered.

At the moment approximately 6% of vehicles on Auto Trader are EVs, but this is growing all the time and gaining knowledge and confidence to sell them early is the key to ensuring future success.

We discuss some best practices and pitfalls to avoid, that can help with the transition.

Here are the highlights:

{02:25} Biggest Opportunity

{06:12} Confidence

{07:22} Educate Consumers

{10:21} Frustrated Used EV Customers

{10:38} Charging

{16:59} Pricing

{22:34} Battery Degradation

{31.27} Servicing

{36:13} Sourcing

{40:00} Sell by Date

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

We  are delighted to welcome back Jason Cranswick with another instalment of our book club.  In this episode we discuss a selection of books that are brilliant to have on your reading list for 2025, if self-improvement is one of your goals for the year.

The nine books we are recommending, cover everything from effective habits, to using AI, understanding behavioural science and managing the direction of your career path.

These books can really increase your skill set, help you manage and understand your team and manage your business and personal finances.

Here are the highlights:

{03:36} 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

{06:52} Unreasonable Hospitality

{15:06} Show Me The Money

{19:53} Co Intelligence

{28:10} Thinking Fast and Slow

{30:51} Elon Musk

{36:39} The Squiggly Career

{41:35} Rich Dad Poor Dad

{43:27} Atomic Habits

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

This episode its time to look at the trial close, test close or pre close, whatever you like to call it.

Its an important stage that can’t be missed, as it’s asked to ensure the car is right for the customer, before you go to the numbers.

Think of it like a proposal, if you went to straight to the wedding without asking the question, it would be too much, too soon.

Here are the highlights:

{00:57} What is the purpose of a trial close?

{02:07} Why we should do it?

{04:32} When do we ask it?

{05:31} 3 Yes Tag questions

{07:50} Evolution of the trial close

{14:41} Don’t be wishy washy

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