Sunday Closing.....forward thinking or a backward step?

[jimreidvehicle 255]

After many weeks of deliberation about closing on a Sunday we finally asked our Facebook followers how they would feel about us closing the sales department on a Sunday, I was amazed by the comments and the support from our customers about the proposed decision. See the comments https://www.facebook.com/jimreidvehicles

So taking everything into consideration and to help the welfare of our staff and to improve the communication level within the company we have taken the almighty plunge and from September we will be closing all day every Sunday.

The reason for posting this on our forum was to get YOUR view, what do you do? why ? and how do you benefit?

Jim

 

[James Baggott 227]

I saw this on Twitter Jim. A brave move and a respectable one for your staff.

But speaking purely as a consumer who is very busy during the week my buying is done at the weekend. Nothing frustrates me more than old school Sunday trading laws.

I can't understand why we can't buy our shopping all day on a Sunday. My wife works Saturday so the only day we can go shopping together for clothes for the little one is on a Sunday yet all the shops are only open a few hours. It's frustrating to say the least.

In a day and age when we are all so busy during the week relaxing Sunday trading laws would boost the economy massively in my opinion.

I can see why you'd want to have Sunday off but wouldn't you be better off closing Mondays instead? I'm speaking purely from a personal opinion of course and think it's commendable to close Sundays for your staff and your well being.

[sparky 274]

The Mitchell Group (Skoda, Lexus and Mazda) are worth a look at. They don't open Sunday as according to their owner Sunday is family day, quite right too. The story goes that they parted company from their first franchise, Mitsubishi, because they refused to open on a Sunday. Clearly it's done them no harm as they have gone from strength to strength and is probably a feather in their cap in this day and age.

 

The only time I open on a sunday is if I have an appointment or I want to get out of visiting the in laws!!

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

It's a tough call but I guess it depends on the confidence you have in the business. I would work 7 days a week if I could but I have to balance my roll as a father to my two children. I will go in on a Sunday for an appointment because I truly believe that being financial stable and showing my children a work ethic is is vital. My wife also gets called into work at all hours so neither of use understand a 9-5 work culture, in return we want for little and don't struggle. 

 

If I employed a salesperson I would expect then to work Saturdays and every other Sunday. Car sales is and always will be an unpredictable business, logic say weekend should be busy but sometimes you won't see a soul then sell 4 cars on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. If your not there you can't sell. 

 

Maybe in another 15-20 years I might feel different and things change. Credit to Jim for making the call and i'm sure his circumstances are different to mine. 

 

My only question is what do you do when you have gone a week without selling and someone whats to view a car on a Sunday? Is it the salespersons call? Your call or a 'NO'.

[c_cars 56]

From my point of view as sole salesman in a family owned business where I'm left to my own devices..

 

When I started here a year ago the person I replaced only worked Sundays on a viewing by appointment basis. Over the last year Ive worked the majority of Sundays and can only remember maybe a handful of occasions where I haven't dealt. Our opening times are typically 11 until 4 but I take the day as it comes, sometimes opening at 10, if its busy I work the full day (sometimes longer if needed) but if its quiet I have an early finish but remain contactable by mobile or email.

 

I can see both sides of the coin to be honest and its interesting reading everyones opinions!

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

For me it's locations based, here in London we have many customers who typically work Mon-Sat, they only have a chance to get out on Sunday, so why take that convience away? But perhaps if your out in the sticks somewhere it could be a different demand, but I find here in London late evenings and weekends are essential

[jimreidvehicle 255]

It's great to get feedback on here, but it also goes to show that although we are all the same (car dealers) we are all very different (sizes of business, location, etc, etc)

I agree with James about the Sunday trading laws, we don't have the same issue in Scotland as Tesco, Morrisons etc are all open for business , however food shopping is a necessity rather than a want to!

 

On a Sunday , Car Dealerships, like furniture stores are an ideal place for the 'bored with nothing to do' brigade which we all have the fair share of over a weekend! On a Sunday we have a very large car boot sale (the biggest in Scotland I think) only 3 miles away from us, now I'm not knocking the sort of folk that go to car boot sales (because we all like a car boot) however this starts early in the morning with most 'lookers' making their way home around lunchtime , which just coincides with when we open for business and as we are on the 'scenic road' home for most visitors from Aberdeen with another 3 car dealerships close by, we are where most of these 'lookers' seem to end up, so you can imagine the frustration this causes , every Sunday!

 

Now, it's not that we don't do any business on a Sunday, however after 26 years working weekends I feel that I have done my bit, but as I lead from the front I don't feel my sales team should have to work if I have decided enough is enough.

 

To make it easier for customers we will continue to bend over backwards by offering a 'take the car to you' offer during the week and as always we are here from 8am -6.30pm, so I'm sure that we can accommodate most customers.

 

I will say however in the motor trade if you opened 24 hours a day you would get people through the door, but why? If you work 24/7 you will get very rich, because you won't have time to spend it! However something that you can never get back is time, you can only spend every minute once! and you only have one life ;-)

 

Time will tell, we will give it a try for 6 months and analyse.

 

For the notebook, it has taken quite a bit of time to convince Andy (22) and Phil (24) to stop working on a Sunday, so it just goes to show, all youth are NOT the same 

[jimreidvehicle 255]

The Mitchell Group (Skoda, Lexus and Mazda) are worth a look at. They don't open Sunday as according to their owner Sunday is family day, quite right too. The story goes that they parted company from their first franchise, Mitsubishi, because they refused to open on a Sunday. Clearly it's done them no harm as they have gone from strength to strength and is probably a feather in their cap in this day and age.

 

The only time I open on a sunday is if I have an appointment or I want to get out of visiting the in laws!!

Yes and in Scotland Peter Vardy close Sundays as does some of the most successful independent car dealers in Aberdeenshire, so hopefully I will be joining the elite!

[jimreidvehicle 255]

For me it's locations based, here in London we have many customers who typically work Mon-Sat, they only have a chance to get out on Sunday, so why take that convience away? But perhaps if your out in the sticks somewhere it could be a different demand, but I find here in London late evenings and weekends are essential

We are based in Aberdeenshire, where quite a bit of our business comes from customers employed in the oil industry. If they are office based  it tends to be flex time and if it's offshore it's 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, although there are the Mon-Sat group, but we do presentations at customers work if they can't come in within opening times.

[GreenGiant 287]

Good call Jim.

It's time the whole world (not literally) slowed down a bit.

In my many years in this business I have studied the browsing/buying patterns of customers and tried different opening hours to accomodate everyone, so we didn't miss a sales opportunity. Or so it appeared.

Fact is, no matter what your published opening hours are, there will always be browsers who come in half an hour after you close.

 

Over a 4-month trial (Feb-May) a couple of years ago, we surveyed everyone who purchased a car on a Sunday. In only 2 cases (out of 51) did the customer say they wouldn't have bought the cars from us during the week if we were closed on that day. And they were both New car deals that, quite frankly, hardly covered the leccy bill, let alone the wages! However, the powers-that-be decreed that if the opposition was open, then we would be too. A compromise was reached.

At the moment, we're open every Sunday from April to October and only by appointment over the winter. Do we miss any walk-in deals? Probably. Do we worry about that? Nope. Do we get calls on the Monday after? Yep. Are the deals still done? Again, yep.

 

It is certainly a location-based decision though but if, at the end of the day Jim, you're still surviving and the staff and customers are still happy, it's all good.

[umesh 336]

Jim, i think this is a great move as I posted on FB , I Have always closed from day one -17 Years ago I decided i would not work 7 days a week , its too easy to get into doing that 'routine' and lose out on quality time, chill out time and recharge time even if you read trade mags on Sunday at home its a change of space and thinking time.! when I started many of trade people /colleagues / friends ALL said I was mad and would lose a lot of business ? I said the type of stock / cars I sell people will come back in the week or make appointments that we could both accommodate! I'm sure I've lost the odd deal or two over the years but I've enjoyed my Sundays off - either with family/ friends or simply DIY at home! No regrets at all and best decision i made.

I've made appointments on Sundays if thats the only day that a prospective customer can make it and then its only been between 20 minutes to ..max an hour AND 90% of the time sold a car - other times we simply couldn't do a deal - it happens !! but not wasted all day waiting!
Now my next dileama is do i close 6 days and only open one !! Thoughts:)  One day ONLY to buy a car will there we queues ?

PS - Forgot to mention some of the dealers who said I was mad all those years ago now close on Sundays due to lack of business - I think either 3/4 OR 5 dealers of them !
It is a 'personal' choice to what suits each of us!

[James Baggott 227]

Green Giant and Umesh - fascinating comments as always. Love this thread it's great to read what your side of the fence thinks. Think we'll make this a special on next month's Comments Page :)

[williamblackshaw 43]

I haven't read the comments above but we stopped opening Sundays a few years back and have never considered re opening, sales have improved, communication is better and i think that's the one item that is key to this, also we could only justify one person being in due to our size so meant no test drives, a day off in return, holidays become awkward. I guess it depends on dealer size but for us it worked being closed sundays

[GreenGiant 287]

Something that hasn't been thought about much - especially when it's just a small dealership like yours William - what's the heath & safety implication of only having one salesperson in?

Accidents can and do happen. What if he/she is incapacitated because of it and cannot get to a phone?

Or he/she gets a knock on the head from some nasty little scrote that fancies nicking a beamer you've advertised to the world?

 

Do you fancy spending the night on the floor unconscious or with a broken ankle after tripping on an airline in the workshop? If you're lucky you might still be alive in the morning when someone opens up.

 

Unless it's a Bank Holiday of course...

[GreenGiant 287]

Green Giant and Umesh - fascinating comments as always. Love this thread it's great to read what your side of the fence thinks. Think we'll make this a special on next month's Comments Page

 

I did tick the 'No Publicity' box, didn't I?

[James Baggott 227]

Possibly...

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

James is this a closed forum?

As in must a user register to view posts?

[James Baggott 227]

Nope. I don't think it is. You have to register to post though.

[jimreidvehicle 255]

I haven't read the comments above but we stopped opening Sundays a few years back and have never considered re opening, sales have improved, communication is better and i think that's the one item that is key to this, also we could only justify one person being in due to our size so meant no test drives, a day off in return, holidays become awkward. I guess it depends on dealer size but for us it worked being closed sundays

Thanks William, my point exactly. With the full sales team available during the week, we can help more customers during the week and improve communication which for me is a big thing! no more small notes left on desks getting lost! Thanks for your input!

[williamblackshaw 43]

Hi Jim

 

Jokes a side, is this still available? http://www.jimreidvehiclesales.co.uk/vw-golf-r32-3.2-v6-3dr-manual-in-aberdeenshire-for-sale-3852654  

 

If so can i pop up Sunday? 

[jimreidvehicle 255]

William

 

it is still available, yes we are open this Sunday:-)

[janeleonard 0]

You have made the best decision Jim. It will defintely benefit you and your staffs as they are offered a lesiure at the wekkend. Who says no to it. This one is fair for both your customers and staffs, as well as you.

[Jamie Edmonds 28]

As a customer I always found it a little frustrating that my local Mini dealer (North Oxford Mini) was shut on Sundays but I still bought two cars from them because I got far better service than at the alternative option (who did open on Sundays).

 

I now live in a country where everything is shut on Sunday, if you need a bottle of milk or some emergency Toblerone then you have to go to a railway station or petrol station as all the shops are shut in town.  Car dealerships are the same, and they still seem to do OK, it's just down to people's expectations.  When we first got here I found it incredibly annoying that nowhere was open on Sundays but now I'm used to it I don't find it an issue at all.  If your local competition is also shut then that's certainly a good sign, and realistically the only buyers you're going to miss out on are those who walk in and buy on impulse.