Andersen & Martini - Best in cars

Andersen & Martini:”BEST IN CARS”

“We have come a long way. But we can take it even further.”

Peter Hansen, CEO at Andersen & Martini, believes that they have a reason to be satisfied at Andersen & Martini: In spite of the financial crisis they achieved a profit in 2009, they had no major layoffs and no overloaded car parks. This, however, is not a reason to kick back and relax – all the good development work undertaken to date must continue and keep its momentum. It is important to keep working on creating a positive attitude among the 230 colleagues and keep focussed on the common goal which is to be the best car dealer in Denmark.

Note: Not one of the best car dealers in Denmark but THE best.

When Peter Hansen arrived from an executive position in the lorry business seven years ago, he found a company that mostly reminded him of a public office. However, progress has been made since then. Old habits and misconceptions have been challenged and changed one example being that the idea that you automatically become a better employee by celebrating a 25th or 50th anniversary at the work place. “It is nice that our employees feel the urge to stay but it is their daily efforts that count. The young mechanic is just as valuable as the experienced accountant or foreman,” Peter Hansen says.

Andersen & Martini wants to be known for giving the best and most welcoming service in their industry. This can be accomplished by focusing on each employee as they are the ones who create the image of the company in the mind of each customer. This is why investments must be made in the fields of personal development and competences. In order to reach this goal, Andersen & Martini has embarked on a working partnership with TACK International for the entire company to have further training and development.

”TACK is perfoming well in”on-the-job” training,” Peter Hansen says. ”What happens in the class room is always different from the real world in our company. Often the newly acquired knowledge is forgotten when you get back to work. But if TACK returns two weeks later to reinforce the positive behaviour by working with everyone and asking questions such as “What are you supposed to?” to make them think about their role, then the knowledge will stick to the employees’ memories.”

Jens Dalgaard from TACK International says:

”Andersen & Martini is a company with a strong desire to make things happen. We can work with the entire company and achieve results both in the short and the long run.”

“We feel like a partner rather than a supplier. We get to work with everyone which yields good results. We get to see employees who take responsibility for their own every day life and the result is we see people have personal breakthroughs. A Head of Department recently told me about an employee who began eating in the cafeteria. “Yeah, so?” one might ask. The thing is that this employee had experienced rejections from co-workers for 18 months to such an extent that he felt compelled to go out to eat during the lunch hour. When things came out in the open during the training programme, the communication between them was fixed and a series of misunderstandings were straightened out.”

This is merely one example, but it goes to show what you can achieve from focusing on communication and cooperation. It is obvious that an employee who feels acceptance from his co-workers can concentrate on giving good customer service and the entire organisation benefits.

Jens Dalgaard emphasises that the implementation in the work situation is the decisive factor. Even the best course remains as theory if not put into practise. The executives have a decisive role in this matter which is why focus is on courses that can turn competent professionals into professionals who are also competent executives.

Peter Hansen’s vision for Andersen & Martini is simple but extensive: Every single employee must realise what counts for the customer and work according to this. “It is very important to speak in a nice and understandable manner and to be honest. Buying a car is a big deal for most people. Very often it is the second biggest economic decision that they make.”

“A lot of people within the business talk about acquiring new customers. I prefer working on keeping our current customers.”

“It is of great significance that we work effectively inside the company. We can learn a lot from looking at the work being done at the cash register in a supermarket. We must re-use information which is already in our system and not do things twice – first on paper and then on the computer. It is not rocket science what we do – in fact it is pretty simple. But it makes a difference for the company.”

TACK started the project with Andersen & Martini by visiting the company’s seven departments. TACK decided to construct the training teams across the departments. An important element in the preparations was to test the water of the culture within the organisation. How do employees deal with responsibility and initiative? These are important elements in a service company with a strong focus on growth.

On-the-job training is mixed together with course days. Morning sessions play an important role in the process of allowing people to speak their mind, work together and build mutually beneficial relationships. And it works. Never mind that voices are being raised in the process.

When the training programme is completed in the early spring of 2010, measurements and comparisons will be done again. The change must be evident. Andersen & Martini must maintain a steady advancing course and the implementation must continue.

Andersen & Martini is the biggest listed car dealer in Denmark, currently employing 230 people and performing sale and repair of Opel, SAAB, Cadillac, Corvette, US Chevrolet, Kia and Fiat. Impartial researches show that the customers judge both sales situations, the garage and the cars from Andersen & Martini to be among the best in the business.

TACK International is one of the leading global providers of training programmes in sales, management and personal development, founded in 1948. As then the purpose of TACK’s operations is to promote the customers’ business by personal and professional employee training and development. The goal is reached by practical training and implementation.

KISSES ON THE CHEEK FROM KIA
Andersen & Martini sells Kia cars and was officially recognised by the Kia factories in 2009 receiving praise and adulation as well as being awarded:"Platinum Dealer Award 2010" as the only Danish car dealer, "Global Dealer Award" - never before awarded to a Danish dealer – and "Best Aftersales Dealer". The criteria for the first two rare first-class-honours are turnover results while the last is based on opinion surveys among the customers. “We are very proud of the last one in particular. It shows that our customers are satisfied. Customer satisfaction is what we live on,” Peter Hansen says.

SAAB IS HEADING FOR SAFETY
In the last days of January 2010, a new owner of the prestigious Swedish car manufacturer SAAB was found. SAAB is one of the car brands in Andersen & Martini’s stable. “It is a great pleasure to see SAAB continue. They have a very loyal line of customers,” Peter Hansen says. “The SAAB is a car of great technical excellence, but it is just as important that SAAB has a service organisation that never lets its customers down. Customers are loyal if a car brand not only consists of magnificent cars but behind it there is an organisation that can deliver the cars and provide servicing for them. We look forward to selling new cars to existing customers and nurturing them for many years ahead.”

Since 1990 American General Motors has been involved in SAAB, since 2000 as sole owner. However, GM neither could nor would continue this course. The new owner is the Dutch supercar manufacturer “Spyker”. Spyker intends to produce SAAB cars in a separate company and will probably concentrate on three SAAB models: 9-3, 9-5 and a sports van 9-4x.