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INDUSTRY INTERVIEW, NEIL MARCUS AND NEVILLE DICKSON
So, are all affinity groups more or less the same? Selsia founders Neil Marcus and Nev Dickson think not (‘Selsia isn’t an affinity group for a start’). So what marks out this group of vehicle accident centres as different? Sian Rebbitt spoke to Neil and Nev to find out.
Q Let's start with a brief overview of Selsia. It’s not an affinity group, so how would you describe it?
A NM: Selsia is a brand of high quality, national vehicle care centres serving all types of vehicle operators with all types of vehicles. Its autonomous training and management controls guarantee the highest ethical and uniform standards of customer care across the UK. We are an impartial and independent organisation, which treats all our repairer members on an equal basis.
When a repairer joins us, they get full-time sales and marketing support with no vested interest. We think this, coupled with our training services at our IMI approved Technology Centre and our invoice data captured real-time management information, really sets us apart.
Q You’re very keen to establish the Selsia brand; why not brand your bodyshop members?
A ND: We can achieve everything we want to achieve without going into a hard franchise – the identity of a business is precious. We want Selsia to be a major brand, and the brand value is our repairers.
NM: The future of repair is being part of a group, which allows safety in numbers and gives repairers a national voice. We can cover both of these requirements, and work on giving them a national presence, as well as a local one.
Q Tell us about Selsia’s CV side.
A NM: From the outset, our intention was to create a 60-70 strong car network and 6-10 CV repairers. When we looked into fleet work, we found we needed a CV network as well to offer a rounded service; our objective is to be able to offer any type of repair to any type of customer. It’s something the CV market needs – no one else is pulling the CV side together.
Q Aren’t you shooting yourselves in the foot by limiting the numbers?
A ND: We feel 60-70 on the car side is the right number to give us good national coverage. They operate in areas, but there may be some overlap. If there seems to be too much work in one area, we can take on an additional member, but this will be decided by the steering committee.
QIt’s a PAS approved network. Is that the only membership criteria?
A ND: We’d like to have everyone PAS compliant by June this year or certainly a long way towards achieving it to guarantee the quality of our repairers and repairs. We’re seeing a bit of a sea-change happening at the moment where even VM approved repairers are going for PAS. We’re also looking beyond that, though, for a mindset among our members that demands full commitment to the Selsia programme, as well as other criteria, such as public liability insurance, three year workmanship guarantee, good customer facilities, presentable premises and delivering on SLAs we negotiate with our customers – most of which any repairer worth their salt will be complying with anyway.
Q Do you back this up with anything?
A NM: It’s only right that if we demand top level repairs from our members, we provide the means to support that. We’ve included in the membership package Senior Paint and Senior MET ATA assessments, as well as a Technical Certificate in air-conditioning and discounted training courses at our own IMI approved Technology Centre.
Q With so many groups for repairers, how do you feel about them belonging to others as well as yours?
A ND: It’s very much a choice for the bodyshop. We feel you get more out of something if you give it your all, but we can’t prevent bodyshops being part of other groups. They have to take business wherever they can. We have to give them more and prove ourselves.
Q Has the emphasis on marketing been a big draw in recruiting new members?
A ND: Most definitely. Marketing is a big part of what we do – most people will be aware of our background. Every single bodyshop we’ve spoken to wants help with marketing. We take our members through a logical process and build them a Marketing Road Map that takes them and their businesses on a journey of new opportunities and growth. We’re not consultants; we don’t highlight the problems but avoid giving them solutions. We’re marketing the Selsia brand and showing bodyshops how to market themselves.
NM: The bodyshop is first to see the customer and the car – it might be insurance driven, but once it’s in the shop it’s their customer and we show them how to engage with that customer. It gives them a clear objective. The principles of marketing are the same, but the market is slightly different in each area.
Q Who do you see as Selsia's main work providers?
A NM: Anyone and everyone; nobody's off limits – large and small fleets, dealerships, VMs, vehicle leasing and hire companies, accident management companies, brokers, insurers, retail customers... We don’t necessarily want to be the sole work provider for Selsia members, they should have a good mix of business.
Q Marketing is an abstract discipline. Do you have anything concrete to offer repairers?
A NM: As well as the extensive local and national brand marketing support, we are very mindful of the need for our repairers to have access to quality management information to help run their businesses. Our real-time web-based invoice data capture and reporting system, Selsia Smart Data, connects to an existing bodyshop management system, which is a big selling point and provides very detailed information.
Q Why don’t you offer group purchasing?
A ND: Because we’re not a buying group. We’d rather show bodyshops how to grow their business than save a couple of pounds on products. We take them on a different journey, letting them take control of their own future and work with us on local marketing initiatives. For example, we show our members how to become more efficient with their existing database and re-engage with past customers – this has to be one of the most efficient marketing activities they can do.
Q You’ve just taken on another Neville – Lidford. What is his role, and do you have to be called Neil or Neville to work for Selsia?
A NM: I only know two Nevilles and I’ve ended up working with both of them. Neville Lidford joins us as Director of Engineering, which is a role we always intended to fill. He brings an immense amount of experience in terms of acting as a conduit between the customer and the bodyshop.
Q What do bodyshops have to part with in membership fees?
A ND: There’s an initial set-up cost of £1,500, then we work on a £275 monthly membership fee and a £15 referral fee per repair for directed work. We think that’s fair. The estimated break even point is one repair per week (which can also come from local retail initiatives). For that, bodyshops also get our sales and marketing expertise and there’s no limit to how many times we visit them.
Q So you spend a lot of time visiting members; do they ever come to you?
A ND: Absolutely. Our premises form part of the Selsia brand experience. We’re very proud of our support centre in Milton Keynes and, with the exception of the call centre, everything is done in-house. It all helps with forming the right impression of the group.
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