Motability Specialists aren't typical salespeople.....they're the people in the showroom who are trained to provide specialist support and automotive advice to customers with a disability and their families. Roger Brocklesby helps Motability customers at JCT600 Volkswagen in Hull find the car and adaptations that are right for them, and has been a Motability Scheme specialist for over 20 years. In his second article for MotaClarity, Roger explains what a Motability Specialist does day-to-day, reminds us that they have their own problems to deal with, and that life and work can both be full of fun.
It's 06:20. 'Da da da daaaa'.... that’s a poor attempt at The Darkness song 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' going off on my phone. That is today's alarm wake up song. For the first time in just over six weeks I can have a wee with the bathroom light on! My wife works at a school, and I have been in 'Ninja mode' trying to not wake her and our son for just over six weeks. It’s his first day at school in year one and he's a little bit excited and slightly anxious. My wife is of course ecstatic to be up at this time of the morning again (sarcasm right there!).
06:30 Mrs B is in the shower, whereas downstairs us lads are having cereal and chatting about school. Mr Bean the cartoon is on in the background.
07:40 All dressed, showered and now ready to set off. I am driving them today. It's a bit lazy as it's only a mile away but Mrs B has three bags of flour, two bottles of olive oil and a bottle of Gin to carry. These are the ingredients to make Play Doh apparently apart from the Gin, which is gift for a colleague’s birthday (or so she says).
07:59 That’s them dropped off, big hug for both and I drive home.
08:05 Get home, Air Pods in and the cycle commute to work begins. Traffic has been a breeze for just over six weeks so I anticipate more school traffic. Oh, how right I am, as 4x4’s and indicator-less cars are all back on the road!
08.31 I am one-minute late arrrggghhhh. My fault, bumped into an old colleague near work and had a chat that went on slightly longer than I thought.
08:45 Shorts off, trousers on, gilet on, hair messy (helmet hair) and in I go to the morning Sales Meeting. We go through appointments for the day, handovers, good news, bad news, issues, and anything else that maybe useful. I have two appointments today and a very important personal phone call at 12.15 (more on that later). Both appointments are on the new Volkswagen Taigo, and thankfully we have a new one parked up right outside the showroom.
09.04 Meeting over and it's straight to the loo. The perks of being over 40 and drinking a pint of water after cycling in. Bladder emptied its email catch up. Lots to reply to. Many emails could be sorted over a phone call, but people seem to prefer an email.
09.30 Check the MDP dashboard. The Motability Dealer Dashboard shows us what we have to do each day. Today's jobs include updating the handover dates for customers, seeing which pictures need sending to Motability and checking to see if any customers have terminated their agreement. One thing that stands out is an outstanding vehicle picture. After a little digging it’s a picture that was taken when a car was in recently for a MOT two days ago. The technician has to take a photo of the vehicle that needs to be sent to Motability within four days. The dealership earns £100 for this picture. The picture is used to help sell the car on, and it has to be at a particular angle with no other cars in the background or signage. The picture has been sent but the logo of the company next door to us is showing so the image has been rejected. Panic! I get hold of the picture and with some wizardry on my laptop remove the offending signage and re send.
09.45 I go outside and get the keytag number for the Taigo. I park the car in a sunnier position and come inside to an excited colleague… a car transporter has just been despatched with five customers cars on it. One of which is a Tiguan for one of my Motability customers that was ordered 15 months ago. Woo-hoo! I ring the customer with the great news and tell them I will send over a video when it arrives.
09:58 Appointment one arrives. New to the scheme, local to us, done a lot of online research and very interested in the new Volkswagen Taigo. We go out for a test drive, and they want to order one. Brilliant! Complete paperwork, online application, check incoming stock and we have one in the colour they want coming next month. By the time I’ve popped over to the photocopier and got back to my desk the application is accepted. We are now paperless, so I have to upload all documents to a system we use. It’s a good system, but very time consuming.
10.45 Ring someone back who has called while I was out asking when the 5 seat Volkswagen Tiguan will be back on the Motability Scheme. It’s a common question and one I wish I knew the answer to. Next up, more emails. I type away on my laptop answering questions. Check Facebook to see if anything is of interest and take a quick look on Sky Sports news! Park up the Taigo and ring the second appointment to confirm they are still coming at 1pm. They are. Great.
11.10 Check to see that the doctored picture sent earlier has been accepted. It has. Fab.
11.30 Text from Mrs B. She is on an early lunch, morning gone well for her but noisy! She asks if I’m ok and I reply 'Yeah'.
Latest Motability Prices For The New Volkswagen Taigo
12.03 A man comes into the showroom with his dog. I like dogs but have had issues over the years with them both in work and outside of work so I am always a little apprehensive. He tells me she’s lovely and won't bite, so I have a little stroke and we are cool. He wants to look for something to accommodate his dog and two power wheelchairs. I look at my watch on the sly as I'm expecting an important phone call at 12.15. We go to his current car (a Seat Alhambra MPV) and he shows me the inside and how much room it has. I explain that the Volkswagen Touran is not on the Motability Scheme anymore and the Sharan has been discontinued. He wasn’t aware that he could extend his current Motability lease so we agree that this is probably the best option at the moment. He tells me his budget and the 7-seat Tiguan Allspace is clearly more than he wants to pay, and looking at the boot of his current car it's not as practical. It’s now 12.50 and no phone call….
12.51 Very quickly eat my pack up (what we call lunch around here!).
13:00 Appointment number two is here. Almost a carbon copy of the earlier one. Test drive done, order taken, and application submitted online. Application passes almost immediately and another one off the incoming stock list so fingers crossed it should be here in 6-7 weeks.
14.11 I park the Taigo up again and as I do my phone rings. NO CALLER ID…
This is my Oncology Consultant. I was at the Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology yesterday having my last cancer follow up tests. My consultant was calling to confirm that everything was great and I am now officially discharged. After five years he said he never wants to see me again (politely!) and I say the same to him. It's a massive weight off my shoulders and a day I have been looking forward to for a long time.
14:16 Go back in the showroom and I'm told all the new cars arrived while I was out on test-drive, including the Tiguan. Now I have a decision to make. Do I ring my mum and tell her my good news or send a video to a customer who has waited more than a year for their car?! I do the video as know my mum is out this afternoon with her two friends and will be chatting!
14.54 Ring my Mum! She's obviously very happy and says will tell my dad (he's not one for fancy mobile phones!).
15.20 The lady who has been waiting for her Tiguan calls saying she loves the video and cannot wait to collect it next week. We have allocated a registration number with almost her exact initials on, so she's happy.
16.01 Check more emails then I take a look at the Motability Facebook group I'm a member of. There are a few direct messages to reply to and I like a few posts on there. Then I pick up the phone and ring seven customers with updates on their cars. No updates from three weeks ago dammit!
17.01 Facetime with Mrs B and son. He has enjoyed his day and says that he liked Maths, Science and Dance the most. Mrs B laughs as he's been dancing to Black Lace apparently!
17.16 Next, I tell the rest of the team my good news. Lots of laughs and plenty of non-PC things are said (that I certainly can't repeat here) but all great fun and much needed.
17.32 I don my cycle helmet again and its home time. Good news means good music so Green Day it is for the journey home.
18.13 Home to two huge hugs! Mrs B is fab and the best wife and today has been a long time coming. Jacket potatoes for tea.
19.20 Son bathed, story and in bed. He is a great sleeper and is tired after today!
20:00 I reply to many messages on my phone, Mrs B watches some trash on TV, and after a couple of brews and a few chocolate biscuits we are in bed.
We go again tomorrow….
Read A Day In The Life Of A Full Time Motability Specialist (Part One)
Sorry, I Won't Eat Baked Potato Skins!
