James, welcome to Executive Excellence.

Thank you so much for letting us take over your showroom today here at Aston Martin in Fortitude Valley.

Thank you.

And you're welcome.

It's wonderful.

And just I think the obvious one is what the hell is this beautiful machine behind us?

Just given he's kind of part of.

Or she's part of the.

Yeah, sure.

This is, I guess, the ultimate grand tourer in this part of the segment of the motor industry.

It's the.

The Aston Martin Vanquish.

This is the 20, 25 model.

It's V12.

Pushes out 800 plus horsepower through the rear wheels.

Wow.

Yeah, it's.

It's an amazing car.

Bonkers.

Yep.

I was smiling like a little kid when you were moving the cars around earlier.

I was like, wow, this is like, this is the coolest thing, I think.

Yeah, it's a real pleasure.

You did look a little nervous to be.

Well, maybe that was just my excitement, but when you.

It was.

When you said out the window, it's just a million bucks, I was like, whoa, okay.

They're not cheap, these things, so.

Well, first of all, thank you so much for being on the show.

The.

We're here because we're doing an event with you in February and.

But in terms of today, I really want to just take a bit of a deep dive around you.

You're a leader here at Aston in Queensland.

You're the gm.

You kind of lead a team here, but also across a number of different brands.

Brands and dealerships.

I'm just curious, tell us, like from the outsider's perspective, you might think that someone of your position and role would be absolutely car bonkers.

Is that true?

Like, where did this kind of love for cars come from?

Or how would you kind of say it in your own words?

Sure, yeah.

Look, I love cars.

I do.

Am I a car expert?

I wouldn't say yes.

Right.

You know, I think I know the industry quite well, but from a technical perspective, I'm probably more around how a car makes you feel and the soul of the car.

I remember, you know, as a very young boy, one of my first memories was growing up sitting in the back seat of my parents car going up a road in northern New South Wales, where I grew up.

And at the time, a purple SLR Tirana went past.

And I clearly remember that car and how or in awe of this car.

I was.

I have moments through my life where I remember specific cars and that probably relates back to how that car made me feel at the time.

Yeah.

So, yeah, it's More, I think I'm much more attuned to that than the technical side.

I can relate to that.

Yeah, you've had a really quite a diverse experience in terms of car brands.

So you've worked with the likes of BMW, you've worked on the finance side in gm.

Tell us like what's been your journey through that process?

Why I think you may even start in finance if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, so I've sort of had I guess two halves to my career to this point.

The first half was very much finance based.

Finally I started my career in a credit union of all places, doing retail credit and then I followed a girl to sing Sydney.

So I grew up in solid strategy country New South Wales who ended up being my wife.

So I thought okay, yeah, that worked and didn't have a job and sold my ute from the country, moved to the city, locked on a job at Toyota Finance.

So that was my sort of first motor connection.

Worked there for a few years in Sydney and then was with General Motors finance product after that for a little while and then went to work for ge.

And so at GE I did a lot of commercial credit, a lot of it still aligned in the motor industry.

So I did some, some commercial underwriting there for a period.

And then when the GFC hit in 08 I was living in Melbourne working for GE and they exited the motor funding industry and so my role was going to be no longer be there and some of the management at the time said, you know, we obviously really want you to stay in ge.

We've got this perfect role, it's in Brisbane.

Right.

And I was like okay, tell me a bit more about the role.

And the role was heading up their national sales and their Queensland sales for the retail partners.

So that was then working with some of their retail store cars like with Meyer and Harvey Norman and Michael Hill.

So then that gave me not only that finance gave me a stronger insight into pure retail and how those guys, how their rhythm works from a faster moving product than a car for example.

So yeah, did some time with them and, and then was probably ready to do something completely different and was talking to a friend of mine who worked for BMW Finance and he said that BMW Australia was looking for a regional manager for the northern part of Australia.

And I rang the sales director there at the time whose name was Tom Noble, was an American guy, came out of Nike, didn't really have a car background either.

And we had a good interview and built some rapport and he said look, I wouldn't normally put someone with no motor vehicle experience into this role, but I'm going to take a punt.

Cool.

So was in that role for seven or eight years, looking after everything for all the BMW network from Port Macquarie to Darwin for a period over to Western Australia as well.

So I got a really good understanding of cars and the way car dealerships worked in a retail space, what all the levers were, what looked good and what didn't look good in a car dealership.

So.

And then came out of there into a retail business called Sime Darby, who had an affiliation with BMW and was their general group general manager of sales for Australia for them.

And then a few years later got the offer to come and be a general manager of retail stores.

And here I am.

Here you are.

And so I'm curious, like leading a dealership, you've got.

You're a custodian of a.

You know, at least from a pommy perspective, like this is a prestigious brand.

Like.

Yeah, carries weight.

It's got a royal seal from what I understand.

And it's synonymous with prestige, luxury, super lux, like it is.

There aren't too many brands like this.

So what's it like leading a team where you're trying to kind of perhaps match that?

How do you think about, like, how do you lead a team around that?

Like where they're maybe.

Does everything have to be excellent or does it.

Is there.

How do you think about perfection?

Even some.

Yeah, it's, it's, it's a really interesting one because in this end of the market you would expect everything to be perfect and quite often it's not.

When you're dealing with cars that are at this level of performance and not just Aston Martin, across this segment, there's.

Their cars regularly have issues.

Yeah.

But customers that operate and purchase in this segment understand that and there's an understanding and tolerance of it.

So, you know, they're understanding, but you've got to handle them the right way.

When there is an issue, you know, that's critical and I think that's the.

The same at every level.

Every level is going to have an issue, but it's how you react to the customer and how you respond when they need help, really.

And the issue part.

So you're saying because it's.

Is it the handcraft, the kind of.

The nature of them.

They're so delicate.

They're not like a Toyota, which are just pumped along and automated and everything.

Yeah, look, yeah, the car.

I mean, they are high performance cars.

I mean they, you know, the Car we were just talking about there, you know, when you, when you, when you've got a V12 motor that generates 800 horsepower, it's getting close to the edge.

And so they have a really sensitive computer system which will alert you if there's even potential for something to go wrong.

So it's almost like a pre warning that you've got to obviously take notice so that you avoid anything catastrophic in the cab.

So.

Yeah, so.

So quite often they get warning lights, but that doesn't mean there's anything fundamentally wrong.

It's just a bit of a.

You need to check something.

So how do you think about service?

Because I feel like when you get a customer, it's not a in and out transaction.

Certainly it feels very relationship based in terms of what you do.

How do you think about, like if you get someone to buy a client or, sorry, buy a car, how do you see it?

That's probably going to be a client for life.

Do you see it like that?

It's definitely the intent.

Right.

But again, that comes back to potentially when there is an issue, how you handle that with that customer will determine whether they remain a repeat customer.

But that's all through retail.

I think.

As we talked about before, I think the first sale is often exciting and easy, but you've got to work then for your second one.

So, James, tell us, when you have a new hire come into a business like this, how do you, how do you train, what's the values you try to align your team on or even what do you look for when it comes to like bringing people in as a, as a leader here?

Yeah, yeah.

I think the buying process with an Aston Martin and this end of it is very much like, it's a one to one relationship and customers want to have a really close one to one relationship with the dealership, the brand, the brand manager that they're dealing with.

And they want to feel when they walk into the dealership that it's not a sales environment as such.

It's, you know, it's, it's where they can come to feel the brand and, you know, touch the brand and cool.

Yeah.

And be.

It's a much more relaxed sales environment.

That's interesting.

Yeah.

Just not trying to like the classic sales car salesperson.

Nah, correct.

It's a very different consultant.

Yeah.

And in this business, you take a customer from the first time they walk through the door to the moment they drive out and then potentially, if they have any questions along their whole ownership journey, it's a deep relationship and My brand manager here, James, he often talks about the fact that almost all of his customers become friends.

It feels like friends rather than customers, because they do have such a deep relationship.

It sounds like you spend a long time with them.

Right.

In terms of that, what's that journey look like?

Is it with a customer?

Yeah, yeah.

It depends.

Is the short answer.

Generally, if someone's new to the brand and has, you know, aspired to own an Aston Martin for a long time, they can be quite slow.

You know, they.

They may initially walk in going, right, I've got my business to where it needs to be, I'm ready to buy my dream car, thinking that it.

They're ready to go.

But one of the great things about Aston Martin is the choice when you build a car.

So there's only really three or four product lines, but the variation in colours and leather and stitching and that you can customize that car often, especially for someone new, can be quite overwhelming.

Oh, for sure.

I mean, there's basically 70 different colours of paint to choose from to start with.

So sometimes when someone's new, they might go through five or six visits, you know, they'll build over six months, say.

Yeah.

Or longer sometimes.

Yeah.

And they might build on the configurator and sit here with us and build their car.

And we might do that 15, 20 different variations before they narrow it down to their dream car.

And.

Which is great.

You know, one of the great parts of our job is building someone's dream.

Right through that process.

You know, it's a really fun part of the job.

So are all customers really long drawn out?

No.

Some customers that have been traditional Aston Martin customers for a long time will.

They might be on their seventh.

Aston Martin will already have a pretty strong idea exactly what they want.

They know the brand, they know the product and they'll just come in and place their order.

Yeah.

Be a refreshing change.

I imagine a long sales cycle in the construction space.

It's like two, three years and it can be.

Yeah, yeah.

You have to kind of really get on with the people you're trying to transact with.

Yeah.

And then also, someone might drive past the showroom, there might be a car on the floor that they fall in love with and say, I want that car.

Yeah, that happens as well.

That's easy to do.

When I walked into the DB12, I was like, oh, okay.

Yeah.

Hi.

So, yeah, I can see your James Bond comment.

Yes.

It's kind of embarrassing.

He's kind of childhood kind of boyishness.

I'm like, yeah, yeah, it was.

I was like, yeah.

Is it gunmetal silver or something like that?

Whatever that car down is downstairs?

Magnetic silver.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

Tell us.

Let's talk about performance a little bit, because I think F1 happening very soon.

It's been an interesting season for Aston Mine in terms of this year.

There's some big changes.

We've got Adrian Newey coming in.

He's stepping up in more of a principal role.

Just curious, like, what you are.

What are you excited as?

You know, you're part of this kind of bigger picture.

Yeah.

What really resonates with you?

What are you excited about when it comes to this season?

How are you thinking about it?

Yeah, look, obviously we're separate to the F1 team, so I'm more of a fan than anything.

Pay pretty close attention to it.

Yeah.

Adrian joining Aston Martin recently is a game changer, I think.

I'm pretty sure there's no team he's worked for that hasn't won a world championship, so a bit of pressure on him as well.

If you look back at the last season, Aston Martin were sort of just above mid table.

Some races were quite competitive, but I think they're.

With Adrian coming in the changes to F1, I think.

I think they should have a fantastic year this year.

And it's really exciting to watch, I think.

Tell me, leadership in that context, like driving performance and therefore.

Yeah, it appears to be glamorous.

Right.

Race day.

Yeah.

I think behind the scenes.

And that's what the Netflix series have done so, so well, is.

It's far from glamorous.

Right.

Yeah.

It's, like, intense.

So, just curious, what are your reflections?

Being perhaps a bit closer to this space than most.

Yeah.

What do you see as a standout in that?

Like, how do you build.

Build a team where it's very nuanced what they do.

Right.

For me, the amazing thing within those teams, and you hear it a lot these days, with leadership around, making incremental change and 1% change can make a massive.

We're all after that 1% gain.

Right.

In F1, that goes to another level.

So the F1 teams will spend tens of thousands of dollars to get 0.01% improvement.

A 1% improvement.

In F1, you go from battling in the midfield to podium.

Yeah, well, so it's.

It's a massive change.

And so they are always looking for something that will give them an edge.

I mean, a 1% improvement, as an example, in F1 across a race is like 45 seconds, so half a lap so you're half a lap behind if you haven't made that improvement.

Amazing.

Yeah.

It takes a real certain type of person to have that mentality.

I think that's what I really admire about Adrian Newey.

I was listening to a podcast about him and he's like, he still really enjoys it.

And I'm like, wow, that takes a certain type of mentality.

Like, do you have any insight to what it's like to be in that technical team?

Like to.

Yeah.

Again, I haven't been within that team.

But, you know, the laser focus on their individual contribution is enormous.

You know, and from a leadership perspective, if you look at.

You want everybody to perform at their best at their task, but they also need to understand, and this is where F1 is great.

They need to understand what the end goal is and what their impact can be.

So if you've got someone working on a component that they know is going to make a.01% gain, they know that could be two spaces on the grid at the start.

So having that vision to know your impact and focused on your role, I think that's probably from a leadership insight.

That's probably it.

Yeah.

I think it takes a real patience.

I was it, forgive me, the CEO at the moment of the race team.

Is it Andy?

Is it Carroll?

Yeah.

And he was just talking about.

It takes huge ambition to, you know, you got to be audacious in terms of the goal.

They want to compete.

They want to compete at the highest level.

You know, they talk about having enough trophies in the cabinet, and I think that's what's really interesting.

You can have all this quote, unquote prestige, but in terms of.

It's so difficult and you have to have that willingness to be bold and no different.

I imagine in a sales environment, you would have faced that.

When you're trying to lift the performance.

Did you ever deal with any challenging dealerships where underperforming and then your job was to kind of figure it out.

Yeah.

It's an interesting one.

So I've probably across my career, been in, in and out of maybe 500 dealerships.

Wow.

And you can tell from like a working perspective.

Yeah.

From a work perspective, or you can.

You can tell within five minutes whether it's a good dealership or not.

Interesting.

Yeah.

What do you.

What stands out?

Well, you can tell the attention to detail that.

The attention to a customer.

The best dealers have a process the minute the customer walks through the door, especially on a scale.

Okay.

Because to be able to give consistent customer experience when You've got a high turnover business.

It's about understanding the process and everyone's role in that process.

You know, I've been in dealerships where the moment you walk through the door, the receptionist stands up and greets you.

But I've been in dealerships where you moment you walk through the door, the receptionist doesn't lift her head.

You know, those straight away interactions can set the tone for the rest of it and it's generally an indicator of the rest of the business, those types of small things.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

And what does it tell you?

Like, is it that inattention to perhaps the detail tells you what?

That they're not going to be pushing for sales target?

What do you find that's kind of indicative of.

Yeah, it sort of.

It probably comes back to more the standards that the leader of the business expects.

Right, Interesting.

Yeah.

Literally in the lifting of one's receptionist.

Yeah.

Wow.

Okay.

Yeah.

And so in the best dealerships that you've worked in, the exemplary ones, the ones which stand out, because I'm guessing these.

Is it the Pareto principle, the 8020 rule would apply in dealerships too?

Yeah, definitely.

Yep.

Is it more like 9010?

Yeah, you're probably right.

Right.

What do they do, what do they get?

Right.

But most don't.

Yeah.

And interesting when you're talking about the split of performance that's very much happening in our industry, in the automotive industry at the moment.

So the industry as a whole benefited from COVID With stock supply going down, everyone paid a little bit more for their car.

It was quite easy for a dealership to make money.

So you know that that trail off of stock scarcity has happened.

There's stock available at every level of the market and now the really good dealerships are separating from the middle ones and then the bottom ones are dropping through as well.

So it's really starting to separate who's good and who's not.

So I think sometimes market conditions can hide the problems within a business.

For sure.

Yeah.

But if you focused on being the best and, you know, following the best principles, then you can stand out.

Yeah.

I think again, that speaks to culture, doesn't it?

Right.

That willingness.

And also we see it's not the Australian property market in some respects.

When the property prices go up, we all feel like geniuses.

We're far from it often.

And it's the same in a business where revenue is high because you had a good deal or good project or something like a good month.

Yeah.

If you're not doing the basics or the real.

That focus or attention to detail that can be really missing, is it, is that the same in finance?

I'm just curious within.

Yeah.

In terms of this game, like, is.

It in motor finance you talking about?

Because there's always a secondary sale, right?

Yeah, so, yeah, it is definitely.

But it also then comes back to the following, the processes.

Right.

You know, so within our, within our industry, there's, there's best practice around handing a customer over to a business manager and the right way to do that versus the wrong way.

And because that handover can be a complete turn off if it's not done well.

If it's done well, you increase your chances to self finance.

So that's pretty straightforward sort of stuff.

But the challenge in finance, in automotive is the increasing pressure on legislation and being able to comply with changes that happen pretty quickly in that space because the business manager does the finance and insurance and sometimes they will also do, you know, some warranty, extended warranty sales.

So they've got to be across the legislative changes in all of that area.

Yeah, right, yeah.

Awesome.

James, thank you so much.

We're going to see you on the Executive Edge event.

So you're going to be presenting, talking about Aston Martin, how they find that competitive edge.

Thanks so much for being here and it's been a pleasure talking to you.

No, thanks very much.

Michael, thanks for coming into the dealership.

Oh, pleasure.