FACE TO FACE
WWW.EXPORTANDFREIGHT.COM
LAURENCE DRAKE
MANAGING DIRECTOR DAF TRUCKS It’s been six months since Laurence Drake moved from UK Sales Director into his role as DAF Trucks Managing Director. It’s been an unusually demanding period, not least with all the political upheaval and the ongoing challenges surrounding Brexit, so has it had any detrimental impact on the business? Export & Freight’s David Stokes has been finding out in an exclusive interview with the man now responsible for driving DAF Trucks forward into the future. He tells us that while in his role as UK Sales Director, the Brexit upheaval last year created a continuous challenge as it meant uncertainty for customers, and some pessimistic views on the economic outlook and future trading. Capital expenditure on trucks is always a serious business consideration, he says, and when you added the possibility, at the time, of tariffs and what they could mean, it was definitely challenging. “Of course, the saving grace from DAF’s perspective, is we build trucks in Leyland and so the one positive we could take was
that whatever was to happen with tariffs, the effect on DAF customers would be less than for others. Hardly a usual sell that our bad is better than everyone else’s bad, but at least it gave some reassurance!”
So, how was that situation ultimately managed? I think the situation was managed well, despite the uncertainty; key to this was continually communicating with our dealers and our customers to manage every situation and be as flexible as best we could. I believe this gave customers the confidence that we would be able to manage the situation better than most, and that is reflected by their continual support for DAF in achieving our highest ever market share over 6t in 2019, so all I can do is thank our employees at DAF, the best dealer network and obviously our customers who are the reason we do what we do. Although Brexit gave us uncertainty that could have been detrimental to the business, overall we have come out stronger and see even more opportunities moving forward.
Has your long service with DAF made life any easier at the top? Clearly, being in DAF for nearly 20 years and being around the business means I have a good understanding of what makes the business tick. This is an advantage in many ways, as I know all the people, know all the dealers and know many customers; and these
16
EXPORT&FREIGHT
relationships are key to success as in uncertain times having people who are reliable and trustworthy is important. Long before my time, there has always been a phrase that shows us as a collective - the DAF Family. As you know, our dealers are all independent businesses and yet DAF and the Dealers work together to provide great products and services to our customers. I think being in DAF for so long means this culture and outlook is just inherent in the things I do, meaning the alignment between DAF and dealers is exceptional. This is clearly key to providing great customer focus and service. Also, I should say that knowing the customers equally helps in the role as they will call me with what is going well and what isn’t, and that type of honesty is key to ensuring we continually strive to be better - everyone in DAF at every level is accessible to all customers and I think that is important.
To what do you contribute DAF’s continuing successes? The dealer network, perhaps? Are you happy with how our local dealer here TBF Thompson DAF has been performing? DAF does have a great product but undoubtedly the excellent dealer network has enabled the success. In fact, it is probably something we don’t promote enough. Our dealers can provide an all-around amazing back-up for every DAF. Not only do we have the most locations, so we are literally closer to our customers, we also have the best parts availability, the most accredited dealer technicians, the best roadside assistance in DAFaid, the best MOT pass rate and I could go on…Everything we do here is to maximise uptime and efficiencies for our customers so they can maximise their income. As for TBF they are a super dealer and represent the DAF brand exactly how we like it to be with a focus on customer service, they have an excellent MOT pass rate of 98.5% for 2019 and, of course, a personal touch in terms of great customer relationships based on great staff retention enabling a constantly high customer experience. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this summer TBF Thompson will mark 25 years as a DAF dealer, as we mark the same period as UK market leader.
