While her team manages company cars, it finds that working with Volkswagen’s commercial vehicle team is key to delivering the full package to the customer.

In some cases they work together to tender for new business.

Customer service is key

The team’s main focus this year is around delivering excellent customer service.

Grant encourages staff to listen to their customers, to understand what their requirements are for now and into the future.

“Making sure they maximise and exploit fleet opportunities is important, but delivering an exceptional experience to the customer is the most important thing,” she explains.

“It’s not about selling as many cars as possible, it is about understanding our customers and building relationships to help them run their company car fleets.”

Changing behaviour from user-choosers

Golf and Passat are the most popular fleet cars for Volkswagen, with Polo and Tiguan not far behind.

Grant believes the biggest change in fleet in recent years is the user-chooser selection process.

In the past, drivers tended to opt for the sportiest or fastest car available, but now a more considered approach is taken and drivers are more concerned about the specification, CO2 and how much the car will cost to run over its lifecycle.

Vehicle lead times

Lead times have been a significant issue for fleets and manufacturers in the past 12 months; Volkswagen is quick to highlight to its customers how much it has improved.

A Golf hatchback now takes 12 weeks rather than 2011’s 24 weeks.

“We have been working closely with the factory and have never been in a better position with regards to our lead times,” says Grant.