‘There is in some quarters, an inclination to regard the customer as a nuisance. This arises from the fact that many salesmen consider the purchaser lucky to obtain a car of any kind, and is therefore inclined to treat him as if he is receiving a favour. While this seller’s market lasts, I do feel that the question of relationships with customers is a vitally important one. We all need to build friends for the future…’
William Lyons had spoken. The delegates attending the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders luncheon club in April 1947 gave knowing looks, nodded heads and a few even muttered ‘here, here.’
Lyons reflected as he drove back to Coventry that afternoon. To the traders, he had laid the blame, somewhat unfairly probably, at the hands of the sales people. He knew only too well that the attitude expounded in his address existed throughout the industry, right down to shop floor level. He found the level of complacency quite shocking.
The war years had shown just how resilient and adaptable the workforce could be, how everyone had pulled together to defeat the enemy. Things were very different now, with the ousting of Churchill’s government, replaced by a Labour party that promised much; a welfare state and jobs for all, which, to be fair, they did seem to be implementing. The notion that change could be achieved was somehow pervasive. Militancy had become the norm, rather than the exception. Jaguar Cars, like their
