On The Ramp - The Independent Automotive Garage Owners Podcast. · Alex Lindley, Leo Dack, Nathan Taylor

Is this the biggest opportunity in the Motor Trade in the next 5 years?

·24 min

Alex opens by thanking Tim Goddard for coming to the garage. Tim is introduced as the Fleet Guy, and the conversation goes straight to why fleet has been on Alex's radar for years at Walswood Tire. Alex says Tim has helped him avoid mistakes and become more clinical about fleet. The memory of Lindley's new garages hangs over the discussion. One of those garages is set to rely on fleet to get off the ground, while another is a greenfield site with no customer base at all. Alex admits he once told Tim to stay away from fleet entirely. He says he is now eating his own words. Tim tells a story about someone who called Dean with 90 vehicles to place. Dean phones Alex and asks what to do because he has no tip and the deal feels uncertain. Alex walks him through the rate card and tells him to put down the rates he wants. The point is that the service is not one size fits all. Dean ends up getting the contract at the rates he wanted. At the auto mechanic rewards, Dean's wife thanks Alex for opening her eyes to fleet. She says they would have shut down the inquiry without that nudge. Now they have a 90-vehicle fleet at the rate they want. Tim and Alex then return to the bigger question of whether fleet is worth chasing. They argue that it is relationship oriented, because you often deal with one or two people controlling hundreds of vehicles, and those people can direct where work goes. The discussion widens to a future where more ownership turns into leases or rentals, and Tim says it is crazy to bet against getting your toe in the door with the people who can direct that work later. Tim closes by saying he will help anyone who wants to learn about fleet, but he will not tell garage owners how to run their business.

As heard by us

Fleet is framed as a relationship-driven opportunity garage owners should not ignore.

The episode makes a practical case for fleet as a lane garage owners should understand, using a 90-vehicle contract and the changing shape of ownership to show why old advice to stay away from it no longer fits as neatly.

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Why you'd press play

Fleet work can feel abstract until one inquiry turns into a 90-vehicle contract.

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