Interview with a Juicy Dealer | Drayton Cycles

Working with Juicy Bikes - Drayton Cycles owner gives his opinion.

 

The other day we had a sit down with Tony Rhodes from Drayton Cycles to ask about his experience being a Juicy Bike retailer over the past few years.

 

Image of Juicy Bike Dealer Drayton Cycles

Hi Tony, how’re you?

Really good, thanks.

I was just wondering if you had 10 minutes to have a chat and answer some questions about being one of our retailers?

Yes, of course, fire away.

Great, so how long have you been working with Juicy?

Oh wow, is it five years or so, I think.

In that time, how many Juicy Bikes do you think you have had through the doors?

*Laughs* Ermmm, well, I’m not sure off the top of my head. We counted up for a year a once, and that was around 40 – 50 bikes, so we must be over 200 bikes by now. We worked out that we were managing about one a week.

How did you first meet the guys at Juicy? Where did the relationship begin?

We first met juicy and the NEC (The Cycle Show). We started to think we needed an electric bike and decided to have a look around at the NEC. We looked at a few and then saw Juicy and started having a chat with Bob, and that was it. We had a look at the bikes and thought, “they look alright. I’ll go with them”, and I must say it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done for the shop.

Let’s talk about the sales process from your end.

Say a customer walks into your store. Do you have Juicy bikes on display for customers to look at?

Yes, we do. We almost always have a Classic, and a Compact Plus as the mainstay and the others vary. We have three on display now, but we usually fluctuate between having 2 and 5 bikes.

Do you take advantage of the free Juicy marketing materials such as posters, point of sales leaflets and brochures?

Yes definitely. We use the leaflets, and if people want to take them away, we tend to write prices down on them and staple our cards to them. We’re lucky down here; people come from all over the place to visit specifically for Juicy, which is down to your marketing. You have managed to generate a lot of interest in the bikes. We have other high-quality bikes, both electric and regular bikes, and we don’t get the responses that we obtain about Juicy; it really hits the mark with customers. That then drives sales to us, we do advertise and have created little videos, but the nationwide traffic all comes from what you guys at Juicy are doing. We have people making the journey up from London 60-70 miles each way just for Juicy.

Let’s say a customer is interested in buying a Juicy. How do you go about ordering the bike for the customer, or do you have juicy bikes in stock.

We tend to sell what we have in stock on the floor, or they try a demo bike, and I discuss with them what I think will be the best bike for them. Then we will order bikes either to replace a bike from the floor or order in either Juicy or Neomouv for the customer.

So how do you generally place an order from us? Is it through the website or over the phone?

With such a strong history of us working together, we tend to ring up and order over the phone, and then, at the same time, we can have a chat and discuss any other business.

Do you ever order using the website? If so, how do you find the experience?

We have made a few in recent times and have found both good. We do like to keep that relationship going over the phone, though and report anything back, which works both ways. We have an excellent understanding of the bikes now, and if anything arises, then we can work together to come up with a solution. We ensure that we look at and test every bike, so we get to know how they feel and report back.

Assuming Juicy has the bikes in stock, how long does it generally take for the bikes to come through from ordering?

Generally really good, we are in a situation now where we can get the bikes as soon as we want them, and if there ever have been slight delays, customers always seem to be happy to wait (for Juicy bikes). We feel in an excellent position going into the new year, and there are good vibes all around.

Image of Juicy Bike dealer Drayton Cycles workshop

 

What about parts for after-sales servicing?

Yep, the parts are also there when we need them.

Talking about the after-sales service, do you generally find our team approachable and knowledgeable about any issues that may arise?

Yes, definitely, and if it’s a new issue, we work everything out amongst ourselves. I mean, when we ring up (with a query), you never get a wrong answer. If you don’t know at your end, it is always “can we have a look and work through it”, and we always get it sorted. There are a lot of other suppliers where I have rung up, and you are given an answer where you feel like you are just being fobbed off. On the other hand, you’re always concentrating on the bikes, which is good.

Next, let’s talk about the times when Juicy have a customer located in your area,

What is your experience with being handed over a customer from Juicy?

Your click and collect process from the website really helps us out. It’s just like us having a website for Juicy. That way, we still get to build the bike, make sure everything is alright, and the customer receives good service. That’s great for us, and the service is brilliant; it gets us customers, that maybe wouldn’t have thought about coming to us at Drayton Cycles. What can I say? If you didn’t do it, then we wouldn’t have that customer.

Were you ever sceptical about how the crediting system for Click and Collect Juicy Bikes works?

No, I guess because we have that relationship, and I’m generally a trusting person, but I never saw that as an issue with you. We know if that’s a new way to generate custom, then its great. We have built up a lot of trust between us over the years, which goes both ways. For example, if there is a warranty replacement, you’re really good at being able to send that part out to me without query and trust that if I say it’s a problem, then it will be a problem. I mean, what a company to work with.

That leads nicely to my final question: How would you say the guys at Juicy compare to other bike manufacturers you have dealt with regarding service, approach-ability, and professionalism?

Yeah, 100%, there is nobody else doing as well as you’re doing; nobody else has that customer focus for us anyway. I have a genuine affection for your bikes and your company and everybody there. You know I know everybody by name. Somebody came in the shop the other day and asked if we were doing a sale on the Juicys and the answer was no because the bikes sell out on their own, I can’t make sales on stuff that just sells, and we never have anybody say that they won’t have the bike then. We have a real connection with the company, and whatever you’re doing, you’re doing right. For an independent company, you offer a genuine premium service for us.

 

Thanks, Tony. It’s great to hear your feedback.

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