International Women's Day - Lauren Haynes - Homeowner Dealer Development Manager
As a Homeowner Dealer Development Manager at Allett, a typical day starts with checking emails and prioritising tasks for the day ahead before either heading to the office or jumping on the nearest motorway to go on one of my visits. We have a morning meeting each day where we can discuss any customer queries as a team. The focus of my job is to develop and maintain relationships with Allett's homeowner stocking and service dealers, who sell Allett's range of premium lawn mowers and accessories to homeowners in their local areas. I aim to give them everything they need to provide the best level of customer service to their customers. We want all our stocking dealers to have a range of Allett’s in their showroom for customers to touch and feel. They have workshops so they can service and sharpen your cylinder mower. Our Service Dealers do not stock Allett products however will service and sharpen your mower and do have access to product if required.
Allett's objective is to establish an Allett stocking dealer, equipped with the necessary knowledge and expertise to deliver exceptional customer service, within a 20-mile radius of each Allett customer- we currently have approximately 40 stocking dealers and 50 service dealers all scattered nicely around the United Kingdom. This allows our customers the opportunity to walk into a showroom and touch and feel an Allett mower in the flesh and gain all the expert advice required to select the perfect mower for their lawn. Our company purpose is to ‘supply the knowledge and machinery to enable our customers to produce outstanding striped sports surfaces and lawns’. We are a very niche market with cylinder mowers and pride ourselves in offering ‘more than just a mower’. We are super proud of our British heritage and have the British flag on all of our mowers. Buying an Allett mower isn’t going to get you the perfect striped lawn without a bit of hard work too. We use our social media channels, website and customer service channels to educate our customers on how to get the best out of their mowers.
My day to day job involves review sales data and identifying trends or areas that need attention. This includes analysing sales figures, identifying any patterns or outliers, and checking inventory levels. I am constantly in touch with our homeowner dealers to discuss their sales and stock, and offer support and guidance where necessary. This could involve providing training on the features and benefits of Allett's products, discussing marketing and advertising strategies, or helping dealers to identify new sales opportunities.
Throughout the day I will liaise with our sales team, customer services team and marketing executive. These meetings help to ensure that the company is aligned in its efforts to support the homeowner dealers and provide the best possible customer experience. In addition to working with existing homeowner dealers I am responsible for identifying and recruiting new dealers to the Allett network. This involves researching potential new dealers, reaching out to them to discuss the benefits of becoming an Allett dealer, and providing training and support to help them get started.
Overall, the life of a Homeowner Dealer Development Manager at Allett is varied and fast-paced, with a focus on building and maintaining relationships with homeowners dealers and supporting them to grow their businesses. It's a role that requires a mix of sales and relationship-building skills, as well as a deep knowledge of Allett's products and the markets in which they operate. I thoroughly enjoy visiting our dealers all around the country and helping them grow their businesses by selling our products. I often get asked what it is like working in such a ‘male dominated’ environment, but for me, that isn’t something that even tends to cross my mind on a day to day basis – I don’t feel like I am in a male dominated environment as such but that says a lot about my colleagues and dealers and their attitude towards me. For me, we work as one big team/family.