National Clearance Centre

The National Clearance Centre, run by Foray Motor Group, offers more than 25,000 different brand new parts and
accessories for older Ford vehicles from its depot in Amesbury, Wilts.

Much of the company’s business is internet-based and it offers a minimum 50% reduction on parts to owners of Fiestas, Escorts, Sierras, etc that are in stock.

With more than 90 per cent of orders received by 3.30 pm being dispatched the same day for worldwide delivery, staff have to process orders quickly. The Centre has been in the German market since its launch in 2005 and committed to UKT&I Passport to Export training to develop its export market further.

Terri Bailey, NCC Manager, was referred to the Regional Language Network through her UKT&I contact.

NCC employed a German native speaker just after opening their Amesbury operation to deal primarily with customers from the German market. Of course, with the promise of a quick turnaround for customers, every team member has to take a wide variety of phone enquiries. To help the German employee deal more confidently with UK customers, RLN sourced a German-English technical, pictorial dictionary, links to technical wordlists on the internet and suggested downloading the Ford parts catalogue in its German version. These simple and low-cost strategies have made a real difference.

Terri, who studied Spanish back in the 90s, has taken up the challenge of dealing with email and phone orders from the new Spanish market. With access to some extra resources in Spanish and by saving email exchanges for future use, Terri has made real progress in a few months. She also plans to take a holiday in Spain this year.

Philada Rogers, RLN advisor for Dorset and Wiltshire, said: “Terri has shown a down-to-earth and determined approach to overcoming language barriers. Taking phone calls in a foreign language is daunting when the customer is in a hurry, speaks fast and just wants that car part tomorrow!”

The company is now entering the Italian market and has found that it can apply lessons learnt – getting support from a native speaker, using web-based resources, buying a technical dictionary, setting up template documents for processing enquiries. NCC has re-designed its website to streamline e-sales with translation into German. It is now considering Spanish and Italian additions. RLN has supported this international communications strategy and is now helping to source an Italian speaker.

Visit the National Clearance Centre website at www.foraymotorgroup.com

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