Following Pearson Ham Group’s acquisition of Factor Sales – news brought to you in the March edition of Professional Motor Factor – its group director, Ben Martin, stepped forward to answer our questions about the impact of the takeover. Here is part one of the interview:
Q. What was the thinking behind acquiring Factor Sales?
A. “As pricing experts, Pearson Ham understands the value that comprehensive data adds when making pricing decisions. Having previously worked with factors and investors into the UK IAM, we have always had an interest in the aftermarket, recognising the characteristics of an industry in which there is a real opportunity for us to add value to the market participants.
“Upon meeting Factor Sales, we were immediately impressed with the quality, depth and range of the dataset it had collected over many years and across a huge range of product categories – but that was only half of its success. As we all know, a lot of IAM sales data is not in a single or common format; it is not structured. Factor Sales had worked out how to organise and codify all this data, turning it into genuinely useful information. We are confident that, by adding our pricing skills and experiences to Factor Sales’ existing service, we are creating a product that everyone will benefit from.”
Q. With the experience of the existing Factor Sales team, how does this change the dynamic and offering of Pearson Ham Group?
A. “We were delighted that Ian and Vivienne Penny, as well as Izzy Shalaan, have continued their journey with us. We thank Peter Seagroatt for his insight and motivation in creating such a business. Upon buying Factor Sales, we created a new Pearson Ham Group Automotive Insights division, within which we all work.
“Automotive Insights, which has been established on the foundations of Factor Sales, provides the resources, knowhow and technologies to allow us to provide data-led and consultancy-led insights and analytics to many companies within the IAM. We believe the access to our data, plus our experience and skillset, puts us in a unique position to help automotive companies make better pricing decisions.”
Q. How does the group approach and connect with motor factors?
A. “Motor factors continue to be very important to us. It is a priority to ensure that our data is fully representative of all the sale transactions from all factors across the UK (and later in new regions). This means we must focus on retaining existing factors, as well bringing in new ones.
“Our approach is to ensure that factors can improve their own pricing decisions – with our help. This means we will be investing in the enhancement of the free offering that we provide. We will also be providing factors with bespoke analysis on areas, such as pricing localisation, revenue optimisation and metrics on the performance across their branch/site networks, or position in their buying group.”
Q. What is the process behind signing-up suppliers?
A. “We have a strong number of suppliers as existing customers, all of which have renewed for 2023. We have worked with these suppliers to develop the new service, and these have given positive feedback on our work. But interestingly, when we have shown the service to new suppliers, their reaction has been even stronger. Both existing and new suppliers have been able to quickly grasp the action-orientated insights and conclusions on how to use Factor Sales to improve their product gaps, understand trends in their market share, or even assess innovative ways to explore opportunities with their own customers.”
Q. Can you summarise the importance of Factor Sales data for motor factors?
A. “It provides a view of a factor’s position in the UK IAM, based on real sales data. Factors can see trends in their total sales and units, as well as tracking at part level. Following our commitment to continue upgrading, we want to ensure that this valuable business information is provided to them with no fuss and when they need it. This is to ensure that it becomes important in their own pricing and business decisions and that Pearson Ham is available to provide bespoke pricing advice if and when needed.”
