Latest / Auto Collabs / Luxury, Customization, and the Bentley Experience with Tate Attia | Public Policy Day 2025

Transcript

Luxury, Customization, and the Bentley Experience with Tate Attia | Public Policy Day 2025 · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  Tayta Tia, um, I didn't, you're the brand manager? I am. Yeah, yeah. Like the brand, like at the top? Well- A little expectation there with a brand like Bentley. [laughs] I have bosses. [laughs] Don't we all?
• 0:11
  Yeah, but look, look. Anybody who manages the brand, that's the heart, I'm just telling you right now. Listen, we just took a little look at the Vanquish that you unveiled. Yeah, yeah.
• 0:19
  Um, first of all, I appreciate that there are four tailpipes. Yeah. And I can't wait to hear how it sounds, but that may be my new favorite. That is a gorgeous vehicle. It's a, it's a twin turbo V12.
• 0:30
  That- There's no hybrid, there's no electric. It probably goes about as fast as it will go. It's just pure muscle. It's internal combustion. Through and through. So it sounds good. Unapologetic.
• 0:37
  It's got a good sound to it. He said, "It sounds good." Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] So let us know, do you get to like drive these on a test track? I've- Or, or do you just not? I do.
• 0:43
  Um, I drove a Bentley here today from, uh, northern Virginia. It's, it's, it's, it's a dream, you know? It's a dream come true to do that, you know? With- So you probably woke up in a luxury dealership. I'm kidding. No.
• 0:55
  [laughs] Is it true? No. No. Started- Give us-... bottom worker... give us the roots. Yeah, yeah. You know, I, I- Where did you, where did you start in the auto industry? Finished college, sold used cars.
• 1:03
  Uh, worked, worked for a local dealership here that, uh, only sells used cars. Worked my way up to Hyundai. Uh, and this is back when power windows and air condition was optional. It was a real feature.
• 1:14
  It was an option, right? Right. Uh, back in the d- early days of the Accent, right? Uh- I don't know that my kids would know what to do if they saw a car with a handle. Dude, when I first- Yeah...
• 1:21
  started selling Kias, it was the same thing. Roll that joker up, just like that. It's wild. Mm-mm. Okay. Unbelievable. So- Hyundai, Hyundai to Lexus, Lexus to Maserati, Maserati, now Bentley, Aston Martin. Wow.
• 1:34
  So, you know, obviously it's all dealing with people, right? Yes. But there's different expectations as you go from a consumer experience perspective. It's not just the car. Yes. And I think
• 1:46
  as an industry, we can always look to luxury providers no matter what. I don't care if you're, you know, looking at like Nordstrom- Sure... or looking at a Bentley store- Sure...
• 1:54
  or looking at whatever, like the experiences that are required at that level can be drafted on everywhere else. Like, what's the expectation of experience when you get to that level? It's a very high expectation, right?
• 2:07
  Uh, I, I always- Mm-hmm... kind of compare it to, what I do is not that much different than what goes on at a BMW or even a Toyota dealership. But the difference is this isn't that guy's first car. Right. Right?
• 2:22
  And he's, this is his, it might be the 10th car in his garage right now. Currently. Right? Right. You know, uh, so he's already bought cars. He's already bought his first car. He's already made mistakes.
• 2:34
  He's been through the ringer. A lot of times they're even asking you questions they already know the answer to just to find out what kind of person you are, right? The stakes are 10 times higher, right?
• 2:45
  M- the cars I sell are 10 times more expensive, right? Average car is 40 grand or something like that, right? Mine is 400. Mm-hmm. Average salesperson might get, you know, uh, 12 stabs at a customer in a week.
• 3:00
  I'm getting one. Wow. Right? Yeah. So the stakes are higher. Yeah. For everyone. If that guy walks out at a Toyota dealership, you got another guy right behind him coming in the pipeline, right?
• 3:08
  And he's got lots of options, the guy that walks out. Right. Right. A- a- at this level, if that guy walks out, he can get in his private jet and fly to Florida and go to a dealership there.
• 3:17
  And they'll give, they'll take their best- Have it shipped back on a closed-... right? Exactly. All that stuff. Right. Yeah. So, so the stakes are a little higher. Okay. Yeah.
• 3:24
  What does, what does that interaction look like when there's a sales engagement at a store like that? Yeah. It's pretty normal. [laughs] You're like- It's, it's- You're like, "He puts his shoes on this way."
• 3:37
  It's pretty normal. And like- You think it's some magical- Pinky up... uh, [laughs] Pinky. This, that, a place mat, right. Yeah. It, it's, it, you know, you wanna hear that it's some, uh- Yeah...
• 3:47
  you know, he f- comes in with gold bullion and you know- Pardon me, right? No, it's, it's- Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's some guy walks in, you know? He, the, the, he- It's like, "The new V12's really great, huh?"
• 3:56
  Just, just like he- Yeah... just like the average c- consumer. Yep. He's searched videos on YouTube. He's listened to podcasts about cars. He's pretty much already figured out which car he wants.
• 4:05
  He's made his mind up, yeah. It's just a matter of, "Do I want this color, that color, this color?" He's gotta fall in love with one.
• 4:11
  Talk about the pricing, whether you're gonna finance it, lease it, buy it, pay cash, whatever you're doing. And, and- Yep... and it's, it's- All right. Let me ask you this... it's not that much different. Okay, so...
• 4:19
  Oh, go ahead, continue. What I will say is a lot of it is relationship based. Yeah. Right? Uh, because my clientele is so far fewer between, I, I can't just sit around waiting for the next person to walk in.
• 4:36
  I have to make a f- once I, once I find out that this guy's into Bentleys and he's buying cars, I gotta be his buddy, because he's gonna buy another one, or another one, or another one, another one, and I wanna be the only person he's buying them from.
• 4:48
  Yeah, yeah. Right? So, so there's a little bit more of the relationship building on that sense. So are you familiar with Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality: 11 Madison Park? Have you heard of that book?
• 4:57
  I have heard of it. I have not read it yet. That's fine. Oh, you need to read it. You should read it, by the way. You need to, you need to read it. You should read it. Um,
• 5:03
  there, there's an, there's an essence of that book that talks about, like, hospitality being more about intentionality than spending a lot of money, and I think when, um, non-ultra, ultra-luxury dealers- Uh-huh...
• 5:14
  Highline or Toyota dealers or, right, as you go down- Sure... think like, "Oh, well, they have a lot of money to spend on these engagements and these people to do these fancy things," but
• 5:25
  in reality I think there's simpler things that you probably do and deploy that can, can, uh, communicate a luxury experience that don't actually cost a lot of money but are more procedural. Sure.
• 5:36
  Um, can you share some of those? Yeah. So it's, it's definitely more personal, right? When you, when you're buying something along these lines.
• 5:42
  And that's, that's part of the reason they are buying it from us, is because they want something more personal.
• 5:48
  Um, s- for example, you can walk into a Mercedes dealership and pick out an S Class, and they've got a black one, and a silver one, and a white one, and you're on your way, and it's no big deal.
• 5:57
  And you get a black interior, a black interior, or a gray interior, and that's your choice. Right. With ours, it's much more personal.There's not three colors. Bentley has 217 colors on their standard list. What? Yeah.
• 6:13
  So, I mean- 217 colors? If you would rather have it- See, I didn't even know that... if you- I knew that there was some more custom than 217 How do you fall in love with one? [laughs] How do you pick? Impossible.
• 6:21
  If you'd rather not have one of those 217 and would rather choose a color that matches your classic Porsche, we can do that, too.
• 6:29
  The, you know, the options, you can, you can choose your woods, your carbon fibers, your, your, your painted veneers, you know, the, the- Everything. Well, right, it's very customizable... down to just...
• 6:37
  So, so in that sense, it, it, there's a little bit more going along with it in that sense, but- Sure. Yeah, yeah. When it comes to what people expect, they obviously expect personal treatment.
• 6:48
  It's a very customizable, personal product. Sure. What, what is the one thing that you can do to make sure that you'll never see that customer again? What's the assumption you can make about them? One thing?
• 6:58
  Um- Just give me one. I know there are more than one... I'll have to narrow it down to one. [laughs] I know. What's, what's one of the most common things? You know, honestly- He's like, "I picked my nose one time."
• 7:04
  [laughs] "Yeah, it got weird." No. [laughs] These, these people, you know, they're, they're titans of industry. They're, they're, they're the best of the best at what they do, so they've dealt with problems before.
• 7:16
  So one thing that we can't do is try to cover a problem. If there's a problem, "Look, Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So, we've got an issue. Here's what we're doing to handle it." Yeah, get in front of that. Right.
• 7:29
  And we just tell them. It's actually not addressing the problem is the problem. That's the problem. Right. 'Cause they're used to problems. Yeah, they're like, "Fine, problem? Solve it." Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah.
• 7:37
  Problems are made for solutions. Yeah, yeah. But, but hiding it, that doesn't work. All right, what's your favorite car on the lot? Uh, if I had one, I, I don't, I, I don't know if I have one.
• 7:47
  They're all, [laughs] you know, they're all like really children, right? Which one did you fall in, which one did you fall in love with, though? They're like children. It's, it's hard to pick one. You know what?
• 7:52
  What was your first love, then? Oh. What was the first car you remember being like, "I need that vehicle." I, it's not on the luxury. My first car- That's fine... my first car was a Mustang.
• 8:00
  It didn't have the windows that roll up and down. Yeah, right. [laughs] My first car was a Mustang. I fell in love with a Mustang when I was a kid. I was probably seven or eight years old- Yep...
• 8:07
  when I saw one, you know. Um, and this was roughly around the, little bit before Vanilla Ice. What year, what year Mustang? Like- Let's just call it a little before Vanilla Ice. Okay, fair. Got it.
• 8:15
  [laughs] I knew exactly the one. Understood. You know the one, the '79. Correct, all right. I know exactly the one you're talking about. I agree. [laughs] That's a good one.
• 8:21
  A little bit before then, but th- th- that was the kind. That was my first car. It was my second car. It was my third car. Wow. My first five cars were Mustangs. I love it. So tell me about how you feel about the Mach-E.
• 8:30
  Wait, no, don't do that. I'm just kidding. [laughs] It has the Mustang name in vain. Yeah. The Mustang Mach-E. I love it.
• 8:36
  Say, it's been so much fun to spend a little time with you today, and I just wanna thank you again for offering to take us for a ride in the Vanquish. [laughs] Pleasure's all mine, guys. Thank you for having me. Yeah.