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Van condition is critical in shaping the reaction of consumers to you and your business – so keep it clean and tidy says Lex Autolease or lose business

WHAT your van looks like says a lot about your business.

Clean, smart vans equate with trustworthy good tradespeople; dirty or scruffy vans say the opposite and put consumers off.

That’s the perhaps not unsurprising outcome of a survey undertaken by the UK’s number one leasing company Lex Autolease into the effect of van condition.

A dirty van is most closely linked to poor service and an inconsiderate driver or business

Lex Autolease reckons that British tradesmen should not underestimate the importance of first impressions or risk losing repeat business due to dirty and neglected vans as nearly nine out of ten respondents (88 per cent) felt that most tradespeople should take greater care in the appearance of their vans than they do now.

Meanwhile the van’s condition owould put off nearly two thirds of consumers (63 per cent) from rehiring.

Nationally, ‘condition of repair’ was identified as the biggest factor in shaping a consumer’s first impression and was most associated with poor service and the potential to be ‘ripped off’. The same adjectives were also closely associated with tradesmen that run vans with unclear signage and livery.

Cleanliness was the second biggest concern – a dirty van is most closely linked to poor service and an inconsiderate driver or business. Meanwhile, over a third felt that new or high quality vans suggested an experienced tradesperson.

People in East Anglia had the strongest views on van condition coming to their home with nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of consumers in the region claiming that they would think again about rehiring a tradesperson that turned up in an unsightly van.

The buying decisions of Londoners and Yorkshire men and women (67 per cent) would also be strongly influenced by the condition of visiting van, while consumers in Wales (51 per cent), Scotland (56 per cent) and North East (58 per cent) were the least fussy.

Tony Murtagh, head of SME Direct at Lex Autolease, had this to say about van condition:

 

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