From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Customer expectations and the sales challenges for improved models with subtle performance gains over their predecessors.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 146\5\ scan0056 | |
| Date | 11th November 1938 | |
| Sre/BT.{Capt. J. S. Burt - Engineer}11.11.38 - 2 - Can it not be said that a customer who pays four times the price for his car than he would pay for any other car is entitled not only to all the silkiness, road holding qualities and long life of the Bentley, but also to a maximum turn of speed that makes him feel that he has purchased not only the best car in the world, but also the fastest touring car on the road? This surely does not mean that he would utilise this power, but it certainly does mean that, from a commercial point of view, the man has got all he can desire. We often hear our customers complain of the difficulty of shaking off certain cars which, to-day, have become almost standard productions, when they get up against them on the roads over here. They would probably not purchase one of the cars in question, that have been nibbling" at them on the road, but they certainly feel that their "amour propre" is hurt and this is a point that most decidedly should be taken into consideration. Can we therefore hope that, some day in the not too distant future, we shall be in the happy position of selling the customer peak performance coupled with all the other accepted qualities of the Bentley. I feel sure you will appreciate that, in spite of all the sales talk we can distribute on the proper occasions, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sell the improved models against their predecessors, as we have little or no better performance to offer. This will be particularly evident when B.III comes out, as, although it can be argued that this car, owing to its remarkable riding qualities, will enable you to "get there quicker" on account of the general comfort of the car it must be remembered that, when selling a car, you cannot always demonstrate this point, unless the customer is to have the use of the car for a week. I should not like this statement to be misconstrued as I am convinced that the improvements I have so far been able to observe in the two models in question (overdrive and B.III) show a marked advance in the right direction over their predecessors. What we require is better maximum speed. Sr h- | ||