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t was meant to be a three-week assignment for Richard with Porsche Centre of Brighton, but it became so much more. As his name alludes to, it was love at first sight. ‘The brand excites me every single day. I am blown away with what comes out from Germany – Porsche is an incredibly intelligent organisation in the automotive design and manufacturing area. ‘I’ve always loved cars, but my involvement in the car industry … it was something I had always thought about, then it really fell into my lap,’ Richard explains. But let’s start from the beginning. A young man straight out of boarding school looks for an opportunity and sees a cadetship offered in the printing trade and takes it up; three years later he sets up his own printing business. That business prospered for nearly 40 years before Richard moved to Perth to work for Kim Ledger’s driver training school – yes, the father of Heath Ledger.
Richard Catchlove
What was meant to be a three-week assignment will have evolved into a 10-year relationship on 10 August this year
‘I was the marketing manager for Kim Ledger’s company, a driver training school which was also involved with motorsport,’ Richards says. ‘And so, I got to understand the car industry in Perth. ‘The huge involvement I had with the driver training school in Perth enabled me to have a connection with what was then AHG, the company that owns a very large number of dealerships in Australia. ‘They had a range of companies in Perth, and I got to know them really well. That’s how I initially learnt about the automotive industry. On my return to Melbourne my experience was conveyed to one of the guys at another luxury European auto brand. He understood, and asked me to work for them.’ After four years, it was time for a move. ‘I knew Steve Ellett, who was at the time the General Manager of Porsche Centre Brighton. He connected and asked if I could fill in for three weeks. On 10 August this year, that was 10 years ago,’ says Richard. At this point in our conversation, you can hear the excitement building in Richard’s voice as he says with absolute honesty that he just loved everything about the job from day one. It was the very early days of Porsche Centre Brighton when Richard says they were over the moon if they sold 10 cars in a month. ‘When I first started, Australia was purchasing about 1300 new Porsches every year, but now it’s closer to 5500,’ Richards says. About the same time Goran Lukic, now Pre-Owned Car Manager at Porsche Centre Brighton, was also working in new car sales. Together, the pair have marked a few milestones together – including both being appointed global ambassadors for Porsche. ‘I see the expertise that is required of us and the training we have to have with Porsche as very important. The achievements of that training have been very dear to my heart,’ Richard says.
Porsche Sales Executive Porsche Centre Brighton
‘Along with Goran, we are two of the very few salespeople that have achieved a global ambassadorship. In fact, our achievements were so highly regarded that Goran and I were given a trip to Germany to visit the various plants in 2018.’ In his early days with Porsche Centre Brighton Richard’s varied skills enabled him to offer more than sales figures. As his background involved marketing and motorsport, he was instrumental in organising drive events and other marketing programs for about four years, all to expand the experience of Porsche Centre Brighton’s Porsche owners. As Porsche Centre Brighton became larger and more heavily staffed, Richard was able to concentrate on his role in sales. That has been to the benefit of all his clients, who rely on him to be their conduit.
‘I try to build a relationship where my customers feel as though they can contact me any time on any matter: it can be about their car, service, extra products, what vehicles are coming … I try to keep in touch with as many as possible,’ he says. ‘At my fifth-year anniversary I was given a set of pens encased in a timber box. I’ve never used the pens myself; I’ve only let customers who come in to sign documents use them, and I use it as an interesting story for them. ‘Here I am nearly 10 years in the job, and I’ve said that when the ink runs out, I’ll retire. Fortunately, the ink is still flowing. Maybe somebody has put a refill in there. It’s one of those little oddities and it always gets a bit of a laugh. It helps firm the relationship with my customers.’ Personally, Richard is a very keen motorsport man, who has competed for a very long time and is highly involved with the Porsche Club of Victoria, currently as Secretary of the Competition Committee. ‘Motorsport is very important to me. I’ve now owned nine Porsches and regret selling a couple of them. They’ve been amazing cars every single one of them; they’ve all been a little bit different,’ Richard says. His current car is the 718 Cayman. Equally important to Richard is Porsche Centre Brighton. ‘The company I work for is really fabulous. Robert Gattereder is incredibly involved and enthusiastic as CEO and General Manager, and is extremely approachable,’ he explains. ‘Patrick Tomljanovic, Sales Manager has been an immense support to me too, both as a brilliant manager, but also as a mentor to me and my colleagues since my commencement. ‘Our customers really like to know that the most senior people in the organisation are actually interested in them and what they do, and their motor vehicle. Both Robert and Patrick are very good like that. Ultimately in many ways it’s all about understanding the customer.’
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