Fleet Managers Are Under More Pressure Than Ever
Across recent conversations with OEMs and fleet managers, one theme has become increasingly clear. In fleet sales today, success is no longer shaped purely by product and pricing. Increasingly, it is shaped by how well OEMs understand fleet customers, how effectively they support them, and how easy they are to do business with. When fleet managers talk about the manufacturers they value most, they rarely focus solely on the vehicle itself. Instead, they talk about responsiveness, understanding of operational challenges, speed of communication, consistency, and the overall buying experience.
That shift is important because fleet managers are under increasing pressure themselves. Many are managing growing operational complexity, changing vehicle strategies, tighter cost control, sustainability objectives and evolving driver expectations, all while working with limited internal resource. As a result, the expectations placed on OEM sales teams are changing. Fleets increasingly want sales teams that understand their business, not just the vehicles. They want consultative conversations, practical support and stronger alignment to the operational realities they face every day.
At ROI Automotive, this is something we hear consistently through our work across the fleet ecosystem. OEMs want to support customers more effectively, but many also recognise that traditional sales approaches are evolving. As competition increases, there is growing recognition that customer understanding and relationship quality are becoming increasingly important differentiators.
Helping OEM Sales Teams Understand How Fleets Really Think
This insight was one of the drivers behind the new Fleet Mindset Masterclass, developed jointly by ROI Automotive and the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP). Rather than focusing purely on product knowledge or sales process, the course is designed to help OEM sales teams better understand how fleet customers think, how fleet decisions are made, and what fleet managers genuinely value from supplier relationships today.
A key feature of the Masterclass is direct interaction with fleet managers themselves. The course includes a live question and answer session with a fleet professional selected to closely reflect the manufacturer’s target customer base, allowing delegates to ask candid questions and gain direct insight into the operational and commercial realities fleets face.
BMW UK Becomes the First Manufacturer to Complete the AFP Fleet Mindset Masterclass
BMW UK recently became the first manufacturer to complete the Fleet Mindset Masterclass, bringing together members of its leasing and corporate sales teams for the programme at ROI Automotive’s Milton Keynes offices. For BMW, the value was not simply in training, but in creating space for teams to step back and better understand the changing expectations of fleet customers.
Rachel McDermott, National Corporate Sales Manager at BMW UK, explained: “For us, providing a premium product isn’t enough; our customers expect a premium level of support and understanding too. Taking part in the Fleet Mindset Masterclass was about ensuring our team are equipped to understand the real challenges fleet managers face and how we can add value beyond the vehicle.”
That point is particularly important. BMW is already recognised as one of the UK fleet market’s strongest-performing brands yet still saw value in investing further in customer understanding and consultative engagement. In many ways, that reflects the wider direction of the fleet industry itself.
Fleet Sales Success Increasingly Depends on More Than the Vehicle
As competition increases and customer expectations continue to evolve, sales success is increasingly linked to how effectively OEMs support customers throughout the buying journey, not simply the vehicles they sell. The Fleet Mindset Masterclass was developed to help OEM sales teams better understand the operational realities fleet customers face today and how expectations of OEM engagement are continuing to evolve across the industry.
For manufacturers, the objective is simple: create sales teams that are not only knowledgeable about product, but genuinely aligned to the needs, pressures and priorities of modern fleet customers.
