Exclusive interview with Sean Buckley – Ultra Tune Executive Director, discussing life at Ultra Tune, exclusive behind the scenes and plans for the future. How did Sean Buckley get Mike Tyson to shoot an ad with Ultra Tune? How did losing everything in the 1980s effect Sean Buckley? How did he start the business? Find out in this exclusive interview.
A really interesting look at Ultra Tune and discussion with Sean Buckley about the company and the notorious television campaigns. Lots of fun clips from advertising campaigns, interviews with close friends and business partners.
Sean Buckley is an Australian entrepreneur now based on the Gold Coast with vast experience in many areas of business. Sean is Executive Chairman at The Ultra Group of Companies which includes (among others) Ultra Tune and Ultra Thoroughbreds â one of Australiaâs largest and most successful Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding enterprises. Sean is a skilled entrepreneur with a diverse range of interests including sports, business and new technologies. He went about building Ultra Tune at the expense of his own comfort. He famously took $100 a week in wages so that he could invest back into the business, specifically the franchisees, because these were the people who were driving his long-term vision and the business model.
âEntrepreneurs need to âthink outside the boxâ.
In 2016 Sean Buckley appeared on behalf of Ultra Tune and other independent after sales service providers at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (the industryâs professional lobby group where he now sits on the board) enquiry into the monopoly that new car manufacturers were attempting to sustain on after sales servicing, Seanâs appearance and the background work completed by Ultra Tune proved decisive in opening up the market to greater competition in the industry with legislative changes resulting.
Ultra Tune has faced various challenges over the years, not the least of which being an adverse legal finding after a court case with the ACCC. I was overseas at the time for an extended period of time and unfortunately (my own fault), didnât take an active enough role in the pending case. As a consequence the company was issued with a hefty fine. This was an operational issue, that, once I returned to Australia was immediately rectified and, thankfully our clientele has seen it for what it was â a glitch in an overwise stellar 40 years of operation. What it did show me was the need to keep my finger on the pulse of the organization at all time. The implications could have been catastrophic, however, being such a well-established and credible company allowed us to ride this setback out and thereafter the company has comeback stronger and more effective than ever before.
Obviously the current COVID climate has been an enormous challenge for the business. Iâve been forced to make a series very tough business decisions in the first six months. A combination of a sound management team, great network of franchisees and thinking and adapting to changed circumstances have allowed Ultra Tune to survive better than many other comparable companies. Weâre clearly not out of the woods yet, but by maintaining an adaptive and proactive approach, Iâm confident, 5 years from now Ultra Tune will continue to be the leading independently owned auto-service company in Australia.
Sean Buckley of Ultra Tune was recently interviewed by the AAAA (Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association) regarding the inquiry into the behaviour of vehicle manufacturers attempting to monopolize the after-sales car service market and drive up the cost of car servicing. Australia and New Zealand remain the only countries worldwide where manufacturers have been able to quarantine vehicle servicing data making it near impossible for independent service providers to properly service more recently manufactured vehicles. After months of effort and preparation, Ultra Tune, with other independent operators, managed to address the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) regarding the anti-competitive nature of the manufacturerâs behaviour. The ACCC werenât impressed and legislation will be enacted in 2018 creating a level playing field upon which independent service providers, such as Ultra Tune, will be able to favourably compete on price and workmanship with vehicle manufacturers in the after sales service market. Read more on this report at https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/new-car-industry-put-on-notice
Work-life balance is an ongoing battle and has particularly been so during the COVID pandemic. My business is located out of Victoria however I normally live on the Gold Coast â about 1000 miles north of our head offices. My two eldest daughters live with me up there â they are young adults and largely independent, I do however enjoy spending time with them and watching them embark on their own careers. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, I was forced to stay in Melbourne for six months at one point.
The upside is that Iâm spending a lot more time with my youngest daughter who is two years of age â which has been a blessing. I exercise daily and have a gym set up at home and ensure I always access to some sort of training facility whenever I travel. Iâm also conscious of eating well and practice mindfulness on a daily basis.
It isnât always easy striking a balance between work and family. This year, with the pandemic, has been particularly difficult, Iâve been forced to make some hard, business decisions to ensure the viability of Ultra Tune as an entity and some of those decisions have adversely impacted individuals and their families and that weighs heavily on my mind, but they have been necessary, tough decisions to ensure long term benefits to the wider Ultra Tune community.
The older I get, the more I realize (a) how difficult striking a balance between work and family is whilst (b) at the same time, how very important that is. I keep reminding myself that; âI donât want to be the most âsuccessfulâ person in the cemetery!â Life is a journey and we are measured by how we treat one another along the way in day to day interactions. I like to think that Iâm firm but fair and I always set out to do the right thing by myself, my family, the Ultra Tune community, the broader Australian community. If I achieve that daily I can sleep easy and strike a degree of balance in my life.
In the early days it was business success and personal satisfaction, these days there is still an element of that, but now that weâve grown as large as we have, I am responsible for the livelihood of 250 plus families across Australia â if they succeed, I succeed and I will do everything in my power to ensure their long term success.
Whatâs the best decision youâve ever made?
Aside from having my three beautiful daughters? Biting the bullet and taking over Ultra Tune when it was a basket case back in the mid â90âs and nurturing it through the tough times to create a category leading entity as voted by Canstar Blue 3 of the last 4 years.
Focus, goal-setting, follow the data, build relationships, employ expertise â listen to them, donât micro-manage them and remember; the best predictor of the future is the past â learn from your mistakes and donât make them again in the future.
What is the operating philosophy that the business has been built on?
Always try to look to the future. Employ good, trustworthy hard-working people in key positions, give them some autonomy and only provide guidance rather than micro-managing. A number of my staff have been with me for 15 years plus, some of the key innovations weâve had within the various enterprises Iâm involved in can be attributed my key staff members.
ITâS two very different stories for a pair of Gold Coasters impacted by Melbourneâs lockdown â one stuck in a landmark high-rise, while the other lives it up on the Gold Coast.
Surfers Paradiseâs Sean Buckley, owner of car repair and roadside assist giant Ultra Tune, has more recently been based in a Crown Casino apartment where he will see out Victoriaâs six-week lockdown starting midnight Wednesday.
The entrepreneur shares custody of his two-year-old daughter but after lockdown ends, it will be six months since heâs seen two other teenage daughters on the Gold Coast.
âItâs half a year wasted without seeing them,â he said. âIf they were to come down, itâll be two weeks in quarantine then maybe a week with myself and their mum, then another two weeks of quarantine when they return home.
âThatâs 28 days stuck in a hotel room and Iâm not going to put them through that. We were hoping to see them soon, because their mother â who Iâm no longer with but lives around the corner â is unwell.â
Gold Coast girl turned Melburnian Cheryl Sheppeard made it back to the Gold Coast to visit family just one week before the virus surge in Melbourne.
Cheryl Sheppeard said she was lucky to have travelled back to the Gold Coast before the outbreak spread in Victoria.
âI was able to return to Queensland on compassionate grounds last month,â she said.
âI see my family every month, but because of the borders it had been at least six months. I had actually moved my flight forward by a week and lucky I did, I may have been stuck.â
While her home in St Kilda isnât a declared hot spot, surrounding suburbs are.
âI am considering moving back to the Gold Coast for good, it is a beautiful sunny and safe place to be at the moment.â
Numerous complaints to the ad watchdog about sexism, sexualisation and the promotion of convicted rapist Mike Tyson in Ultra Tuneâs latest ad have been dismissed.
In a detailed response to the complaints, the brand said: âThe advertisements do not promote nor endorse any sexual harassment, or assault. He [Tyson] has been punished for his crime committed over 25 years ago in accordance with the law.â
A majority of the complaints featured in the Advertising Standards Boardâs ruling focussed on the inclusion of Tyson, who was convicted of rape in 1992.
In response, Ultra Tune said it takes its responsibilities â including the AANA Code of Ethics â very seriously and noted the brand âagrees sexual harassment, assault and rape has no place in our societyâ.
âHowever, we note that Mr Tyson served his punishment, publicly acknowledged his deep regret and remorse for that period in his life, and has re-joined society. Since that time, he has rebuilt his career as a celebrity personality.â
It also noted: âOur use of Mr Tyson does not promote his convictions nor condone sexual harassment in any way.â
The advertiser went on to detail its view that the ad could not be found to vilify, humiliate or ridicule women because âthe advertisements are clearly designed to be hyper-realisatic and comedicâ, noting âa road incident can happen to any person, regardless of gender.â
Ultra Tune also refuted the claim the ad exploits or degrades women, arguing: âAt all times the female actors are fully clothed in fancy dress clothing. The fancy dress clothing was used to reinforce the comedic aspect of the advertisement. Their clothing is clearly not the focus of the advertisement.â
The Board also didnât take issue with the womenâs attire, saying it is consistent with Henâs parties or costume parties. It said the womenâs appearance was âsexy, [but] their behaviour is not sexualisedâ.
It also again noted the âhyper-realâ nature of the advertisements, which in its view, ensured the community would not take safety pointers from the womenâs actions: âThe Board considered that the fantasy nature of the advertisement, the likelihood of a tiger appearing in the street, and the fact the vehicle was shown to crash all amounted to an overall impression that would be unlikely to suggest or condone swerving to avoid an animal on the road.â
The Board thus dismissed all the complaints against Ultra Tuneâs ad.
Sean Buckley of Ultra Tune was recently interviewed by the AAAA (Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association) regarding the inquiry into the behaviour of vehicle manufacturers attempting to monopolize the after-sales car service market and drive up the cost of car servicing.Â
Australia and New Zealand remain the only countries worldwide where manufacturers have been able to quarantine vehicle servicing data making it near impossible for independent service providers to properly service more recently manufactured vehicles.
After months of effort and preparation, Sean Buckley and Ultra Tune, with other independent operators, managed to address the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) regarding the anti-competitive nature of the manufacturerâs behaviour.
The ACCC werenât impressed and legislation will be enacted in 2018 creating a level playing field upon which independent service providers, such as Ultra Tune, will be able to favourably compete on price and workmanship with vehicle manufacturers in the after sales service market.
The ACCC found that many car manufacturers have not factored consumer guarantee rights into their complaints handling systems and new car buyers are losing out as a result. These rights provide remedies for consumers if their new car experiences a failure, including a right to a repair (without charge) for a minor failure, or a replacement of the car or a full refund for a major failure.
The ACCC has identified five key issues contributing to the difficulties consumers are having enforcing their consumer guarantee rights:
car manufacturersâ focus on warranty obligations to the exclusion of their consumer guarantee obligations
there is a dominant âculture of repairâ underpinning car manufacturersâ systems and policies for dealing with car defects and failures
the widespread use of non-disclosure agreements by car manufacturers when resolving complaints
the lack of effective independent dispute resolution options for consumers
particular features of the commercial arrangements between car manufacturers and dealers.
