Customer service / customer retention / brand loyalty / up selling? Fail..........
Over the years of being a road warrior (driving 1k miles per week) in various roles I have had the privilege to have a few company vehicles.
?Mostly being lease cars or bought outright by the respective company at that time these cars have always been maintained by the manufacturer at one of their garages either owned, managed, or franchised.
?I’ve witnessed first hand some exceptional service which I’m sure is not an accident, as this is surely done to retain, add loyalty, up sell and impress.?
?One brand comes to mind, which I won’t name, but on arrival you were greeted at the door by name, offered hot or cold drinks, if you were waiting for a vehicle service, snacks, Wi-Fi, and a very comfortable seating area was always welcoming, if you turned up the children, they even had a sweet treats area for the little ones (and parents) to enjoy! Visiting this brand was a pleasure, not at all a chore, a true customer experience.?
?I once listened to a motivational speaker discuss the celebrity experience and how every customer should experience this when dealing with you in any way.?
?Today I had the opposite of a celebrity experience, I took my 1-year-old (relatively expensive) vehicle to a dealer for a service and recall work.
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?I won’t name the dealer or brand, but Henry wouldn’t be happy, this brand does not have the luxury name or following of others, but they truly do not help themselves.
?I had booked a courtesy car 6 weeks in advance to allow me to carry on working while my vehicle was off the road. Did they try to impress me with their great customer service, keep me loyal, retain or up sell to me by putting me in a?new shiny model???
Absolutely not, quite the opposite.....
Remember this is a large, worldwide brand, I'm at the main dealer in my area and as a courtesy car I get a 10 year old model with 150,000 miles on the clock, no sat nav, it is so old and dated it has no charging points only an old cigarette lighter, it’s a manual and the car I brought in was an auto (not an issue as I can drive both, but was not asked) and the fuel gauge was on zero!
I now had to visit clients with no sat nav, no phone and in a 10-year-old car!
I'm interested to know what you think, but I think this is one of the worst mistakes to make with an existing customer - really bad customer service in my opinion.
Director at L Wood
1 年Our experience of amazing reception at high end Car Dealers with a great selection of drinks and yes sir/no sir, unfortunately normally leads to lack of technical/ no mechanics/ and how dare the customer to question high end technology when a vehicle does not work!
Managing Director of Designer Walls & More Ltd I provide “Textural Healing “ Premium Interior Wall Surfaces
1 年I know how you feel, surely the mileage suggests you potentially might be in the market.
Managing Director at Trimetals Ltd
1 年I had the same problem when my car went in for a service and the courtesy car was tiny. The chain owned a number of car franchises and this was the cheapest option l suppose. When l turned up for work there was a smile on everyone’s face particularly the shop floor team. I realized being humbled was initially unpleasant but straight faced suggested to our sales team the car was very comfortable and cheap to run with a low company car tax cost. Slowly the smile came on my face and l realized a nice car was so important to most people. I am not that interested in cars more so steam trains but my father and brother are the opposite. Customer service, retention and brand loyalty are very important. Sunseeker boats in Poole Dorset near me had a talk on export achievements organised by HSBC a few years ago but then confessed 95% of their sales went to previous owners both home and abroad. Proves your point particularly where now their lowest cost boat is well over a million pounds.
MHPS Sales Manager
1 年Totally agree with you disgraceful service especially when you booked it 6weeks prior ??
class 1 hgv driver at DHL
1 年I had to pay a fee for using the loan car last time I used a main dealer for a major service and other work. I will stick to my local friendly garage for the next service.