How to lose a brand ambassador in 6 months

My personal experience with Mercedes-Benz

Brand loyal for 20 years - owned many Mercedes cars

I have always been proud of my brand loyalty. I am fiercely loyal to the brands that I love, and in my business, I understand the value of having customers as brand ambassadors. As Marketing Director of a financial planning company, I make it my mission to integrate our brand experience with our business offering. It is not always possible to get it right 100% of the time, but when a large multi-national brand such as Mercedes gets it wrong enough to transform a brand ambassador into a fiercely distrustful client with a strong aversion and animosity towards the brand, there is something wrong with the customer service.

I have spent a great deal of time understanding how to align our business strategy with our client experience. A brand is not just about what and how you deliver on your offering, it's often about how the brand makes you feel. The emotional attachment formed between customer and brand is often a result of what you cannot see - but rather feel: your WOW factor, making clients feel heard, seen and valued, and the quality of personal relationships all add to how clients experience the brand.

I like to learn from brands that I love - such as Red Carnation Oyster Box Hotel, Jo Malone, Disney and until recently, Mercedes - and then implement that in my business for our clients. My experience with Mercedes over the past six months has taught me exactly what not to do to our clients.

These are the lessons learnt from my personal experience with Mercedes:

1. Your client needs to be seen, heard and valued. A good product is not enough. Clients want to feel listened to, and they want to be able to form a human connection. During my experience with Mercedes, I have not been able to talk to a human who has made me feel valued – or assured me that my needs are important. Instead, I continuously receive generic e-mails stating that they are doing all they can to assist me and a customer service department who is trained to say ‘all our managers are not available.’

2. Pay attention to feedback from surveys. If you’re going to send out a client survey, take the feedback seriously. Reaching out and following up with disgruntled or unhappy clients is the first step to winning back customer trust. I continuously receive surveys from Mercedes asking me to rate their service with no call-backs after repeatedly giving their service a zero rating.?

3. Be proactive with open and honest communication. We are likely to be more understanding of delayed service if we receive proactive feedback. Unfortunately, with Mercedes, no feedback is received, even after numerous posts on social media, submitting website contact forms and many calls.?Six months after being told the same thing with no updates or progress, I feel so disappointed in a brand I once loved.?I don’t call any longer in the hopes of driving my car again, but rather to have my car back so I can trade it in for a new brand.

4. Offer an exceptional customer experience. I have not had my car for six months as I await the parts on order, yet continue to pay car insurance and monthly premiums. In addition, as a family, we now have to rely on flying rather than driving to get to holiday destinations. The first loan car received from Mercedes was an A-Class, and the second a C-Class with a cracked windscreen, smooth tyres and no spare - even though I have a family of five. When I share that this is not fair, I am told that they are also incurring costs. I do wonder why I bought a new car with a maintenance plan if they cannot deliver on the promise of 5 years or 100000km. My car has only done 30000km.

5. Shared value with existing clients. Relationships with clients can drive growth and positive impact. Social media allows customers to add so much value to brands when they feel connected and valued by the brand. Positive brand experiences drive favourable client response, communication, posts and messages. I receive numerous posts and adverts from Mercedes on my social media, but find myself unable to share, like or follow. I have become an un-follower and inclined to post unfavourable feedback. This impacts negatively on my psyche as much as on the Mercedes brand. It’s not a win-win situation.

I believe that as much as any business wants to attract new clients, looking after existing clients is as important. Happy customers attract new customers. I do believe that, had I been able to have a conversation with somebody who understood what true customer care is a few months is back , I would not have wanted to spread the word to my business and personal community of how poor Mercedes’s after sale service is. Let’s hope Mercedes can repair my car soon so I can move on from this disappointing experience wiser of how not to treat clients and be able to support a car brand who values loyal clients.?

My Mercedes case-study time-line

NOVEMBER 2019

Bought the Mercedes GLE 400D.

Comes with a 5-year maintenance contract.?

AUGUST 2021

Require new brake pads. None in stock.

DECEMBER 2021

Turbo Vacuum fails. No parts available.

Loaned an A-Class Mercedes for a family of 5.

Borrow a car to take my family on holiday.

JANUARY 2022

No communication from Mercedes.

Frustrating call centre experience. No managers are ever available.

Parts still not available.

FEBRUARY 2022

I make numerous phone calls.?

Customer services manager promises to call - never does.

MARCH 2022

Part arrives! But car drops off pulley and damages radiator.

Need to wait for parts again! Given a C-Class with cracked windscreen, no spare tyre.

APRIL 2022

Numerous unsuccessful attempts to speak to a manager.

My brand loyalty is lost.?

Cannot trade-in or sell my car without parts.

New loan car has a puncture and garage tells me all tyres are smooth.?

Still no call from Mercedes head office.?

EASTER WEEKEND

Opt to fly to holiday destination with family of 5.

Still no response from Mercedes.

Increased animosity and brand aversion.

Staying connected to your clients is key!