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For nearly
30 years we've used a satisfaction index to gauge customer
contentment. Over the same period, we've moved more and more
to a matrix that is productivity-based. This dichotomy is
starting to bind. To maintain profitability, the "hard"measures
are winning-and with just cause. But we still need to maintain
high customer satisfaction.
We've
also been talking about the direct impact that customer retention
has on dealership profitability. While this is also a "hard"
number, it's often difficult to attract support for it.
How do
we gauge our customers' expectations of our level of service,
and how do we tap into their perceptions about how we serve
them? The answer is to simply pick up the telephone.
Back orders
always give our parts department a unique challenge. When
we have parts on the shelf, our jobs are easier. But back
orders give us an excellent opportunity to measure our customers'
perceptions.
You need
to set up a process in which each customer with a back order
is contacted. Call them the day they're supposed to receive
the part and ask them a series of open-ended questions. Make
sure that someone with knowledge of your dealership's parts
operation makes the call. Don't hire some outside agency or
have a clerk make the call. A manager or in-store sales rep
should make the call.
"Did
we get the part to you when we said we would?"
"Did
we perform up to your expectations?"
"Did
getting this part satisfy all of your parts needs at this
time?"
These
are the questions that will help you gauge your customers'
true feeling and perceptions.
You have
a similar opportunity to cultivate customer feedback whenever
your service department completes a repair. In the current
world of customer service and satisfaction, the quality of
service has sunk to such a low level that few customers bother
to complain anymore. More often than not they stew over the
problem and try to find alternatives for future service work.
We have
the power to overcome this frustration and gain new business.
We need to call each customer, preferably completed, and measure
his or her satisfaction. Remember, someone who was directly
involved with the job has to make the call. Having a clerk
call just insults the customer. Customers need to experience
the commitment of the service manager or the foreman.
"Did
we do what we said we were going to do?"
"Did
we do it in the time we said we would?"
"Would
you have us do this repair for you again if necessary?"
"Is
the machine functioning as you expected it to?"
These
are the questions you should be asking your customers.
If you
listen carefully to the answers, you'll learn what the customer
expected of you and how well your dealership met those expectations.
These are two critically important pieces of information.
They'll
tell you what they would have liked you to do when their expectations
weren't met. They'll tell you what they think of your dealership's
level of customer service. In other words, they'll tell you
what you need to do to improve your product support operation-and
keep them coming back to your dealership. Isn't that important?
We need
to set up a process for each department that ensures these
calls will be made. We need a report on each call. We need
to set up a review group to act on results of the calls. And
we need to be consistent with these calls. Once you start,
never stop.
Finding
the time to make these calls is an obstacle, it's true. But
can your dealership afford to not make them? In the industrial
distribution business, increasing customer retention by 5
percent increases dealership profitability by 45 percent.
Isn't it time you tapped into these profits?
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