The automotive industry is characterized by aggressive competition because every sale counts. One of the key sales drivers is the satisfaction of the customer after purchasing the car. The happier the customer, the more likely he or she will tell other people, and the more likely future sales will be made. They only have one chance to make the sale, and after that they will not have many chances to bond with the customer. And so, it is key to get this interaction right when you get the chance.

One of our clients is a top luxury car brand whose magnificent vehicles are driven by discerning consumers who appreciate subtlety and high performance in their luxury experience. Part of their business strategy is to double their revenue figures by 2015. To do this, they rely on customer satisfaction as one of their key sales drivers. And fortunately we are the lucky ones to partner with a brand so focused on giving their customers an amazing service experience.

Working together, we created a program that is specifically designed to increase customer satisfaction. First, we immersed ourselves in the training programs for the frontline staff as well as the culture of the company, and learned how the brand qualities were communicated to the staff, and in turn, how they were delivered to customers. Throughout this process, we built relationships with key stakeholders in the company – from frontline sales staff who were the direct link to improved customer satisfaction and sales trainers who wanted to see the effectiveness of their materials, to upper management who wanted a dashboard of KPIs that they could analyze and evaluate/benchmark/use for trends.

The program was not mandatory and dealers were invited to join it, resulting in an interesting scenario which allowed us to compare the results from dealers who were part of the program and dealers who weren’t. Dealers who opted in would be mystery shopped 8 times a year. Every 3 months, results were published in the client’s staff magazine. Every 6 months, we carried out a customer satisfaction survey and benchmarked the results.

During the two years that we ran the program, customer satisfaction increased steadily. When we compared the included versus excluded dealerships, the results showed that those who were part of the program improved their frontline performance significantly and faster than the others.

We are pleased to report that client was so happy with the program and the results that they are looking to expand it to the other brands under its fold.

Contact us to find out more or to speak with the client.