08 June 2015

For the third week in a row I’ve been talking about what constitutes a premium service experience with a carmaker.

This week it’s been Honda, which is currently looking at how to handle customers that will buy its NSX supercar from next year. But previously it’s been Ford with Vignale and Citroen with DS.

As manufacturers do, they think about what they can offer the customer in the way of products and services to turn a regular aftersales experience into a premium one. In the manufacturers’ eyes that means a nice courtesy car, a collect and deliver service, free coffee, wifi in the waiting room and so on.

But in a world where any fleet driver of even the most ordinary hatchback expects these things, how can it be called a premium service.

No. I think it’s retailers and customers that know what makes the difference when it comes to dealing with a car’s annual service, and that’s systems, processes and people. And this is where the good retailers excel. They, and the customer, know that what’s wanted is accuracy, honesty and consistency.

If a customer books a service and chooses a collect and deliver service for a set time, the car needs to be collected bang on time – without fuss or worry. And if something does go a bit awry then honesty is the best policy.

Good retailers understand this because that’s the part of the customer interaction they deal with every day.

Maybe manufactures should spend more time learning from the best retailers to get these premium offers right.

Tags: aftersales, customer service, DS, Honda, Premium cars, Vignale