Oh dear...
So far the news isn't great.
In my work as an e-learning designer I've helped to produce several training programmes for motor manufacturers aimed at improving their behaviour towards customers. It seems many manufacturers previously didn't recognise how important the relationship was between a good customer experience and better sales. Put simply, treat the customer well before and after sales and they will return, often with their friends and relatives. Treat them poorly and not only won't they return but they will make sure their friends and relatives don't either.
It's not like it's hard to do either - it's mostly about communication. For instance, when you ring up to book your car in for a service, there's a huge difference between saying, "There's no one around to
help, can you call back later?"; and "There's no one around to
help, let me take your number and someone will call you back."
When I took my car in to have the noise checked out my first contact was with the receptionist, who I have to say, was very pleasant. Although her first words to me (after establishing who I was) were that the service dept were all out at lunch and probably wouldn't be back for another 5-10 mins
. Well, ok I thought, but I'm not late for the appointment
you gave me, so...
I then realised that almost everyone in this enormous open-plan showroom were now having their lunch! So I had a 30 minute wait surrounded by grey Vauxhalls
(yes, you have to sit in the Vauxhall showroom to wait) before anyone spoke to me again. All the while the deathly silence broken only by chewing noises and rustling paper as a salesman a few feet away sat at his desk devouring a bag of chips.
Eventually, the service manager emerged and asked the receptionist loudly, "which one is Mr ***?" (Maybe I wasn't supposed to hear but I felt like sticking my hand up). I sat obediently quiet wishing i was somewhere else, away from the sound of mastication. The receptionist pointed at me, "The chap in the blue
t-shirt."
I was then informed that my car needs a new something-or-other-valve (is that too technical?) which would take a day or two to get. They would call me when it came in. "Ok, that's not too bad", I thought, and went home.
It's now nearly two weeks later and I hadn't heard a thing, so I rang up... At first they didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about and I had to explain the whole story again, even down to the date that I took my car in. Luckily the paperwork magically appeared and the penny dropped. "Ah, yes. It says here that someone will ring you when the part comes in, ok?" said the voice. "Yes, but how long was I supposed to wait before assuming I'd been forgotten? Two days has already turned into almost two weeks." says I. "Yeah, sorry about that. Someone will ring you though."
Ok, so I'm not royalty, and i don't expect to be treated as such by the dealer. I'm just one of many hundreds of customers who've taken the decision to hand over their hard-earned cash for one of their products. All I ask is that they look past the end of their noses at the effect their behaviour can have on the broader customer experience. They should, at the very least, pretend to be interested when the time comes that you need their
help.
Thing is, we all love our cars. We're enthusiastic about the SEAT brand and want it to prosper. But if our experience of after-sales indicates that they don't feel the same, what will be the eventual outcome? Will we buy from them again? Will we recommend them to our friends? I suspect in many cases the answer will be 'no'.
So, come on SEAT, get your act together - trust me, many of your competitors are way ahead of the game on this one.
![[:@]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/furious.gif "Furious [:@]")
![[B)]](/forums/styles/seatcupra/oldforumsmileys/shades.gif "Cool [B)]")
