After a customer has bought a new car, the relationship with the company that sold him or her the car does not end. In fact, it is just the start (or renewal) of the relationship where aftersales services are provided. How good the ownership experience will be – leading the customer to remain loyal to the brand – will depend on the quality of the aftersales services.
Proton Operational Excellence initiative
The Proton aims to make this experience the best and in March last year, it introduced the Proton Operational Excellence (POE) initiative was launched with the primary aim of enhancing the business performance of outlets and improving the operations efficiency of service centres nationwide.
The POE initiative emphasizes adherence to a thorough list of requirements such as service process, technician competency, stock inventory and customer management. Each outlet is assessed on a monthly basis and the results shared with all dealers to clearly indicate where they stand within the network.
The Malaysian carmaker’s After Sales Division works closely with the outlets to proactively raise their service levels and scores with quarterly roadshows also held to give recognition to top achievers as well as reinforce standards by the sharing of best practices.
5-Star rating
As an extension to the POE, Proton has announced the commencement of a 5-Star Rating which recognizes Proton dealers who have achieved an outstanding level of aftersales service. The new rating is awarded to dealers based on their POE score and Service Quality, encouraging all outlets to achieve and maintain a high level of customer service and satisfaction.
Service Quality is evaluated in two categories, namely Speed and Compliance, and these are then measured over 6 focus areas. The end goal is for outlets to manage customers concerns effectively and to deliver the best customer experience.
With the beginning of the 5-Star Rating initiative, 5 dealerships will be awarded the top accolade every month. These highlight them as centres of excellence for aftersales and customer service. To ensure parity and buy-in from its network, KPIs (Key performance Indicators) for the initiative are set based on feedback from all outlets as well as after benchmarking of best practices from other car companies.
Aftersales quality matters too
“Offering a range of premium high specification models at competitive prices helps to attract customers to showrooms, but delivering exemplary customer service and providing class-leading aftersales keeps them loyal to the brand and opens the door to repeat purchases,” said Roslan Abdullah, CEO of Proton Edar.
“At Proton, we believe that delivering a high level of aftersales service to our customers helps to set us apart from rival brands. Therefore, we will continue to invest in our customer service and aftersales operations at all outlets to ensure all customer-facing roles deliver the highest levels of satisfaction,” he promised.