Why focusing on your ‘Front of House’ strategy is good for business.
In recent years, the definition of outstanding customer service has changed beyond all recognition.
Customers no longer feel bad about going elsewhere if high customer experience expectations are not met. As more and more workshops become adept at fixing modern cars, the customer experience delivered at the front of the business is becoming the key competitive battleground to win and retain customers.
Research from Cox Automotive, one of the world’s largest providers of services to the automotive industry, suggests that while 56 per cent of auto repair business customers are completely satisfied with the more traditional workshop experience, more than 80 per cent are completely satisfied when a more streamlined, electronic customer experience is offered.
Whatever the type of business, survey after survey suggests that today’s customers want service that is fast, efficient informative and where possible, digital. One example is in the delivery of service and repair explanations. Today’s motorists have no understanding of modern vehicle systems. This affects sales, because customers are reluctant to spend money on repairs they do not understand.
Repair explanations that are too long-winded, overly technical or even overly simplified lead to customers feeling confused, pressured or patronised.
The solution is explaining the need for a repair in a way the customer quickly and clearly understands. This puts them at ease, reassures them that the repair is genuine and that the quoted price represents good value for money.
Getting Animated
The use of Vehicle Visuals animations to easily explain repairs to customers has become an industry standard for auto repair businesses keen to take their customer experience to the next level. Having recognised a shift in customer expectations and the need to explain increasingly complex vehicle technology to non-technical customers, Capricorn Society provides Capricorn Vehicle Videos (CVV) as a complimentary benefit to all Capricorn members.
Hundreds of animations, covering a wide range of vehicle systems are used to explain repairs to customers in a way they quickly and clearly understand.
Kelly Adam of Snow Country Automotive in Jindabyne sends animations with every repair quote she emails to customers.
“The average person doesn’t know what a Control Arm Bush is, but some of those jobs can be expensive three to four hour repairs. Customers want to understand before they will spend the money. It takes thirty seconds to do and it definitely wins us more business. Customers thank us for being so transparent, and it makes us look modern and professional.”
Richard Phillips of Service Programs Australia says that an auto business that only focuses on its workshop is no different to a restaurant that only focuses on its kitchen. “We go to a restaurant predominantly for great food, but if the front of house service falls short we are unlikely to return. It’s the same with a workshop – fixing their car is one thing, but if the customer experience is not up to the high levels customers now expect everywhere, they won’t be back.”
In the past, the customer facing area of an automotive repair business took second place to a focus on the workshop. However, focusing on the ‘Front of House’ experience and the level of customer satisfaction it delivers, is increasingly where today’s customers are won and lost.