China’s auto after-sales service evaluation system has undergone a change from copying foreign systems in the early phase to gradual localization at present. In the future, the system will experience a transition from being service guideline-oriented to being customer-oriented.
As China’s first company conducting after-sales service satisfaction surveys, Sinotrust began to carry out auto after-sales service satisfaction surveys as early as in 1998. On the one hand, after-sales service evaluation is concerning about service process and standards; and on the other hand, it is about consumer experience and perception. In the first place, customer expectations come from their knowledge about automakers’ service standards. With the rapid growth of the auto market, customer experience and customer expectations increase accordingly, which requires automakers to improve their service standards.
Today, service satisfaction evaluation has changed a lot. Firstly, after-sales service satisfaction is an important management tool for automakers because it can help build brand image and word of mouth, create and adjust service standards and provide support for dealer assessment; secondly, it is an effective tool for regional management with the functions of analyzing the universal and particular problems with dealers and helping regional management to enhance customer satisfaction; finally, customer satisfaction is also an effective way to maintain a good relationship with customers, improve dealer services and enhance customer loyalty.
Carrying out after-sales service satisfaction surveys in China must conform to the characteristics of Chinese consumers:
Firstly, Chinese consumers have a modest and reserved character and they seldom use such words like “very dissatisfied” or “very satisfied” when rating their satisfaction. So we should try to avoid using such extreme words in the questionnaires.
Secondly, in China, 80% of customers are first car buyers who are not as experienced in car using and maintenance, and they rely much on after-sales services and care much about customer care services like maintenance reminding, service explanation and follow-up service. So a higher weight should be assigned on the customer care section in the evaluation system.
Finally, the development of regional markets in China is unbalanced and the cultural disparities between different regions result in diversified car-purchasing considerations. Therefore, satisfaction surveys should cover wide areas rather than a few central cities.
To gain a comprehensive and objective understanding of the current status of auto after-sales service satisfaction, we need to adopt multiple means and whole-process synthetic solutions in the satisfaction survey process. “Multiple means” include qualitative and quantitative research methods——identifying poorly-performing sections through a large-scale quantitative research and then discovering the specific problems, customer needs and improvement recommendations thought focused group discussions; or identifying the problems through shop visits, mystery shopping, workshop tests, etc. if necessary. “Whole process” covers understanding of customer expectations, optimization of service flow, service flow examination, service training and creation of satisfaction improvement plans.
Based on our extensive experience in satisfaction surveys, Sinotrust classifies consumer requirements for after-sales services into four levels: The most basic and crucial requirement is professionalism and standardization——professional service skills and standard reception and service process; the second requirement is openness——open and reasonable price and transparent service process; the third requirement is promptness——high service efficiency and short waiting time; the fourth requirement is user-friendliness——initiative in reminding customers of tips on maintenance, improving facilities in customer lounge, and providing round-the-clock roadside service substitute mobility service.
According to Sinotrust, the after-sales service evaluation system has basically met consumers’ requirements for professionalism, standardization and openness, but regarding promptness, user-friendliness and reasonable charges, there are still gaps with customer expectations. For instance, it is very necessary to build an after-sales service evaluation system that is focused on customer experience.
In the next three to five years, after-sales services will still be dominated by automakers, but with the expansion of fast repair chain shops, automakers must change the evaluation pattern so as to compare and compete with the independent after-sales service providers.
Author: Tony Liu, Senior Vice President, Sinotrust
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