Friday, July 29, 2016

Industry News: J.D. Power 2016 Malaysia Customer Service Index (CSI) Study SM - Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi Kia & Isuzu top the list

According to the J.D. Power 2016 Malaysia Customer Service Index (CSI) Study SM released earlier today, Malaysian car owners intolerant of service advisors not tending to their needs personally and quickly at service centers can significantly lower customer satisfaction levels. This means impatient customers bringing down the reputation of a certain car make or brand. Toyota is the best CSI brand, followed by Mazda, Mitsubishi, Kia and Isuzu rounding up the top 5 best after sales service in Malaysia for 2016.


The 2016 Malaysia Customer Service Index Study is based on responses from 3,257 new-vehicle owners who purchased their mass market brand vehicle between February 2014 and May 2015 and took their vehicle for service to an authorized service center between August 2015 and May 2016. The study was fielded between February and May 2016. 

Going into specifics of the report, JD Power claims that when a customer is greeted by someone other than the service advisor, satisfaction scores decline by as many as 26 points. Furthermore, when service advisors take 15 minutes or more to complete the process of vehicle handover (discussion of service work, vehicle inspection and paperwork), satisfaction scores decline by as many as 29 points. 

This year, the percentage of customers who completed the drop-off process in 14 minutes or less has declined to 58% from 67% in 2015. The study, now in its 14th year, measures overall service satisfaction among owners who took their vehicle to an authorized service center by examining dealership performance in five factors (in order of importance): service quality (32%); service initiation (22%); vehicle pick-up (18%); service advisor (15%); and service facility (13%). Brand service performance is measured on a 1,000-point scale.

From the above survey, the overall customer service satisfaction averages 751 points this year, up 2 points from 2015. While all factors have improved in the low single-digit figures, satisfaction with service advisors has declined by 1 point. It would seem that Malaysians who participated in the survey are a fussy bunch of people who expect a whole lot from their respective service centers. But note, this survey is done for mass market cars. These are not for premium brands like Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz and those in the higher price brackets.

Also note that Honda is just above the industry average whilst Volkswagen is just below it. Kia is not really a surprise as over in the United States of America the brand scores in the top 3 regularly. Do note that the Malaysian national brands, Proton and Perodua have actually improved their ratings. Especially Proton where if you have read they recently have made press statements that they were going to buck things up especially in their after sales.

I also would like to remind a lot of people out there that the brands you see here are mass market brands. If you own a Volkswagen, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai etc. it is still a mass market brand. Think, buy and service as such. Also whilst you should not expect red carpet treatment, you should not be treated like a bum also. But somewhere in between it just nice. Mass market remember? And service center people are also people too. This works both ways. 

The following are additional key findings of the study:

 Malaysian National Brands Show Improvement: Overall customer service among the Malaysian national brands within the mass market segment averages 747, up 5 points from 2015.

 Service Centers Sending More Service Reminders: More customers indicated they received routine maintenance notification (41% vs. 30%) from the previous year. An increase of 4 percentage points (26% vs. 22%) was seen in customers’ specific service needs being discussed with the service center prior to taking the vehicle in.

 Longer Waiting Time for Service by Appointment: Customers waiting three or more days for an appointment (31% of respondents) average an overall satisfaction score of 743. Furthermore, the percentage of customers who waited three days or more has increased by 10 percentage points. Customers waiting two days or less for an appointment (69% of respondents) average an overall satisfaction score of 768.

 Delighted Customers Raise Loyalty and Advocacy: Among customers who are highly satisfied with their dealer service (overall satisfaction scores of 823 and above), 46% say they “definitely would” return to their dealer for post-warranty service and 50% “definitely would” recommend their dealer to friends and family. In contrast, among customers who are less satisfied (scores of 690 and below), only 15% say they “definitely would” return to the dealer for post-warranty service, and only 11% say they “definitely would” recommend the dealer to others.


PRESS RELEASE
After-Sales Service Satisfaction in Malaysia Remains Flat as Satisfaction with Service Advisors

Declines, J.D. Power Study Finds

Toyota Ranks Highest Among Mass Market Brands

KUALA LUMPUR: 29 July 2016 — Car owners intolerant of service advisors not tending to their needs

personally and quickly at service centers can significantly lower customer satisfaction levels, according

to the J.D. Power 2016 Malaysia Customer Service Index (CSI) Study SM released today.

When a customer is greeted by someone other than the service advisor, satisfaction scores decline by as

many as 26 points. Furthermore, when service advisors take 15 minutes or more to complete the

process of vehicle handover (discussion of service work, vehicle inspection and paperwork),

satisfaction scores decline by as many as 29 points. This year, the percentage of customers who

completed the drop-off process in 14 minutes or less has declined to 58% from 67% in 2015.

The study, now in its 14th year, measures overall service satisfaction among owners who took their

vehicle to an authorized service center by examining dealership performance in five factors (in order of

importance): service quality (32%); service initiation (22%); vehicle pick-up (18%); service advisor

(15%); and service facility (13%). Brand service performance is measured on a 1,000-point scale.

Overall customer service satisfaction averages 751 points this year, up 2 points from 2015. While all

factors have improved in the low single-digit figures, satisfaction with service advisors has declined by

1 point.

“The saying, ‘You only get one chance to make a good first impression,’ is a very accurate description of

the customer-service advisor interaction,” said Rajaswaran Tharmalingam, the country head of

Malaysia for J.D. Power. “With the stresses of modern living, Malaysian car owners are clearly more

time-constrained and demand to complete this important but time-consuming errand in a hassle-free

manner. Hence, it is critical for dealerships to ensure they have the right ratio of service advisors who

exhibit high quality customer-handling skills to meet customers’ expectations.”

Additionally, customers expect to be personally managed by their service advisors at the end of the

service experience. For example, when the task of locating and picking up the vehicle is delegated to

someone else, or if no assistance is rendered, satisfaction levels drop to 734 points as opposed to 762 if

the service advisor does it himself.

“From beginning to end, the service advisor is the person with whom customers want to interact,”

Tharmalingam said. “Service centers are wise to recognize this and to equip their advisors the skills to

deal effectively with customers.”

Study Rankings

Toyota ranks highest in overall service satisfaction among mass market brands, with a score of 763.

Toyota performs particularly well in the service initiation, service advisor and service quality factors.

Mazda ranks second with a score of 760 and Mitsubishi ranks third at 758.

Following are additional key findings of the study:

 Malaysian National Brands Show Improvement: Overall customer service among the

Malaysian national brands within the mass market segment averages 747, up 5 points from

2015.

 Service Centers Sending More Service Reminders: More customers indicated they received

routine maintenance notification (41% vs. 30%) from the previous year. An increase of 4

percentage points (26% vs. 22%) was seen in customers’ specific service needs being discussed

with the service center prior to taking the vehicle in.

 Longer Waiting Time for Service by Appointment: Customers waiting three or more days for

an appointment (31% of respondents) average an overall satisfaction score of 743.

Furthermore, the percentage of customers who waited three days or more has increased by 10

percentage points. Customers waiting two days or less for an appointment (69% of

respondents) average an overall satisfaction score of 768.

 Delighted Customers Raise Loyalty and Advocacy: Among customers who are highly

satisfied with their dealer service (overall satisfaction scores of 823 and above), 46% say they

“definitely would” return to their dealer for post-warranty service and 50% “definitely would”

recommend their dealer to friends and family. In contrast, among customers who are less

satisfied (scores of 690 and below), only 15% say they “definitely would” return to the dealer

for post-warranty service, and only 11% say they “definitely would” recommend the dealer to

others.

No comments: