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Do You Love Your Car?
It's a known fact -- Ford truck drivers hate Chevy people, and Chevy truck drivers hate Ford folks. Some people will only buy a Toyota or Honda, for example, even if other car companies have higher ratings or better prices. And in many cases, once you get a BMW or Mercedes, there's no other car for you.
Why do people love their cars so much? How can other car companies tap into that loyalty to improve their customer relationships?
In today's issue of 1to1 Weekly, we highlight new research that shows that relationships with car companies can be affected -- negatively or positively -- by how that company treats its customers. It helps shape the brand image, which is the basis for people's love affairs with their cars.
One big insight is that the dealership plays a huge part in making or breaking a relationship, and in many cases the manufacturer is powerless. I've had bad service encounters at dealerships that have turned me off to a brand completely. And most recently, over-aggressive sales staff at another dealership inundated me with "relevant" emails pushing me for a test drive. Good intentions, but poor execution. The research shows that simple things like free car washes, oil changes, or even simple personal attention can go a long way to strengthen a relationship.
What do you think car companies can do to build loyalty? Do you love your car? Do you love your car company? Why or, more importantly, why not?
Every time I see a Ford Mustang I smile. My first car was a Yellow 1967 Mustang convertible. I drove it for 20 years, and sold it with many tears, for more than I paid for it in 1967. I wish I had never sold it. I havn't had a car since that I loved like that Mustang.
Now, 40 years later I have a 2000 Ford Taurus with 275,000 miles on it, and it just keeps going. That is what builds customer loyalty.
Cars that last!
I love my Oldsmobile Aurora, as I loved my 1993 Olds 88 LSS before that. Need I say more? My loyalty was not rewarded. And, there is no way GM will convert me to a Cadillac driver (as they are trying to do). The brands have different personalities. I had a sliver of insight into their thinking. A focus group recruiter invited me to an Oldsmobile session a couple years ago. I failed to qualify because I'm female and in the 50-65 age bracket. The recruiter said, "Oh, I'm sorry, that category is filled." They seemed to want a random sample more than a representative sample of their customers.
Loyal to the ghost of Oldsmobile, in Atlanta
I'm on my 3rd Mitsubishi, and sadly 2nd and last Diamante. Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, etc. were just too much competition and the Diamante is no longer in production. My local dealership is outstanding, & the service is the "best." I gladly return every 3k miles! Great service can make or break a brand, but then of course there are other factors that may send one shopping elsewhere. My service rep even helped me get an "unexpected" extended warranty at 60k miles! Win-win!
I love my car. It's a Ford Mustang. I have no feelings for Ford one way or the other. But I can tell you this for sure: There are two Ford dealerships within a 10-minute drive of my home and no free anything would make me take my car there for service or buy another car from them.
Why? The one where I purchased my car has a terrible customer experience in its service department. I'll spare you the details, but it was so bad that I threw out my card for two free oil changes. How it got to be a Blue Oval dealer I'll never know. A salesperson at the other called its service department mediocre. Not exactly inspiring.
Fortunately, there's a local Shell service station whose manager truly understands the term customer service and I take my car there for everything that doesn't require going to a Ford dealer. On the one occasion I did need the dealership, I took my car to the one near where I work--an hour drive from home.
I don't know whether I'll opt for another brand or model when I eventually trade in my Mustang (years from now), but if there is another Mustang in my future, I'll take my time to find the right dealer, even if it means an hour drive.
I feel the same way. Since I was young boy, I could name all the cars on the road. As a 6th grader growing up in Boston, I would quiz my Mom on our drive every morning to school, loving each cars distinctive tail lights and fins. My neighbor had a red 1963 Chevrolet Impala that I thought was the greatest looking car ever built. Loyalty is an interesting topic. The car companies have done a poor job of maintaining that loyalty. In the early 90s I was working in quality management in the healthcare industry and studied Edward Deming’s philosophy of quality. I think his ideas still hold true today. He said that if you want to find out how to build something ask the person who is using it. He consulted with companies like Honda and others. This input would go directly to the designed team to help them understand how to design cars based on customer feedback. Features like cup holders and coin trays became additions to Honda first based on this research. They asked, listened and acted. Based on this idea, this is how you build loyalty among customers. One of the things I do every year is open a dialogue with my clients and ask them what they liked and what they would change about the service and products I offer them today. The responses I have gotten are phenomenal. This approach has built some tremendous loyalty. My customer attrition went from 18% in 2005 to 12% in 2006 and 8.5% in 2007. My clients tell me they feel a real ownership to our solution because it is customized for them. This is where the car companies have really failed. They are designing higher quality cars but American car makers are still missing the mark. I bought a new car last year and my criteria was - no more than $300 lease per month, 15,000 per year in mileage allowance, no money down and a least 30 miles per gallon and as big a car as I can get. The only cars that met that criterion were the Honda Accord and the Hyundai Sonata. No American car even came close in fuel mileage, lease program or car size. The moral of the story is – to keep loyal customers keep listening and adjusting your product/service to the customers needs and wants. I have a full service gas station in my town whose gas is the same price as everyone else’s and everyone uses him and what does he get in return – his lot is filled with cars that need service, oil changes, new tires, etc. and his prices for repairs are competitive but not the lowest. He even comes to your house to pick-up and drop off your car that need service free of charge. My wife and I wouldn’t go anywhere else and we tell everyone about him, oh and he has a used car lot behind his station where I bought my daughter her first car – LOYALITY.