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Feann Torr13 Feb 2015
NEWS

Ford's free loan car deal

Ford Australia announces free loan cars for customers with every scheduled service

As part of its grand plan to address evolving customer expectations and improve the car ownership experience, Ford dealers will offer a free loan car with every scheduled service starting this month, February 2015.

Savvy car dealers offer a courtesy car when customers vehicles are being serviced – a case of some, not all. But Ford Australia has confirmed its free loan car service has "100 per cent coverage in the metro markets" while up to 90 per cent of its 200-strong dealer network now offer the service.

That's the word from Graeme Whickman, vice president of marketing, sales and service at Ford Australia, who says the end game is to offer the loan car service at all dealers nationwide.

Loan vehicle variety will be a "fair reflection of the vehicles out there" says Whickman, who stated it was not a scheme to register increased amounts of Falcons and Territorys to then be sold at ex-demo prices.

"Not at all. I won't tell you the exact numbers – we've put them on in the last 40 days – but I can tell you the Territory volume would have been less than five per cent."

The new scheme is an Australian first says Ford, although some premium brands have offered similar services for decades, technically making this the first time a mass market brand has offered a blanket loan car scheme. Ford says the idea is to expand its after-sales package that also includes capped-price servicing for the life of the vehicle and Ford's Auto Club Program. The latter provides Ford owners with 12-months free membership with their state-based auto club, such as RACV, NRMA etc.

Along with several other significant dealer-level changes, the new 'dealerships of the future' will include the adoption of concierges, individuals who greet customers and alert salespeople as to if and when a customer wants assistance.

Whickman says that Ford is running a series of pilots "where a coach works with the dealers in terms of how they're fronting up to the consumer and how they may have done it in the past and how they're going to do it in the future".

And will these concierges be rolled out in all dealerships?

"Absolutely," says Whickman. "When you're talking about a country dealer with a staff of five people, then that concierge might also be the receptionist, but the notion of a concierge, someone welcoming and someone who is catering and directly dealing with the needs of the consumer on their terms, yes absolutely."

"You’ve got a number of things rolling through what's going on with the Ford dealerships, and they revolve around technology, culture and process," he tells motoring.com.au.

"That links heavily into the consumer experience and that's what we're working on."

As previously reported, the company is working hard to try and avoid any dealership closures by improving customer perceptions of the brand in Australia after not-so-rosy feedback, and a renewed focus on servicing is also taking effect.

The company has implemented an online service scheduling system that allows owners to choose their preferred drop-off and pick-up times. They will also be offered automated email and SMS reminders to inform them when the appointment is, and also the status of all work being carried out.

Interactive service receptions will be developed, headed by a service advisor who uses an iPad to work with customers to review work to be carried out and the condition of the vehicle. Service advisors will help sort out concerns, says Ford, by taking photos or recording noises and then authorising customers to sign off on expected work.

"If somebody comes in for example, and they booked a scheduled service, they go through a process. There's a service advisor that includes a technology overlay which allows a good degree of transparency," says Whickman.

"It's fully integrated and at the same time they're speaking to someone who has gone through cultural process improvements."

Ford is taking the new approach to its service departments and showrooms very seriously and though he wouldn't be drawn on precise numbers, Whickman said the investment of capital is considerable.

"It's not a small amount, because by the time you've got a number of cars in place, dedicated to be there ready for the customer when they book, all the way through to communicating this – we will start TV and internet ads telling customers this is something we're now about to provide – plus training and the technology overlay, the investment is significant."

"There's a lot of skin in the game from both parties. They as a dealer group also see the necessity to push past that customer expectation and be known as something special in the market," adds Whickman.

By changing its strategy from the top down and educating its dealers as to what works, what doesn't and, crucially, how much more informed today's customers are via research on the Internet – thanks to reviews such as those found on motoring.com.au – Ford says it is already seeing improvements in customer satisfaction.

According to Ford, sales satisfaction has increased eight per cent year-on-year and with new-generation vehicles including the Mondeo, Mustang and Everest arriving this year, it's looking to grow its market share.

It all begs the question however, has Ford neglected its customers? Is this massive customer service push an admission the current system was broken?
"It's more an admission that customers are changing," observes Whickman.

"So if you walk into a Ford dealership or a bank or a hairdresser, you get a text or an email reminder to see if you're still coming. That's changing really quickly and we want to be on the cutting edge of that so we're investing heavily in that. We want to live up to and hopefully surpass customer expectations," he concludes.

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