Around a month ago, global market research firm J.D. Power released the 2017 Philippine Customer Satisfaction Index. The study indicated that due to increasing customer volumes, after sales service satisfaction levels are declining. In line with this, a new study finds that satisfaction is decreasing even before the sale is made.
The latest Sales Satisfaction Index indicates that while client traffic continues to rise, the downside is that a lot of these potential customers aren’t happy. The overall rating dropped from 758 to 740 points—using the 1,000 point ranking system.
Among the six factors (sales initiation, delivery process, delivery timing, salesperson, dealer facility, and deal), satisfaction with dealer facilities suffered the biggest decline—down by as much as 32 points to 735. It was noted that many dealerships need to improve on things like showroom display, accessibility, and the like.
This was followed by a longer delivery process, which in turn leads to less satisfied customers. Down by 20 points to 746, around 72% of customers revealed that vehicle handover took more than two hours to complete.
Yet even before the sale is made, more than a few customers are already feeling dissatisfied. The test drive process, for instance, leaves much to be desired (734). This essentially involves customers feeling that they would have learned more about the car through simple verbal explanation rather than a spin around the block.
And then there are salespeople who tend to take potential customers, as well as valued clients for granted. Around 25% of customers said that their salesperson did not follow-up on their potential purchase after their initial visit. The same number also applies to those folks who already bought their vehicle—with their sales rep not checking to see if everything was in order after they signed on the dotted line.
Yet not everything was gloomy for the Philippine automotive showroom experience. Many customers claim that their salesperson was very knowledgeable about the product they were selling. In fact, this was the only area that improved over last year’s results.
And who took top honors among the 11 mass market brands? Honda topped the list, with a ranking of 747. The Japanese brand did particularly well in terms of sales initiation and salesperson. Toyota came in second at 745, doing well in the dealer facilities and delivery timing aspects. Nissan rounds out the top three, with 743 points, with a strong showing in the deal and delivery process factors.
