HR Owen. Differentiating Service for A Competitive Edge

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1 CUSTOMER SERVICE HR Owen Differentiating Service for A Competitive Edge In today's crowded marketplace, consumers have lots of choices. In order to gain a competitive advantage, you must give customers a reason to choose you over the competition. You must make it your business to see that your product stands head and shoulders above the crowd. While lowering prices is certainly an effective way to be competitive, there are other strategies used by businesses to ensure they are unique simply by using a little imagination and creativity. Customer service may be employed to generate such competitive advantage as a particular service proposition can be harder to copy for competitors. During our visit at HR Owen we were able to see how the car dealership uses service to differentiate from competitors and maintain a competitive edge. There is fair amount of competition for HR Owen as a car dealership in London. Not only do the have to compete with car dealerships in the area, the Internet means they have to compete on much larger scale. One way they do this is to offer a high level of customer service to add value and differentiate them from the competition. f a whole system of activities that includes people, technology, and processes; although, the rewards will include improved revenue from customers that are impressed with the service provided. The relation should not be only a buyer seller-relation but beyond. Knowing lorem ipsum what dolor the customer met set wants Design quam nunc has changed parum over the years to offer a sportier look in an aim to appeal to wider market. Volvo wants 2007 to change people s perceptions of the brand. Volvo wants to be classed in the same league as BMW and Audi. They are currently trying to develop an environmentally friendly model to compete in the market for the environmentally conscious customer. This shows they are keeping the customers needs in mind.

2 Competitors of HR Owen Volvo BMW Audi Customer Service HR Owen is a franchise dealership, and therefore has the responsibility of putting its o w n c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e procedures in place. Being a franchise of Volvo means they have to compete with other Volvo dealerships as well as other car brands like BMW. Sales HR Owen is aware of the increasing competition on the Internet. The Internet plays a massive role in attracting customers into the dealership. They use the Internet to advertise special offers they have to attract potential customers to the dealership. They also use a sponsor link to increase awareness of the dealership. Being located in London it is important to factor the location into the service they offer the customer. It can work out e x p e n s i v e t o v i s i t t h e dealership located on Euston Road, London as it is in a congestion zone and there is no parking near by. For e x a m p l e t o e n c o u r a g e customers to come to the dealership they may offer to pay for the congestion charge for them to come into the showroom. They may take the car to the customer for a test drive so they don t have to drive to the showroom and pay the congestion charge. They may also offer a test drive at a more local or c o n v e n i e n t s h o w r o o m. Therefore potential threats of the location are addressed. Keeping in mind that it is important to offer the customer they wants to suit their needs, HR Owen will search for a p a r t i c u l a r u s e d c a r i f requested if they do not have i t o n s i t e. T h e y d o n t particularly make a good profit from this however it offers good customer service. As well as offering good customer service this allows HR Owen to make money on after sales such as annual services and repairs. Also, people tend to Volkswagen Car Land Car Giant HR Owen Volvo London Central Euston Road London NW1 3AR

3 After Sales HR Owen uses its after sales service to differentiate from the competition. They offer an interactive car service, which includes a technician going around the car with the customer and explaining what they done to the car. This also allows the customer to let the technician know about any queries they had about the car. This service is offered to allow the customer to see what they are paying for. This was developed in response to feedback given by customers who were paying a lot of money for their annual service but didn t know what they were paying for. Therefore making the service more interactive makes it tangible for the customer. Mobile Customer Support Unit is another service offered by HR Owen to differentiate the dealership. This is where a XC90 drives around London for roadside repairs. This is for the convenience of the customer as it means they don t need to take time out to take their car to a garage and, they don t need to arrange alternative transport. Therefore saving the customer time and money. After sales is good way to continue to offer a great differentiating service. It is also a good way to attract repeat business. HR Owen use a database called Carriage that holds customers sales records. This allows salesman to contact customers to for annual car service. As people tend to change their cars every three years this allows them to keep in contact with the customer and let them know about their new models and any special offers. Each salesperson has allocated customers they are responsible for contacting. Staff T we believe the quality of our staff, product and service gives us the competitive edge over our competitors... Staff is an important factor as they represent the company. HR Owen work on the philosophy that happy and well trained employees are the most important asset a company has ensuring a high level of customer retention and providing a good return for company and shareholders. Therefore it is important staff employed have the characteristic required to deliver the service HR Owen would like their customers to experience. The characteristics HR Owen look for when recruiting are: Confidence Product knowledge Good Talker Organised Honest as it important to sell to customer needs. HR Owen offers incentives to staff for customer service and bonuses on sales. This is a good way to motivate staff and ensure they offer consistency in their service. HR Owen it is considered that if you closing many sales then you must be giving good customer service. Feedback from customers can ensure the service they receive was of the standard expected from the dealership. Through the feedback given scores are collected and monitored. These are ranked across the UK. Rewards are offered for the best performing store. These range from money for parties for the team; holiday s etc. offering the incentive for the whole store is a way of team building. HR Owen calls this scheme Pride of Team Performance.

4 HR Owen also represent : Alfa-Romeo, Bently, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mini, Rolls Royce, Maserati Communication with Customers HR Owen communicates to its customer through various channels. They use formal letters, s, and may also telephone customers. They prefer to use , as this is an increasingly popular way of c o m m u n i c a t i n g w i t h c u s t o m e r s a n d i s c o s t effective. S a l e s s t a f f a r e o f f e r e d incentives for every address they collect from a customer. tends to be the primary source of contact as cost effective and quicker, also s can be saved and read at a more convenient time, rather than a letter than can be dismissed and thrown away. s are often used for marketing purposes. A common strategy used at HR Owen is displaying an enticing message in the subject box to attract customers to open the message. Often these may be free tickets or DVD s for example if you come and take a test drive. Letters are still used to keep the professional image HR Owen would like to keep. Monthly newsletters are sent out via . Quarterly newsletters used to be sent to customers but the s are more cost effective, and as most people have and use s they can reach as much of an audience as with the news letters. Dealing with Complaints HR Owen aims to resolve complaints quickly. All complaints are refereed to the divisional director. The dealership offers a three warranty with every new car purchased. Therefore most complaints can be easily rectified. If it is a more complicated complaint than a mechanical fault than can t easily be resolved it may be referred to Volvo. However HR Owen still takes ownership of the complaint for the customer. Weekly Management meeting are held, customer complaints are the first on the agenda. However it is rare that a complaint isn t quickly resolved

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