Customer communications: the cornerstone of any business

Customer communication is everything. It’s the cornerstone of any business. Every car owner has different needs and in order to try and exceed their expectations, it’s our job to empathise and ensure that the customer is treated as an individual.

In a busy service reception area, however, it became clear that service advisors were under pressure to deal with lots of customers face to face, as well as those on the phone, meaning they often struggled to provide a consistent level of service.

Brayleys’ decision to introduce a dedicated contact centre five years ago was therefore based on the objective of providing a proactive approach to customer liaison, which delivered value and convenience.

It was also aimed at alleviating negative pressure on our service advisors, enabling them to spend more time with customers at the desk and empowering them to deliver an excellent service, every time.

All inbound calls to any of our six sites related to any aspect of aftersales are routed immediately to the centre located at our Enfield Honda dealership.  A team of four, led by a centre manager, responds instantly, keeps our customers informed and can make any service recommendations in a relaxed manner.

The team manages a live service schedule for each of our dealerships, so they can offer customers all available slots to ensure maximum convenience, as well as optimising workshop efficiency. Whilst on the phone, vehicle information can be updated regularly for the benefit of our technicians and indeed, our sales teams, who have a clear picture of a customer’s history with the company.

As a result of this initiative, there has been a marked and sustained improvement in our customer satisfaction ratings and a boost in referral business. An appreciation of being offered a tailor-made service has also been a key theme in feedback received.

Paul Brayley is managing director of Brayleys Cars