November 2019

BY Andy Savva H ave you ever sat back and thought about the basis of our relationship with the vehicle owner? Do you truly understand the real nature of what the customer is actively seeking to purchase and what he or she wants out of this dynamic and sometimes complicated relationship? Understanding customer relationship management (CRM) is a combination of people, processes and of course technology. The purpose is to seek to understand the dynamic and sometimes complicated relationship between, in our case, a garage business and its customers. You need to have an integrated approach to managing relationships by focusing on customer retention and relationship development. CRM has evolved from advances in information technology and organisational changes in customer ‐ centric processes. Garage businesses that successfully implement CRM will reap the rewards in customer loyalty and long-term profitability. However, successful implementation seems to be very rare to many in the automotive repair sector. I suspect this is because most do not understand that CRM requires company ‐ wide, cross ‐ functional, customer ‐ focused business process. Yes, that old chestnut. Seriously though, before you can implement it, you must understand what it really means, and where to put your attention for the best outcome. So, what should we focus on in order to at try and achieve a successful CRM implementation in our automotive repair sector? Here are just a few areas that I believe need to be observed. Premises We cannot do the work unless we have some place to do it. Because of this, premises now play an increasingly important part in everything we do. The facility has to meet or exceed customer expectations. In today’s competitive automotive repair industry, you need to provide a clean and uncluttered environment. This means offering up an inviting, efficient professional- looking garage is of paramount importance. Nothing less will do, as the bar for the quality of service delivery is being raised throughout our sector. Customers may not give us a first chance, let alone a second, because of the way our garage may look. This is especially true if the workshop leaves a poor impression, and implies that the business is unprofessional, disorganised and chaotic. Competence How does competence affect service? We would all like to think that everyone on our profession is competent, but are they? We all know the answer to that question is sadly no. Despite this unfortunate fact, consumers still have faith in us. When he or she comes in, the customer will still believe that the person or garage is competent, or that they will supply 16 AFTERMARKET NOVEMBER 2019 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) Do you want to get a better understanding of your customers, and how you could treat them better? Then look into the factors making up CRM