Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John J. Dillon Jr. on March 19, 2013 at 11:43am

Jessica-  I have a very simple and effective word track for this I will share with you.  Call my office @ 614-775-0732 to discuss and give me your e-mail address @ Rusty Eck Ford.

Thanks, John Dillon

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Permalink Reply by Chris W. Williams on March 19, 2013 at 5:02pm

Jessica, it doesnt have to be an issue. Have a template built that thanks the customer for their service, how the dealership values their loyalty and patronage and then almost as a side note insert some comments such as: XXXl Motors may be selecting you to participate in their customer satisfaction survey process. If you receive a survey either by mail or email we would sincerely like you to take the time to fill it out. Since we are a smaller volume store, we do not receive enough returns back to quantify scoring. Please take the time to fill out and send the return back or bring the completed survey back to us in the original envelope and we will forward the survey back to XXX and as a token of our appreciation we will offer a free service for your assistance.

As a side note, XXX uses TOP BOX scoring which means, although the first two answers on the survey are almost identical, only the first box is scored positive for the dealer, the other boxes are scored as a negative. If you feel we did not reserve a top box score, please feel free to contact us so we can make it right.

Be careful with the different rules each manufacturer as regarding offering any incentives for the survey.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Stone on March 19, 2013 at 5:37pm

Hi Jessica - you say " Hopefully, they'll rate us excellent in all aspects, but in reality I know that's not the case." So, if you have a constant head ache do you keep taking Tylenol or figure out what is causing the issue?  If the Service department is not providing the best service (where you can be more confident in the customer’s response) then no amount of well written letters will help. If they are providing good work, follow up, etc then use one of the previous responses.  I know I sound like a curmudgeon, but we all spend way too much time looking at how we can ‘direct’ customers into providing the results we want, rather than looking at the process and earning the results.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Schewe on March 21, 2013 at 12:07pm

Jessica, I can't think of any reason to send a letter letting customers know that they'll be recieving a survey unless the intent is to influence the response. The purpose of a survey to acquire clean actionable data. Presumably someone somewhere will be analyzing the data, drawing conclusions and setting courses of action based on the collected information. If you influence the respondents in any way the data is corrupted. Basing policy, procedure, process etc. on bogus data cannot produce beneficial results. My advice? Don't do it! If you know what your customers are really thinking and feeling you have something to work with and can make improvements. If you don't know what is real you can only mess up.

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Permalink Reply by Chris W. Williams on March 21, 2013 at 12:30pm

Follow up with a letter after performing work and advising of the survey is done to discover the satisfaction level of the work performed. To not follow up is to advocate that a dealer should not follow up with a customer after service. Merely because a survey may go out is not a reason to not follow up, nor are you trying to skew a survey. What we are attempting to do is inform the customer of the importance of filling out the survey due to a notorius low return rate, and make a genuine attempt at ensuring customer satisfaction.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin E Rafferty on March 22, 2013 at 2:13pm

Just a quick note to once again say thank you for choosing ABC Motors for your families motor vehicle needs. According to our records you recently had work performed by our Service Professionals and we certainly hope that we exceeded your expectations.

In the near future you will be receiving  a Client Satisfaction Survey from Edsel Motor Corporation to verify that you are Completely Satisfied with the Services Rendered.

Please take a few moments to fill this out and send it back in as it helps us be better at serving our clients needs. If you feel  that you cannot mark all questions Completely Satisfied please allow us the opportunity to correct that for you.

Thank you for your time today and we look forward to being of continued service to you and your family.

There you go. Short quick to the point and it works.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica Heusinkveld on March 22, 2013 at 3:55pm

Thank you for your help! I started sending this letter out about two weeks ago:

Dear,
                  Thank you for choosing the service department at My Dealership. You will soon be receiving a survey in regards to your recent service visit. If there is any reason you would rate my performance less than completely satisfied, please contact me immediately. As my client, your satisfaction and recommendation are my top priority. Thank you again and I look forward to your continuous business.

Sincerely,

The Service Advisor will send this out after each finished appointment along with a follow up call. I was thinking about letting my Service BDC make the call, but I thought it would be more personal if the Advisor who helped them touch based with the customer.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Mickelson on March 29, 2013 at 5:18pm

Ms. Heusinkveld, I think your question is a good one.  There is a good point above from Tim regarding intention.  I understood his point of view.  Your letter is nicely written and I added a couple of slight changes that you might find helpful.  Here is your letter with an Auto iLead twist. If you like it use it.  If not, continue on.  Thanks for sharing your question!  Jason Mickelson

Dear,

Thank you for choosing to service your vehicle here at _________. We all appreciate your business and hope your visit was pleasant. If there is any reason you might rate your experience or service received as less than completely satisfied, please contact me immediately. As my client, your satisfaction and confidence are my top priority. I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Sincerely,

 

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