In the entire automotive market, Lexus brand service is a "phenomenon-level" presence. In the past three years, my personal experience as a car owner has also truly felt the unique connotation of Lexus service and the significance of after-sales service to the Lexus brand. There have been several cars before, and the mood of each time I go to maintenance is mixed, what needs to be replaced for maintenance, how long it takes, how much it costs, and I will worry about whether the maintenance consultant will kindly recommend me to do additional fee projects.
How should I respond if it happens, and so on. But for Lexus, all the above considerations and worries have become superfluous, you just need to call to book a maintenance time, and drive the car to the 4S shop according to the appointment time. At the moment of fast pace, Lexus's free warranty and maintenance policy of "simplifying complexity" brings a sense of ease and pleasure to car owners that most brands cannot give. Service is philosophy In the DNA of the Lexus brand, product quality and service are the two cornerstones. However, the relative product quality can be ensured by quantification at the technical level, and the service is difficult to quantify rationally. In other words, the best tightening torque of the wheel nut of the Lexus model can be specified as 103N·m, but the service regulations cannot be so clear and precise. So how can Lexus' service be well-known? The answer is "(OMOTENASHI) hospitality with sincerity".
Seemingly simple and ordinary words, but contains Lexus's deep brand philosophy, is the concept of doing ordinary things to the extreme, is the persistence of TAKUMI craftsmen, but also "for customers to think more, service response faster" specific methods. After more than 20 years of rapid development, China's automobile market is becoming more and more mature, but this maturity is more reflected in the consumption concept, product quality and other aspects, and high-quality services are still relatively "scarce". In Lexus, the relationship between customers and distributors is very harmonious. In the face of 4 years of 100,000 kilometers or 6 years of 150,000 kilometers of free maintenance policy, Lexus distribution needs to do is how to serve customers well, and then move customers, in order to enable customers to receive manufacturers to visit the service satisfaction can take the initiative to praise. I once asked a service consultant about the "internal rules" for rating owners, and he told me that if you don't get a 10-point rating from a customer, it's equivalent to 0 points.
The Lexus satisfaction formula they adhere to internally has some philosophical implications – "actual performance - expectation = satisfaction". In other words, in order to get "positive" satisfaction, the service must exceed customer expectations. Exceeding user expectations in service can be said to be one of the important factors for Lexus to win customers. In Lexus's view, in a fully competitive market, only the highest satisfaction can ensure customer loyalty, otherwise customers will be "attracted to the past" because of competitors' follow-up. Therefore, winning more "Lexus only" customers is the key to winning in the competition. Last week, I happened to receive a call from the service consultant at the sales store where I bought the car to remind me of the maintenance of the vehicle, so I made an appointment at a Lexus store nearby. After the phone appointment time was determined, I was 15 minutes late due to traffic jams on the road, and the service consultant was already waiting for me. Just when the service consultant was checking me out the maintenance procedures, the service manager came in, greeted me, and first asked me, "Is there anything I am not satisfied with in the use of this car?" Generally speaking, the customer does not say that dissatisfaction is the greatest satisfaction, why should we enlighten the customer to think about the dissatisfaction? This kind of doing the opposite way actually made me feel very interesting. After asking for his permission, I decided to talk to him. Of course, it is not to reflect the problem of the car, but to feel how different sales stores understand Lexus services.
"Rexas changed me" In the conversation, I learned that his surname was Fu, and he started step by step from a front-line maintenance technician and has been working in the dealership for 14 years. When it comes to the story with Lexus, he said more than once with emotion, "Lexus has changed me" and "I am very grateful to Lexus" and so on. When it comes to emotion, he even has some words, which shocks me. You know, as an employee of the dealer service department, it is rare to do your job well. Employees who pour or carry such a wealth of emotions into their work are very rare in any industry. But as the conversation progressed, my doubts slowly unraveled. He worked for three years at the joint venture brand dealership and worked very well; in 2007, he chose to join Lexus. Through Lexus training, he quickly fell in love with the culture and philosophy of the Lexus brand. As a maintenance technician, after 4 years of hard work and tempering, in 2011, Manager Fu won the first place in the first national after-sales service competition held by Lexus China.
Later, he and his family were invited to Japan to participate in the Lexus Brand Global Awards. The brand side let his family sit in the first row, he and many winners sat in the second row, "Lexus said that without the support of his family, there would be no achievements for us, he was moved to cry, and he was really moved by the Lexus brand culture", Manager Fu said with emotion. The honor of the champion gave him even greater motivation, and he often said that only sincere emotion can impress customers, "if you want to move customers, you must first move yourself." In fact, the difficulty in measuring the quality of service lies in this, service is only about standards and rules, but whether the service is attentive and emotional, it is difficult to quantify. Therefore, more detail can only be felt through living examples. Manager Fu said that Wangjing has a Lexus user, who is older and has a bad memory. Called to inform the car that it needed maintenance, but the old man quickly forgot it after answering the phone. In order to allow customers to maintain on time, they finally came up with a way to call a substitute driver for this user in advance, go to the home to pick up the car, drive the car to the shop, and then send it home through the driver after the maintenance is completed.
This perfectly solves the problem of "leakage of insurance". He said that there are many users with different needs, and they have a special system to record the characteristics of each user, and then implement different service solutions. Many customers have been with them for a long time, just like old friends, sometimes passing through 4S stores, even if they do not do maintenance, they will drive over to rest and chat. This harmonious and beautiful relationship with customers is precisely the "secret" of Lexus products and services. Previously, a lexus internal survey showed that the intention of customers to buy Lexus brand models again after being very satisfied was 63%, and the intention to recommend purchases to others was 60%. If it is generally satisfactory, the two figures are only 20% and 22%, respectively. Subtle service is the most infectious. A friend of mine once had a personal experience, once in the summer in the high-speed service area temporary break, check the tire pressure, about 2.8, then took a picture of the tire pressure sent to the circle of friends, with the text said that the weather is too hot, even the tire tire pressure is high, let the friends who are driving at the same high speed pay attention to safety clouds. After a while, the phone rang, it turned out to be the service consultant of the Lexus 4S store, and when he answered, he actually said that he had just seen the content sent by my friend's circle of friends, telling him that if the temperature was too high, pay attention to rest and tire pressure safety, and contact them anytime and anywhere if there was any problem. He was so impressed by this meticulous service that my friend later bought an NX for his lover. In addition to the humanization and meticulousness of the service, in the specific maintenance, they always adhere to the principle of "one repair". Manager Fu said that the original repair and maintenance of the joint venture brand felt more, but coming to Lexus was more "standard", and it was not only limited to solving problems, but also extended to where the root cause of the problem was and why it was so. Especially Lexus hybrid models, the requirements for technicians are higher, not only need to master the oil circuit system skillfully, but also the circuit system should be quite professional, "we need to remember the circuit and the oil circuit two sets of diagrams." In order to achieve rapid repair, Manager Fu also innovatively implemented the "Maintenance Classic Case Sharing", every morning everyone shared the problems encountered the previous day and the solutions, and then quickly improved the speed of the whole team to solve similar problems. In the view of Manager Fu, sales deliver the vehicle to the customer, throughout the customer car life cycle of the after-sales service officially began, sales and customer meeting may only be from the car to pick up the car when a few sides, but the after-sales service contact with customers is dozens of times, "contact with customers again and again, is our understanding of customers, improve customer satisfaction opportunities." Encountering problems, solving problems, and never running away, this is the principle that Manager Fu has always adhered to, and it is also a reflection of the influence of Lexus culture on him. Every seemingly bad thing happens, but as long as the attitude is correct and the method is appropriate, it can become an opportunity for in-depth communication with customers, and bad things can become good things, Manager Fu said, "Although we are dealers, we must have a sense of responsibility to maintain brand honor." Lexus after-sales service concept can be "landed" in a meticulous manner with terminal dealer employees, and the most important thing is that Lexus brand culture and concept touch people's inner feelings - perfect service itself is an expression of sincere feelings. Life cycle service in Lexus after-sales service has a very important concept: correct + kindness = trust. That is to say, on the basis of gracious service, more "right" things need to be done. At the beginning of 2020, the sudden outbreak of the epidemic changed the way and concept of many people work and live, which invisibly made Lexus have a new thinking about user services. For example, in order to solve the problem of used car transaction difficulties and opaque transactions caused by user exchanges, and to enhance the value of used cars of Lexus brand models, in May last year, Lexus officially launched the official used car certification business. Brand-certified used cars are quite a few luxury brands, but Lexus is the most special. Compared with other brands, the free maintenance policy implemented by Lexus can ensure the integrity and detailedness of vehicle maintenance information, and completely eliminate the pain points of opaque vehicle information. Lexus certified used cars have high requirements: first of all, the age of the car must not exceed 6 years, the total mileage does not exceed 150,000 kilometers, and it needs to pass 161 quality tests of Lexus. In addition, only those who have a complete Warranty History from a Lexus dealer and use all original parts can enter the Certified Used Car System. At the same time, the owners of certified second-hand cars can also enjoy high-quality service guarantees, including 12 months 25,000 kilometers of original warranty, professional vehicle maintenance and free replacement of oil filters within 3 months or 5,000 kilometers from the date of sale. For both car owners and buyers, Lexus certified used cars bring transparency and transaction security, while also improving transaction efficiency and customer experience. Simply put, the Lexus used car appraiser evaluates it, the price meets the owner's expectations, and the transaction is completed. For buyers, buying a used car in a Lexus 4S store has quality and service guarantee, and there is no worries at all. Sociologists believe that the so-called trust is to have confidence in expectations. Trust and the continuity of relationships form the basis of cooperation. In a certain sense, a large reason why Lexus has gained user recognition in the certified used car business lies in the "continuity of the service relationship". The service relationship with users for 4 or 6 years can be said to be the intangible trust wealth of the Lexus brand. Che Wenyi has visited several Lexus 4S stores, the certified used car business is doing very well, and the dealer also specially set up a used car showroom or a used car display area to promote and market the certified used car. Write on the back: I remember a few years ago, I had the privilege of reading an internal document of Lexus dealer training, and there was a sentence that stuck with me: It is Lexus' responsibility to ensure the high quality of our products. At the same time, our customer service should also be of the highest quality, which is the responsibility of the dealer. Of course, as we said earlier, high-quality service is difficult to quantify, or even if customers give dealer services a high score, this does not necessarily prove that dealer services exceed user expectations. However, through this interview, I seem to have found the reason why Lexus services "exceed user expectations" and can land - if the service wants to move customers, it must first move itself.