Better Service Marketing With Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) is making its mark in the manufacturing procedures of many companies and having a lasting effect: products have never been of a better quality than they are today. Helping this fact is effective management which is covered on good leadership training courses.

Conversely, suppliers are continuing to leave the quality of services to opportunity or to the level of dedication and concern of the individual sales people.

The subsequent case in point of a garage illustrates how you can initiate Total Quality Management within the service sector.

The arrival of the client

The accurate order acceptance needs to begin a day before the established deadline: get in touch with the client and make certain they have not forgotten the service date or make sure that nothing has cropped up to prevent this from taking place.

The actual service within the company itself begins by you showing the way that will eventually lead the client to placing the service order. It is here, in many service companies where the first obstacles tend to arise.

You must make sure that your sales people are aware of any service order the client has placed. This is of particular importance for the duration of low staffing periods as your sales people are busy with other matters and are therefore, not, necessarily ready to receive the service order

Throughout particularly busy times you must also ensure that clients are dealt with ‘appropriately’. There is nothing more frustrating for customers than to see someone who came after they did be served first.

Taking the order

You have to find out what it is the customer needs. If a sensible line of communication between your sales people and your customers has not been established, this will lead to costly mistakes for both sides. Teach your sales people to reiterate the customers’ wishes in order to avoid misunderstandings. Communication is a key factor as well as being a core subject on leadership training courses. 

The best result is often for the customer and repair staff to carry out a joint examination of the subject matter of the service. Often a lack of clarity on the part of the customer creates difficulties in the service. “There’s something wrong at the back on the right hand side”, “It’s not gripping properly”, etc. are typical examples of this.

In this situation, your service staff needs to have both technical and communication skills: they have to identify the problem properly and give details of what the problem is to the customer in simple English! They must furthermore be able to approximate the time it will take to service and the cost of the repair. Ensure that your service staff receives regular training in these skills.

The final step required in taking an order is the concrete customer contract. At this point in time you need to ensure that the customer is certain of the necessity of every repair and does not feel cheated in any way.

Wherever possible, work with written orders, which catalog all the agreed service repairs.

No matter how a client rejects your opinion of what work is necessary, always explain the potential consequences of their choice.   When doing so you must never use a threatening tone of voice (“Just wait and see...!”). Professionally objective advice is called for.

Arrange with the client whether you are to phone them when the work is complete or if they will call by in person.  If they choose to call in person make sure that a knowledgeable service representative is available.

The repairs

This is where the customer and their car part company: the customer leaves the garage and the car goes to the repair workshop. Keep up contact with the customer throughout this time. If your mechanics discover further problems with the car during this time, make sure that a member of your service personnel contacts the customer to discuss the situation with them.   The customer must be informed if the car is ready sooner than expected.

Collection

The invoice is the first thing the customer receives when they arrive to pick up the car. This should be clear, detailed and comprehensible. A knowledgeable service employee should be on hand to answer any questions the customer may have relating to the invoice.

Make sure that the customer gets their car back in a tidy and neat condition. It is routine to give the customer a ‘complimentary’ car wash following a main service. Customers appreciate such a gesture.

The customer will only know in a few days’ time whether they are satisfied with the repair work.

Tip: Leave a customer satisfaction questionnaire in the car and ask the client to hand in the completed questionnaire the next time the car needs servicing. Or call the customer two to three days after collection to check that they are satisfied with the repair work that has been done. This way you will give the customer the sense that they are important and that you are taking their opinion seriously. You will also find out about the quality of your service work. This hard work by staff should be supported from the top as taught on all good leadership training courses.

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