E-Service-Quality Automotive 2008: qualified answers are the exception– how German car dealers scare away their customers.
E-Service-Quality Automotive 2008: A study on email responses by trademark car dealers in Germany
ILTIS GmbH has carried out a study on e-service quality at trademark car dealers in Germany. Mystery shoppers sent e-mails with information requests concerning used cars. The objective of the study was to measure the actual service quality of the companies’ e-business and to compare it with the results of the same study in 2003.
As result we can note the following: The quality of e-services is on a very low level. Only few of the trademark dealers seem to have a comprehensive e-service strategy, and just some dealers show to some extent that they strive for professional customer care.
We have challenged 10 dealers each of 44 car manufacturers. The dealers were selected randomly. Every dealer received a request regarding a used car from their actual stock or a general request regarding used cars of their brand. Additionally, we asked questions concerning the tolerance for E10 fuel or concerning the planned pollution badge.
In comparison to the study in 2003 we definitely see a positive development. The average quality delivered by all brands has increased. As the degree of fulfilment in the relevant categories was 15 per cent in 2003 it now increased to 40 per cent.
In 2008 Volvo was rated best with a fulfilment degree of 76 per cent and dominates by far the winner in 2003, Mercedes-Benz with back then 33 per cent. However, the overall result with an average fulfilment degree of 40 per cent shows that the trademark car dealers are still far away from an appropriate quality in their customer care.
To make sure that general processes in everyday work run stable – and using digital channels for car sales are such a process in the automotive sector - there must be precise standards which have to be controlled on a regular basis.
The study shows that already little standard features, e.g. automatic spell check for outgoing mails or providing a standardized signature for all sales persons significantly increases the quality of the responses.
Customer care according to CI standards must be driven by the distribution centres of the individual brands. They must provide the standards and control their use.
This is the only way for the customer to experience the trademark also in the digital communication with the dealer.
In 42 per cent of all the requests, the dealers did not even bother to reply. Therefore, they gave up 42 per cent of their chances to sell a car.
Maybe the used-car market is not as tough as the dealers want us to believe?
