After a pause of two years, JD Power relaunched its India Customer Service Index study in collaboration with NielsonIQ and the results show that high implementation of service advisor actions during pre-service assists original equipment manufacturer (OEM) workshops in a multi-faceted manner.
According to the JD Power 2023 India Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, pre-service actions by the service advisors (SAs) combine several actions like multi-point inspection, explanation of work before service, being fully aware of customer needs, providing helpful advice and having sufficient technical knowledge.
The study found that customers who have received implementation of all these elements observe a higher satisfaction rate – noting an increase of 20 points (on a 1,000-point scale) than those who do not (848 versus 828, respectively). In addition, these customers end up spending 7 percent more on their vehicle’s routine service than those who do not receive these implementations.
“Pre-service process sets the tone for the entire service experience,” said Sandeep Pande, lead of the automotive practice India at NielsenIQ. “Service advisors who are able to ensure a higher implementation of the key elements, not only reap higher monetary benefits for their workshop, but they are also able to build trust for their workshops in the mind of the customers,” he added.
Study Ranking
The 2023 JD Power CSI ranked MG Motor India at the top spot with a score of 852. Skoda Auto India (848), and Nissan India (845) were placed at second, and third spots, respectively.
The 2023 India Customer Service Index study is based on responses from 5,480 new-vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle from July 2020 through September 2022. The study was fielded from July through September 2023.
The study measures new-vehicle owners’ satisfaction with after-sales process by examining the dealership performance in five factors (listed in order of importance); service initiation (36%); vehicle pick-up (19%); service quality (18%); service advisor (15%); and service facility (13%). The study only examines the after- sale satisfaction in the mass market segment.
Additional key findings of the 2023 CSI study:
- Proper explanation key to mitigating high charges perception: Nearly one-fifth (19%) of customers who have their work and charges explained both pre and post service say that the charges were higher than expectations. This increases significantly to 45% among customers who did not receive an explanation of both the work done and money charged by the workshops.
- Sensitivity towards vehicle handover time remains: Customers want to hand over their vehicles for service in a fast yet efficient manner. The inflection point is 20 minutes after walking into the workshop. Satisfaction progressively drops beyond that time, with a decline of 21 points when the handover time exceeds 30 minutes.