Competitive Spirit Wanted
Page 75
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HERE in Nigeria. the Big Five, and for that matter the leading Continental vehicle Manufacturers, are each served by one main agent.
A few years ago this state of affairs was quite satisfactory, but in recent years the number of vehicles in this country has increased out of all proportion, and some agents find it very hard to cope with after-sales service, though. needless to say, the actual selling is something they continue to deal with in a reasonable manner.
But a stage has now been reached when the Big Five should consider giving agencies to additional companies. so that the competitive spirit comes into the picture to the benefit of the customer. The existing agents offer a service which is sometimes good. bad or indifferent, but the customer has no alternative but to accept the grade of service offered by his particular agent. for there is no alternative agent to whom he can turn.
A company here which operates a small fleet of lorries are completely dissatisfied' with the service they are given by the sole agents. In the U.K. they would merely turn to another agent for after-sales service. This they cannot do in Nigeria and it is their intention not to buy any more lorries from the manufacturer concerned, but to replace them over the next two years from a completely new source. The manufacturer. who is going to lose what has been regular repeat business from this company, has only himself to blame, having created a rod for his own back by not setting up an alternative agent in a market that is expanding rapidly and which could so easily cope with this addition.
The Big Five might do well to consider that the time is ripe to give the paying customer some of the after-sales service which at present he only reads about in advertisements, and which is at a far from satisfactory level in Nigeria. When the agents are facing some direct competition for a change, from another company marketing the same vehicles, then there might be an end to the sort of situation which sees a store counter clerk scrutinizing an order for a simple part, only to utter the curt and oft-heard words "No stock," thus necessitating a long and often futile search of the local market and where. even if successful, a much higher price will have to be paid for the part in question.
Lagos, Nigeria.