Volvo proves there is life after sales
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To the Swedish company, service back-up is an essential part of its overall marketing philosophy as our round table discussion reveals
THE CLAIM that the customer comes first is not new, but how substantial is it? Three men John Bryant, general manager parts and assembly division; Tony Mace, general manager service division; and Anders Levine, general manager products sales trucks, met us for a round table discussion and we took them to task on the issue.
"After-sales service begins before the sale takes place," said Anders. He explained: "If our distributor and salesman sells a wrongly specified vehicle then we have to face months, possible years, of complaint and acrimony which results in the loss of repeat orders, so we have to get it correct before the sale."
John Bryant explained how this was achieved. The sales force is armed with vehicle specification data covering the chassis, bab, driveline, power unit, tyres and bodies. The alternatives are all clearly laid out.
"We take the men through the specs in easy stages at training sessions, and before they leave they are totally conversant with what should be offered to meet the customer's requirement."
Should the customer or the salesman be in any doubt when they refer to the Black Book; a Volvo representative will pay a call to explain further.
This does not always answer all the queries. Customers can have fixed ideas and Volvo's customer-satisfaction philosophy accepts this. The customer who wants something special is invited to Irvine where the engineers sit down with him in an endeavour to meet the need on the drawing board.
If this can be done, the additional cost involved is calculated and the "prospect" knows what he must pay for his "special". Should the requirement prove impractical, this becomes apparent on the drawing board.
It means on occasions that the order does not materialise — but not often. It more often means that the customer buys a vehicle which meets his operational needs exactly.
Being on the fringe of most new vehicle transactions, body builders are often presented with a fait accompli. The chassis cabs are delivered, and the operator then specifies the body. This, Volvo has viewed with some concern. "No matter what is bolted on to our chassis, it carries our badge and is therefore a Volvo in their eyes."
Anders has taken action to avoid the Volvo image being destroyed or even dented. All known bodybuilders have a Volvo specification book to assist them to match customer demand to practical feasibility. "We perhaps don't cover everyone in Britain, but any bodybuilder who doesn't have a data sheet has only to ask," he said.
Once the vehicle is sold, built and in service, the headaches are passed to Tony Mace who heads up warranty claims and after-sales service departments. Warranty claims are a major problem for most manufacturers. They are the sign of early failure, which is bad for the supplier. Unless attended to immediately, the customer soon adopts a "never again" attitude and is lost.
Tony and John Bryant have put a lot of effort into this area to ensure this doesn't happen. The policy is to replace the part or correct the fault immedi. and work out who pays 1 after the job has been done.
Volvo's records show thE the F7, the cost of warr claims was E340 per unit; has been reduced to £220. F10 shows a similar percen decrease from £380 to f John attributes the higher on the F10 to the fact that t are mainly used by ov operator& One of Volvo's marketinE tues is to support the distrit in warranty claims. They pal 16 per cent discount on warr material.
Volvo's records on warr claims are meticulous. No volumes of other informa they show that most cl come up late in the warranty "Too many people save ther until towards the end of period instead of putting the as they happen," said Tony.
Another aggravating aspe warranty claims from operator's point of view is the failure has to be exam before the claim is accet This means loss of use and sequently loss of revenue profit to the operator.
"Our policy is if it has ti removed, replace it," said J Only nine per cent of all moved units are held for su quent inspection.
Pre-sales information is important in Volvo's warr philosophy. They tell the tomer what early failures tc pect — forewarned is forearr Volvo's terms are 12 month: limited mileage.
John Bryant believes thE warranty claims, even on placed components, shouli processed by Volvo. Open are not required to claim ag. other suppliers — even claims go to Volvo. "There i buck passing — we handle i It is our business that is in j ardy."
At the distributor's parts c ter, the parts man is traine ensure that the correct pa being requested. He goes fu and asks whether some E ciated part isn't needed as sn, Two-year extended warra have crept into thevehicle
n recent years, but not at o. "The second year is act to so many exclusions the operator becomes used," said Tony. Volvo will on one year.
hn Bryant took up the runon the spare parts costs. nonsense to say that we are er than domestic vehicle es; we are as cheap, and in le cases cheaper." He owledged that they had more expensive in the : "But we picked this up it four years ago." That was n CM publicised the facts; was when Volvo's Parts Plus me was conceived.
ere was a lengthy gestation )cl but last September the me was born. It is now ding fast.
olvo discovered that )liers of spurious parts were plying only fast-moving 3. "We were carrying the r moving parts and of course
n inflated cost," explained )1vo is now in the genuine e parts business. Its distriirs are its outlet. "We've ad the volume and lowered price so that we are now as ip and cheaper than the lous boys and the parts our warranty."
ith 328 live items, all are up riginal equipment quality at ce which is "the cheapest in business". According to 1, they do not run loss leader paigns. There are no sales -nicks to counter staff; "Just enuine Volvo quality ser," he claims.
le use of words is vital in noting a new scheme as 'o has discovered. "We said our prices are competitive," John, but in retrospect he ayes this has been misconsd.
Vhat this has come to imply at we are nearly as cheap worth considering.-We are cheap in some cases iper."
)Ivo's 25,000 parts line is ;tantly updated and repriced ieet demand and competi
) get the information it needs .spdate, Volvo sponsors a as of Viking Club nights at ributors' premises. The Aing is thrown open, corn-Its and queries taken and i the price structure is exaed.
Tony Mace is the keeper of records. His staff have a complete warranty history on every vehicle updated every month on information supplied by the distributors. CM was invited to test the system. We selected three operators to put it to the test — and it works.
The entire history was there and it produced an interesting fact that had not at that time been picked up by Volvo. The part number for a halogen lamp on an F10 popped up every month.
Tony Mace was momentarily embarrassed. "We'll look at that now but we would have turned it up in the audit."
Not only is Volvo (GB) exporting vehicles but also systems. This week it announced at the Frankfurt Show that Action Volvo is going European. The system has been operating in Britain for ten years, during which time it has expanded into a complete and comprehensive help scheme.
It covers recovery, repairs, hotel bookings, ferry bookings, messages from driver to office or home, rodte diversions and so on. In the UK the contact is Freephone 8005. Abroad, there are other Freephone numbers which operate in Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Holland, Switzerland and, soon, Italy.
To co-ordinate Action Volvo, the service managers of Europe have a summit meeting every six months. It was from this that the British idea developed.
Yet another scheme is being launched at Frankfurt. International Credit is a system which gives drivers the opportunity of crossing Europe without having to carry cash, apart from pocket money.
The scheme operates through DKV, and credit cards are made out by vehicle registration so that they can only be used if the vehicle is there. They supply credit for fuel repairs, ferry, and toll dues, food, accommodation, phone calls, indeed almost everything a driver might need while away from home.
There is no joining fee, no annual fee. The operator is charged 21/2 per cent on the invoice, but he has receipts to cover all the expenses for tax purposes. The driver does not have to try to convert from sterling to a strong currency. Exchange rates which vary daily do not create problems.
Volvo is sending out application forms through its distributors. Already DKV has 5,000 Volvo vehicles on its credit list. This is a new facility for British TIR operators.
Tony Mace speaks for Volvo's after-sales service when he says: "It is really customer card; when we sell a vehicle we take on a moral responsibility which we must meet."
John Bryant's view is that there can be no place for excuses or even reasons for failure in the after-market. "We must always be aware of what can happen and take avoiding corrective action before it happens."
Anders Levine holds the view that after-market activities start before the sale. "If we get it right then we gain customer 'confi dence."