Η Mercedes και η MINI στην κορυφή της έρευνας ικανοποίησης ιδιοκτητών της J.D. Power

21:22 26/11/2014 - Πηγή: AutoBlog

Παραδοσιακά, όταν μιλάμε για την εμπειρία αγοράς ενός αυτοκινήτου, οι Αμερικάνοι καταναλωτές βαθμολογούν πολύ ψηλά τους Ευρωπαίους κατασκευαστές. Αυτό αποδεικνύεται για άλλη μία χρονιά από την Sales Satisfaction Index Study της J.D. Power που βρίσκει την Mercedes-Benz και την Mini στην κορυφή.

Η Mercedes-Benz, βαθμολογήθηκε με 761 πόντους, παρουσίασε

την μεγαλύτερη βελτίωση από χρονιά σε χρονιά, αυξάνοντας κατά 33 πόντους το σκορ της και κατέκτησε την κορυφή για πρώτη φορά στα 24 χρόνια της μελέτης. Ο CEO της Mercedes-Benz USA, Steve Cannon, απέδωσε την πρωτιά στην υλοποίηση διάφορων προγραμμάτων βελτίωσης της εξυπηρέτησης πελατών και σημείωσε πως σύμφωνα με την μελέτη, η Γερμανική φίρμα χρησιμοποιεί με διπλάσια συχνότητα από τους ανταγωνιστές της, tablets και έχει δημιουργήσει μία εμπειρία που φαίνεται πως έχει απήχηση σε νεότερους σε ηλικία αγοραστές.

Στην δεύτερη θέση ανάμεσα στους κατασκευαστές πολυτελείας βρέθηκε η Infiniti, στην τρίτη η Jaguar που το 2013 βρισκόταν στην κορυφή, στην τέταρτη η Lexus και στην πέμπτη, η Porsche. Κάτω από τον μέσο όρο στην κατηγορία, βρέθηκαν οι: Cadillac, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Lincoln, Land Rover και Acura με την σειρά που εμφανίζονται στη λίστα.

Η Mini από την άλλη, κατακτά την πρώτη θέση στους mainstream κατασκευαστές για 5η συνεχόμενη χρονιά, σκοράροντας 727 πόντους και βελτιώνοντας την βαθμολογία της κατά 9 μονάδες σε σύγκριση με το 2013. Κάτω από την Mini αλλά πάνω από τον μέσο όρο της κατηγορίας, βρέθηκαν οι: Buick για δεύτερη συνεχόμενη χρονιά, Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen και Hyundai. Στον αντίποδα, κάτω από τον μέσο όρο βρέθηκαν εταιρίες όπως η Nissan, η Chrysler, η Subaru, η Mazda, η Scion, η KIA, η Jeep, η Dodge, η RAM και η Mitsubishi.

Η 2014 US Sales Satisfaction Index Study, βασίζεται σε απαντήσεις 29.805 πελατών που αγόρασαν ένα καινούριο αυτοκίνητο τον Απρίλιο ή τον Μάιο του 2014. Η έρευνα αναλύει την εμπειρία αγοράς ενός καινούριου αυτοκινήτου και μετρά την ικανοποίηση του πελάτη από την εξυπηρέτηση του αντιπροσώπου ενώ συνυπολογίζει και την ικανοποίηση από αντιπρόσωπους εταιριών που απορρίφθηκαν για χάρη της μάρκας που εν τέλει αγόρασε ο πελάτης.

Δελτίο Τύπου

Mercedes-Benz Ranks Highest among Luxury Brands; MINI Ranks Highest among Mass Market Brands for a Fifth Consecutive Year

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 13 November 2014 — In today’s marketplace, vehicles are more frequently equipped with advanced technology features which may be perceived by consumers as too complex to operate. To address that issue, dedicated product specialists are playing an increasingly larger role in the sales process at dealerships, according to the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) StudySM released today.

The study, now in its 28th year, measures satisfaction with the sales experience among new-vehicle buyers and rejecters—those who shop a dealership and purchase elsewhere. Buyer satisfaction is based on four factors (in order of importance): working out the deal (17%); salesperson (13%); delivery process (11%); and facility (10%). Rejecter satisfaction is based on five factors (in order of importance): salesperson (21%); fairness of price (8%); experience negotiating (8%); variety of inventory (7%); and facility (7%). Satisfaction is calculated on a 1,000-point scale. Overall sales satisfaction improves by 13 points year over year to 686 in 2014 from 673 in 2013.

Increasingly, dealers are employing product specialists to enhance the new-vehicle sales process by demonstrating vehicle features and technological innovations. They may also conduct second or follow-up sessions with buyers to reinforce feature understanding. Industry-wide, 15 percent of customers indicate they worked with both a salesperson and a separate product specialist when shopping for their vehicle. This percentage is slightly higher among buyers of premium vehicles (19%) than among those purchasing non-premium vehicles (15%). Regardless of segment, overall sales satisfaction is slightly higher among buyers who work with a product specialist than among those who work only with a salesperson (856 vs. 853, respectively, for premium; 809 vs. 806, respectively, for non-premium).

“With such tech-heavy vehicles today, introducing product specialists into the sales process helps improve the delivery process and customer understanding of how to operate key features,” said Chris Sutton, vice president of the automotive retail practice at J.D. Power. “Dealerships need to be mindful when dividing a customer’s time between a salesperson, product specialist, and the finance and insurance representative. That’s a lot of customer touch points. Adding more time to the sales process usually has a negative effect on sales satisfaction; thus, dealers need to ensure an integrated approach that respects a customer’s time.”

KEY FINDINGSWhen a customer works with both a salesperson and a product specialist, satisfaction with thoroughness of feature explanation improves to 8.1 (on a 10-point scale) from 7.9.Working with both a salesperson and product specialist is becoming more commonplace among new-vehicle buyers. Additionally, when assisted by a salesperson and product specialist working together vs. only a salesperson, a higher percentage of customers indicate dealer staff connected their phone to Bluetooth (79% vs. 76%, respectively); explained how to operate the navigation system (84% vs. 82%, respectively); and explained the communications system (88% vs. 86%, respectively).The most important key performance indicator (KPI) in the sales process is the salesperson’s ability to completely understand the customer’s needs. This KPI is met 86 percent of the time and, when met, can positively impact overall satisfaction by up to 104 points.The use of a computer/tablet in communicating price/payment helps drive satisfaction for working out the deal (784 vs. 770 in 2013). Satisfaction among customers who are shown pricing/payment on a computer screen/tablet is higher (827) than among those who receive this information in printed form (805), by verbal quotes (774), or as handwritten figures (764).Computer/tablet use by dealer personnel while presenting price/payment options has increased to 22 percent from 18 percent in 2013.Rankings

Mercedes-Benz ranks highest in sales satisfaction among luxury brands, with a score of 761, and also improves the most (+33 points) from 2013.

For a fifth consecutive year, MINI ranks highest among mass market brands, with a score of 727, a 9-point increase from 2013. Among mass market brands, Buick improves the most (+32 points) year over year and ranks ninth in 2014, moving up from 13th in 2013.

The 2014 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study is based on responses from 29,805 buyers who purchased or leased their new vehicle in April or May 2014. The study is a comprehensive analysis of the new-vehicle purchase experience and measures customer satisfaction with the selling dealer (satisfaction among buyers). The study also measures satisfaction with brands and dealerships that were shopped but ultimately rejected in favor of the selling brand and dealership (satisfaction among rejecters), and was fielded between July and September 2014.