Among new-vehicle owners in the Philippines, the quality of after-sales service provided at authorized service centers has improved by a notable 12 points year over year, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2014 Philippines Customer Service Index (CSI) StudySM released today.
Now in its 14th year, the study measures overall satisfaction among vehicle owners who visit an authorized service center for maintenance or repair work during the first 12 to 24 months of ownership based on five factors (listed in alphabetical order): service advisor; service facility; service initiation; service quality; and vehicle pick-up. Overall satisfaction is measured on a 1,000-point scale.
“As the automotive market in the Philippines enjoys double-digit growth, new-vehicle owners—most of whom are first-time buyers—seek a stress-free and positive experience at their authorized service center,” said Loic Pean, senior manager at J.D. Power Asia Pacific.
KEY FINDINGS
- • Overall customer satisfaction remains stable at 826 points, up 1 point from 2013.
- • Service quality increases to 828 in 2014, primarily due to general improvements in the thoroughness of work performed (16% delighted customers in 2014 vs. 11% in 2013) and cleanliness of vehicle on return (80% of vehicles returned both washed and vacuumed vs. 76% in 2013).
- • Despite improvements in service quality, the average number of service standards being implemented has decreased to 19.3 in 2014 from 19.4 in 2013. Moreover, there is an increase in the proportion of customers who indicate that detailed cost estimates were not provided before the service was initiated (25% in 2014 vs. 11% in 2013), which negatively impacts satisfaction.
- • Additionally, the number of service time estimates has declined year over year, as 5 percent of customers say that the service center did not promise when their vehicle would be ready after service, compared with 2 percent in 2013. Satisfaction declines when centers do not provide an estimate of the service time and when service takes more time than promised (-62 points and -61 points, respectively, below industry average).
- • A growing percentage of customers indicate the wait at the service center is unreasonable (23% in 2014 vs. 19% in 2013), which is most likely the result of increases in the time required to complete the paperwork and to pick up the vehicle after service (30% of customers indicate that it took 20 minutes or more in 2014, up by 13 percentage points from 2013).
- • Advocacy and loyalty are closely related to satisfaction with a dealer’s overall service performance, as 70 percent of delighted customers (overall satisfaction scores of 10) say they “definitely will” return to the same service center for post-warranty service, and 68 percent say they “definitely will” re-purchase a vehicle from the service dealer, compared with 13 percent and 6 percent, respectively, among dissatisfied customers (scores of 5 and lower).
“While the quality of service is improving, overall satisfaction levels remain below that of neighboring countries, and the level of assistance that customers receive remains insufficient,” said Pean. “One simple action that dealers can take to help positively impact satisfaction is to actively monitor customer feedback after each service visit. The 2014 study finds that among customers who report a problem, after a follow-up call and problem resolution, satisfaction and loyalty levels are on par with those customers who experience no problems at all.”
CSI Study Rankings
Among the 10 brands ranked in this year’s study, Nissan ranks highest with an overall score of 844. Nissan performs particularly well in four of the five factors: service quality; service advisor; vehicle pick-up; and
service initiation.
Following Nissan in the rankings is Honda, which performs particularly well in service facility.
Suzuki improves the most among all the brands included in the study, achieving a score of 831, which is 23 points higher than in 2013.
The 2014 Philippines Customer Service Index (CSI) Study measures customer satisfaction with the servicing and vehicle return process. The study is based on responses from 1,733 vehicle owners who took their vehicle to an authorized service center for servicing during the first 12 to 24 months of ownership (February 2012 to May 2013) in the Philippines market. The study covers 63 vehicle models.