Head of Aftersales Division Haidzir Sarih shared on how Daihatsu Malaysia realised the ideas encapsulated by the new Group slogan.
Daihatsu Reaffirm Commitment to Customers
Daihatsu launched its new group slogan – ‘Light You Up’ – on 1st March, 2017 to mark its 110th anniversary, with the aim of further refining the strengths that the Group has developed thus far. This new approach, according to the Group, would allow it to keep abreast of trends in global markets and changes in technologies, and provide products and services that prioritise each individual customer in every region.
In a recent exclusive interview, Truck & Bus News met up with Head of Aftersales Division Haidzir Sarih who shared how Daihatsu Malaysia realised the ideas encapsulated by the new Group slogan. Also present were After Sales Support Yus Nur Rezwan and Parts Manager Amiruddin Shamsuddin.
“We have prioritised each of our individual customers by demonstrating what we believe – every customer touchpoint starts with commitment and consistency. All of our vehicles are built according to Japan’s highest standard of quality to ensure that every Daihatsu on the road is consistently reliable with all-around performance. For instance, the Daihatsu Gran Max is a Completely Built Up (CBU) unit manufactured at PT Astra Daihatsu Motor (ADM) assembly plant in Jakarta, Indonesia. Before delivery, every Gran Max would go through a systematic manufacturing process with stringent quality control to ensure the quality is compliant with Japanese standards,” said Haidzir.
He stressed the importance of after-sales service, which was described as ‘indefinitely as important as the quality of a vehicle’ as it offered untapped potential to increase customer satisfaction and retention. “It generates customer’s loyalty, strengthens customer relationship, which would ultimately lead to repeat purchase and enhanced brand value. Thus, in short, good after-sales would help a company stay competitive in the market place and increase business revenue.”
Every new Daihatsu comes with a standard warranty. For a new Gran Max, it is 3 years or 100,000km.
“Even after the warranty period, my advice to clients is to come back to us or any authorised workshop for preventive maintenance and repair, as we know your Daihatsu better than others. Every Daihatsu truck and van is carefully inspected and serviced by our professional and highly experienced technicians and service team.”
Fewer Variants, Greater Focus
Compared to the other brands, he added, Daihatsu had fewer variants and this became one of the company’s strengths when it came to after-sales service. “This not only makes our maintenance service much easier and more focused, but also allows us to groom our technicians to become Daihatsu experts.”
Haidzir acknowledged that the initial cost was often higher than the independents but emphasised that one should also take the greater expertise and state-of-the art equipment of the authorised workshop into consideration.
“All Daihatsu authorised service centres are equipped with a sufficient number of hoists and service bays, dedicated tyre alignment and wheel alignment machines as well as the latest diagnostic tools. This means that the maintenance and repairs would be conducted faster – and in the end the initial investment is well worth it and put to good use,” he added.
Furthermore, he said, Daihatsu Malaysia carried 2,000 lines of genuine active parts to ensure spare-parts availability. “With a good and effective spare-parts inventory management system, we could track spare-parts’ movement and ensure they are accessible to our own and dealers’ service centres. We understand that unplanned downtime is bad for business but the availability of spare-parts would help our customers get their vehicles back on the road faster. All Daihatsu genuine parts come with 1 year or 20,000km warranty coverage.”
To cater for the need of the more price conscious customers, the company also offers in-house brand spare-parts, which come with 3 months or 5,000km warranty coverage. “Of course, these selected OEM parts have to meet our quality standards before they are recommended to our customers to avoid jeopardising the vehicle performance.”
Also available is the body and paint service that is performed by Daihatsu experts in accordance with the global standard. He said there was a difference between repairing your damaged vehicle and restoring it to its pre-accident condition.
“Our authorised body and paint workshops would ensure complete restoration of the vehicle to its operational and safety status,” he added.
At present, the Daihatsu nationwide network comprises 25 showrooms, 37 after-sales service centres, 8 body and paint centres as well as 78 parts dealers.
“We also offer on-site service for the convenience of our customers, especially those who could not come to our centres for regular services due to location or a busy schedule. We have a dedicated Mobile Service Team, which comprises 5 Daihatsu mobile service units covering Klang Valley, Ipoh, Batu Pahat, Johore Bahru and Kota Kinabalu. Customers could call to make an appointment at their convenience.”
Taking Kaizen Approach
Daihatsu Malaysia strives to provide the best after-sales service possible by implementing the Kaizen approach. He said this approach was taken based on the belief that continuous, incremental improvement would add up to a substantial change over time. It would ultimately help the company improve efficiency, customer satisfaction, competitiveness and profitability.
“We first applied Kaizen practices within our own service centres before introducing it to our dealers. One of the improvement initiatives was to identify inactive customers to understand why they stopped coming to our service centres after the warranty period. Tackling the right issues enable us to provide solutions and exploit opportunities. For instance, we found that many customers did not know that we have our own in-house brand spare-parts.”
Long waiting hours for servicing is another common issue when customers send their vehicle to the dealerships. “Hence, an Express Maintenance Bay (EMB) is made available at all of our branches where on average, a job takes within an hour to complete.”
With the aggressive implementation of Kaizen since January last year, he added the result had been obvious. The customer retention rate was increased by 10 per cent.
Haidzir concluded that the company would continue to make every effort to further enhance its after-sales service. “Commitment and consistency are not only incredibly efficient sales techniques, but they are what we promise to deliver.”
大发相信每一个客户接触点都始于承诺和一致性
大发于2017年3月1日发布了其最新的集团口号 –“Light You Up” ，作为它成立110周年的纪念，旨在进一步提升该集团迄今为止所发展的优势。据该集团指出，此新方法将助力它拥抱全球的新趋势和科技改变，为每一个区域的个别客户提供以他们优先的产品和服务。
《卡客车新闻》近日独家采访了售后服务部主管海德杰（Haidzir Sarih），他与我们分享马来西亚大发如何落实该集团新口号的概念。出席的还有售后支援尤斯（Yus Nur Rezwan）和零部件经理阿敏鲁丁（Amiruddin Shamsuddin）。
“我们透过秉持每一个客户接触点始于承诺和一致性的信念，优先考虑我们个别客户的需求。我们所有的车辆都是按照日本最高品质标准来制造的，确保在路上行驶的每一辆大发都拥有一致的可靠性和全面的性能。比方说，大发Gran Max是从印尼雅加达的PT Astra Daihatsu Motor（ADM）组装厂整装进口（CBU） 到大马的。在交付前，每一辆Gran Max都会经过有系统，品管严格的制造程序，确保它们的品质符合日本的标准。”海德杰说。
他强调售后服务的重要性，并形容它为犹如‘汽车品质那般地无限重要’，因为它正是提升客户满意度和保留客户的未开发潜能。 “它能够建立客户的忠诚度、强化客户关系，最终带来重复购买和强化品牌价值。因此，简而言之，良好的售后服务可协助客户保有市场竞争力和提高生意利润。”
每一辆全新的大发都附有保修。一辆新的Gran Max拥有3年或100，000 公里的保修期。
“在保修期截止后，我给客户的建议还是将他们的车子送回我们的服务中心或任何授权修车厂进行预防性维护和修理，因为我们比任何人更了解你的大发。每一辆大发卡车和客货车，都会经过我们专业和经验丰富的技术人员和服务团队的检测。”
较少车型，更加专注
他补充说，与其它的品牌相比，大发的车型不多，而这竟然成了该公司的其中一项优势，特别是在售后服务方面。“这不仅使我们的维护服务变得更容易和更为专注，也使我们能够将我们的技术人员培养成大发专家。”
海德杰承认最初的养护成本一般会比独立修车厂来得更高，但强调说客户也应将授权修车厂里更专业的知识和尖端的设备考虑在内。
“所有的大发授权服务中心都拥有足够的升降机和服务工位，专门的轮胎定位仪，以及最新的诊断仪。这意味着养护和修理能够更快速地进行— 因此这个最后的最初投资是值得的，并取得了预期的效果。”他补充。
他说，马来西亚大发存有2,000生产线的纯正现有零部件，确保零部件的供应。“拥有良好和有效的零部件存货管理系统 ，使我们能够追踪备件的移动，确保我们自己的服务中心和代理服务中心，能够取得供应。我们了解突如其来的停机对业务会有不良的影响，而备件的取得可协助客户的车辆更快地回到路上。所有的大发纯正零部件都附带1年或20,000公里的保修。”
为了满足注重价格的客户需求，该公司也提供自有品牌备件。这些备件附带3个月或5,000公里保修。“当然，在我们将这些特选的原厂配备推荐给客户前，它们必须符合我们的品质标准，避免危害车辆的性能。”
此外，还有由大发专家提供，符合全球标准的车身喷漆服务。他说，修理坏损的车辆和将其恢复到事故发生前的状态之间是有分别的。
“我们的授权车身喷漆修车厂会确保车辆操作的完整修复和安全标准。”他补充 。
目前大发在全国拥有25家陈列室、37家售后服务服务中心、8家车身喷漆中心，以及78家零部件代理商。
“为了方便客户，特别是那些因为地点或工作太过于繁忙，无法定期到我们的服务中心进行养护服务的客户， 我们还提供现场服务。我们拥有专门的移动服务团队，由5辆大发移动服务车组成，覆盖巴生谷、怡保、峇株巴辖、新山及哥打京那巴鲁。客户可打电话来预约方便他们的时间。”
采用“Kaizen”方式
马来西亚大发透过落实“Kaizen”，提供最好的售后服务。他说，这个方式建基于持续、不断提高的改善将会随着时间的推移，带来巨大的改变。它最终将协助公司改善效率、客户满意度、竞争力及盈利。
“在将它介绍给代理前，我们先在自己的服务中心实行‘Kaizen’。其中的一个改善倡议是识别那些不活跃的客户，以便了解他们在保修期后不再到我们的服务中心进行服务的原因。正确地针对问题，让我们能够提供解决方案和发掘商机。比如说，我们发现很多客户不知道我们有提供自有品牌的备件。”
等候服务的时间太长也是另一个客户在送他们车子到代理服务中心时所碰到的最普遍问题。“因此，在我们所有的分行，我们都会有一个快速维护工位（Express Maintenance Bay），一般的养护平均一小时就可完成。”
他补充说，自去年积极落实“Kaizen”以来，他们看到了显著的改善。客户保有率提高了10%。
海德杰总结说，公司将继续尽力进一步加强其售后服务。“承诺与一致性不仅只是非常有效的销售技巧，而是我们对客户承诺的实现。”
