Taking action is the best way to improve customer satisfaction and BMW impresses on dealers that the likely outcome is more repeat business. We took that pressure away and put much more focus on the actions the dealer should take. Looking at the scores was what really poisoned our CSI strategy. There was no meaningful way of responding to the scores, apart from pressuring the dealer to somehow improve them. The scores were totalled up every few months or at the end of the year, but it was a futile exercise. The old system had put too much focus on calculating a customer satisfaction index (CSI), says Boesch. Customers get a response to the form within 24 hours and the goal is to resolve any issues within five days. Instead, the focus is on discovering any issues and taking action to put them right. The point of the exercise is no longer simply calculating a score. More importantly, it gives valuable feedback to which BMW and its dealers can immediately respond. immediately increased response rate by 50%. It allows us to find out what is on the customers mind. The new survey format had two significant impacts, says Nicolas Boesch, Customer Experience Manager: Dealers ask customers to complete the survey after each service visit or vehicle purchase.
In place of the old 30-question survey, the car manufacturer introduced a new survey with just four questions, plus a free-form final question where the customer could add any other comments. That's why BMW of North America scrapped them nearly five years ago. Those detailed customer satisfaction questionnares that many of us never bother to fill in after buying a product or service are often counter-productive, even when customers do make the effort.