Valvoline.com

The Waiting Game

Dealership service lounges cater to the customer

Chances are, when you step into an auto dealership today, or any kind of especially upscale marque's service center, you're going to see a big difference in the area where you, the customer, sit and wait while your vehicle is being repaired.

Customer Disservice

Usually, despite the stature of the franchise, you would find several uncomfortable, often dirty industrial benches, not unlike something out of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (maybe even leftover from the movie set). A chipped Formica coffee table littered with months-old dog-eared magazines and a dirty, dreary coffeemaker with all the Styrofoam java provisions might complete the experience. Don't forget Jerry Springer blaring on the TV (you know, the one with the channel and volume controls permanently stuck?). Makes you want to run right out and catch the bus.

Competitive Hospitality

Fortunately, things have changed. And not just a little bit. Now dealerships are going out of their way to be hospitable. Not only do most stores provide a comfortable lounge, with appealing furniture and an assortment of amenities such as workstations with Internet connections and other facilities, but today's revolutionary dealers also provide their customers with a variety of refreshments. Water is one thing: some dealers go all out with a comprehensive coffee service (provided by an outside vendor most likely) that offers up anywhere from two to five different flavors. Perhaps Danish or bagels also are included, free of charge. These coffee bars range from useful to elegant, perhaps, depending on how upscale the brand of vehicles being sold in the showroom next door.

Attached to these luxo-lounges is typically a parts and accessories department. But this too has become more than just a pegboard holding mats and car fresheners. Elaborate display cases and apparel racks feature key aftermarket products and merchandise as well as signature brand shirts, hats, backpacks and other must-have brand-coordinated goods.

All of this is conveniently located so the relaxed and nourished patron—you—having checked your email and feeling better about life in general, can explore the various products designed to help improve your relationship with the marque. Like products appropriately placed on grocery store shelves—sugary-based items at low level for children; bran foods and other adult items at a more logical eye level for grown-ups—these products are all lovingly displayed to captivate the customer and entice a purchase. Of course, while you roam around, in some cases there are additional snacks available in this arena, in the form of branded candy or energy bars. The coddling of the customer continues.

Drive-Thru?

Some dealerships have gone a step further. Daycare centers and jungle gyms have been installed, enabling a parent to bring a child along and keep that youngster occupied while browsing through a day's work or the parts department.

And then there is the choice dealership that offers an on-site restaurant. It's the ultimate treat for the customer, and perhaps plays to the dealer's own desire to offer more than just shiny new and used cars. Naturally, the customer must pay for this additional amenity, but in many cases, the prices within these dealership restaurants are very reasonable and the food is surprisingly good. The theme of most of these restaurants? Why, a diner, obviously. What else?

What's the rationale behind these upgrades? Competition, for one. Many customers have gone to independent sources for service, for proximity, availability, better schedules and any number of other reasons. So, the dealerships have had to one-up these smaller service shops by offering better amenities. Some of the larger independents have responded in kind by improving the lounges of their own shops, but many simply do not have the budget to do so. Thus, customers who tire of the dirty seats at their local service center, and have heard via word-of-mouth from the neighbor who just bought his new luxury vehicle how wonderful the dealership has become, may return "home," so to speak. And that's good news for the dealer, who counts on service as a main source of revenue.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Secondly, the dealer's automaker is in part forcing the dealer to improve his facility. Perhaps "forcing" is too strong. "Convincing" may be more acceptable, but the bottom line is: today's progressive dealer realizes how important it is to freshen and improve the store to keep both customer and his supplier, i.e. the manufacturer, happy. CSI, the Customer Satisfaction Index, also has become a critical tool the manufacturers use to gauge how effective the dealer is with his or her customer base. A high CSI means the dealer and the store's staff, especially those with whom the customer comes in regular contact (the service writer and the parts retailer most notably) are making sure their customers are well taken care of. And that means going the extra yard to satisfy the customer and keep you coming back.

So, as you sit in your private cubicle, munching on that fresh croissant and downing your second cup of mocha mint parfait, knowing that your car is being serviced by factory-trained professionals, you glance around at the beautiful artwork surrounded by calming music and an air freshener that is out of this world, and recognize that this is no longer your grandfather's, or your father's, dealership. This is the 21st Century and, thankfully, your dealer has embraced it and, well, it is a charming place.