CustomerExperienceinCarRental 6SuggestionstoimproveCustomerExperienceinCarRental!! The$following$illustrates$lessons$learned$from$implementing$Customer$Experience$management$solutions$in$ the$car$rental$industry$by$eco$consumer$services,$a$cx$software$and$services$vendor$(www.geteco.com).$ The$author,$Ken$Reimer$is$a$former$VP$of$Sixt$Rent$Car$of$Asia$Pacific$and$used$to$own$the$Sixt$Franchise$in$ Singapore.$$Aug$2014$ EcoConsumerServices,Inc. 2701SouthBayshoreDrive#303,CoconutGrove,FL33133+ www.geteco.com (305)7225817
CustomerExperienceinCarRental 2!! Car$Rentalislargelyacommoditizedbusiness:therentalfleetismainlydeterminedby residualvaluedevelopmentofthevehicleswithmanyofthesuitablevehiclesbeing usedbymostrentalcompanies.rentallocationsaretypicallylinedupsidebyside alongthesamestreetorneatlyinarowatthecounterattheairport,andrentalrates areprettymuchallaligned.fromwherethecustomerstands,thereislittledifference besidesthecorporatecolorthecarrentalcompanychosestouse.inlinewithother businesseswherecommoditizationisadrivingfactor(suchasbanks),creatingsuperior CustomerExperiencebecomesthelastfrontierwherethebattleformarketsharetakes place. HereareafewideasfromourCXtreasurechestthatmightproveusefulandthatmight stimulateyourcreativityandinspiretoserviceyourcustomersinamemorableway: 1.Impressearlyon CustomerServiceismostlyasubjectivematter.Takewaitingtime.Howlong toolong is,dependsverymuchonanumberoffactorsthatdeterminethecustomer s perception.(checkoutthisresearch).fromourclientprojectswe venoticedthatitpays offtoimpressfromtheearliesttouchpointswiththecustomer.thiscreatesamore tolerantmindsetandalikezabilitythatthecustomer defends evenwiththeonsetof someminorincidentsatalaterpointintheservicecycle.ournumberssuggestthatitis difficultforcustomerstodislikeavendorthathadimpressedthemfromtheonset. TakeoneofourearlyprojectswithasmallerCarrentalcompanywith6locationsin NewZealandwhereweimplementedapreZarrivalrequestprocess.Customerswere sentoutaquickemail24hourspriortotheplannedpickuptimeaskingthemifthereis anythingwecanhelpwithandprovideforthembeforetheyarrive.theyweregiventhe optiontoselectfromsomechargeableitems(childseat,navisystem,etc)andfree items(iphonecharger,etc). Participationbycustomerswasashighas38%atsomebranches.Notonlydidthis increaseupzsellingvolumebutitalsokickedoffthecustomer sjourneyinamost positiveway.weavoidedonpurposeanypaymentprocessing,butsimplyallowedthe customertoselecttheadditionalserviceitemstheywereinterestedin.pricingand commitmentthenoccurredatthecounterduringvehiclepickup.
ProposalForDecoFamilia 3 InpostZexperiencesurveyswelaterconducted, charger wasoneofthemostcommon phrasesusedinapositivecontext.thetotalcostofeachchargerwasonly$3apiece (fromalibaba.com)andthechargersarereusable. WiththepreZarrivalrequest,weensuredthatourcustomerleavesthecounterfully satisfiedandis tuned positivelyfortheremainedofthetrip. 2.Personalizetheinvitationtoengage. No,reallydo! Imagineyoureceivetwodifferentmessagesfromtherentallocationafewhoursafter youpickedupthecar. Onereads: Wehopeyouareenjoyingyourdrive.Shouldyouneedassistance,please feelfreetocontactusbyreplyingtothismessage..
CustomerExperienceinCarRental 4 theother: HiAlex.Ihopeyouareenjoyingthecar.Ifyouneedanyassistanceduring yourtrip,pleasefeelfreetocontactusbyreplyinghere.havefunwiththecity&sea museumlatertoday! Thesecondmessageisthetypeofmessagethatimpressescustomers.Itaddresses thembynameandrelatesbacktoabriefconversationthestaffmemberhadwiththe customer. Besidesthecustomaryaddressbyname,weimplementedthesecondtypeofmessage simplybypoppingupascreenduringcheckout,wherethecounterstaffcanadda singlesentencetothedefaultmessagetemplatethatisbeingsentout.you llbe fascinatedwithwhatdifferenceasuchalittleaddzonsentencecanmake!notonlydoes ittakeonanentirelydifferenttonewhencommunicatingwiththecustomerbutitalso setsuptherightmindsetwiththeservicestafftolookforapersonalizedconversation overthecounter(so theyhavethematerial totypethatsentence). Ifyoulookattheword cloudderivedfromall positivecustomer feedbackcollectedover time,youwillseethat personal comesoutas oneofthestrongest impressionsleftonthe customer. 3.Askwhatyoucando nothowyoudid(andseeonlinereferralsgrow) Collectingfeedbackfromcustomerscanserveentirelydifferentpurposes.Inmost companies,feedbackisconsideredassomethingyouaskthecustomerafterthe completionofyourservices.manybusinessesalsoaresatisfiedwithaparticipationrate ofapprox.2%oftheentirecustomertraffic.(asaruleofthumb,2%typicallyoften sufficestospotlargerissueswithinyourbusiness).toreallyderivevaluefromthis process,projectsneedtobelaunchedtofixaselectedfewissuesthatweredetected throughthesurveys. Incontrasttothat,feedbackcantakeonamuchmoreproZactiveandpreventative nature:ratherthanaskingonlyafterthevehiclereturnprocess,offerthecustomerto sharebeforeandduringtherentalhowtheywanttobeservedorifthereisanyissue theyareexperiencing.askingforfeedback inzthezmoment willleadtocustomers
ProposalForDecoFamilia 5 appealingtoyouwith1or2particularissuesthatyoucanfocusontoresolveanyissues thecustomersmaybeexperiencing. Istheaddedeffortofconstantlylisteningouttothecustomerduringtheexperience worthit?youjudge:ourcustomershaveexperiencedareductionoftheirnegative onlinereviewsby54%,withstrongresultsvisiblejustwithin6weeksofimplementinga prozactiveexperiencetrackingprogramandaboostofpositivereviewsbyafactorof 1.8Z9.0times!(Customersthatsendinpositivecommentsweremadeawarebythe systemthatthebusinessisfeaturedonsiteslikeyelpwithaspecificlinktotheoutlet s branchlistingonyelp).throughoutourprojects,wealsofoundthattheaddedeffort youwillincurbybeinginteractiveandresponsiveisverymanageable,oftennot incrementalbutalwaysverymuchappreciatedbythecustomer.donotethough,thatif youareofferingtoengageyourcustomersthroughsocialchannelsyouwillhaveto respondquicklytorequests.anumberofreportsshowvaryingexpectationsby customers,however,allreportsagreethatroughlyhalfofallsocialmediausers expectingtoberepliedtowithinthehouroratleastjustafewhoursaftertheirpost wasmade. 4.Askingforfeedback:makeituseful&worthyourcustomer swhile Whencompaniesimplementcustomerexperienceorcustomerfeedbackprograms,the conceptofaskingcustomersacrossmultiplestepsoftheircustomerjourneyisa growingandreadilyacceptedconcept.however,companiesoftenstrugglewithhowto bestinvolvecustomersintotheprocesswithoutbecomingannoyingtothecustomer andconstantlyaskingtorateyourservices. Oneofthebestwaystoavoid SurveyFatigue or overzsurveying issimplynottoask plainlyforfeedbackbuttodirectyourquestiontoamoreutilityztypetransactionand makeitpartofthetransaction.onesuchexampleistheprezarrivalengagement invitationthatweexplainedabove( howcanweprepareyourrental ).Otherideasfor rentalcarcompaniesaree.g.toprovidesimplelinksinreservationconfirmationsorin postzrentalbillingconfirmationsthataresentviaemailandaskthecustomertogetin touchthroughthoselinksincasethereareissueswiththeseprocesses.youmayalso justaddanadditional whathaveyoulikedmostaboutourservicessofar questionas anadditionalfieldduringafrequentdrivermembershipsignup.inotherwords,instead ofaskingthecustomertofilloutlengthysurveysthatcoveryourentireservice spectrum,youmayaskthemineachstepoftheprocessiftheyareexperiencingany issueswithinthatprocessstep.asyouaggregateallresponsescollectedfromyour customers,youwillbeabletodevelopcategorizedreportsusingappropriatetext analyticssolutions.inotherwordsyoudon tneedtoaskcustomerstorateyourservice allthetime,instead,youcanjustincludetheirtroubleticketsintoyourcustomer satisfactionreporting.youneedtherighttoolsdoso,but,withyouwillbeabletofind ampleoptionsforminimalcostsintoday ssaasmarkets.
CustomerExperienceinCarRental 6 Youcanprobablyalsoaskyourcustomeraboutonceintherentalcycletogiveyou feedbackabouttheirservicesingeneral.ifyouwanttoboostparticipation,itmightbe agoodideatoofferthemarewardforsharingortomakeasmalldonationtoacharity foreachfeedbacktheysend.rewardsthatworkwellareloyaltypoints,freeupgrades tothenextcarcategory,orevenjustanupgradediscountfortheirnextrental.notonly willitgetthecustomertalking,butitalsomakesthemreturnbacktoyourorganization andfinallyincreasesyourrentalincomepercustomer. 5.Becompellinglyeasytotalkto Oneofthethingsweeducateourcustomersonmostofourprojectsisthatcustomers areextremelyselectivewithhowtheyspendtheirtimeinteractingwithcompanies.if theyfeelthatsendinginformationtoyouisjustalittletedious,theywillimmediately punishyouwithlowadoptionrates.ourmostsuccessfulmethodsofcommunicating withcustomersaretexting(sms)orsimple1fieldorquestionsurveys.suchbroad based,compellinglyeasycommunicationchannelsareessentialstoamuchlarger participationrateandbuildqualityexperienceprofilesandknowledgeaboutalarge shareofyourcustomers( demographicofone ).Onecommunicationchannelthatstill workssurprisinglywellisvoicebasedfeedback,wherecustomerjustleaveavoice messagewiththeiropinion.again,theretoolsinthemarketthatwillallowyoutocost effectivelycollectsuchdataandhavethemanalyzedautomatically.
ProposalForDecoFamilia 7 6.Letyourbranchmanagersandteammembersknowthatyouareinterestedand awareofcustomerfeedback Onecommontraitthatallourmostsuccesfulcustomerexperienceprojectshaveisthat managers(e.g.territorymanagers)getinvolvedandshowthattheyaretakingnoticeof frontlineeffortoftheirstaff.thereisaverydifferentmotivationalresultifyoureviewa quarterly Score inaformalreviewmeeting,vssendingaquickcommenttothefront linestaffthatwascomplimentedbyacustomerjustafewminutesagoforheroutzofz thezwayservicestylewithcustomers.somesolutionsallowyoutunenotifications settingsinsuchamannerthatseniorstaffmanagersonlygetnotifiedaboutthe severelypositiveornegativefeedbacksothattheyaren tswampedwithalertsand commentsandcangetinvolvedinthereallyinterestingcases.whatisimportanthere istoshowappreciationtothestaffandtoletthemknowtheireffortisvisible throughouttheorganization.wehaveseenthissimpleprocessformstronghabitsona branchlevelandcreatearenownsenseofjointattentivenesstowardthecustomer. Simplystuffthatmakesyourcustomersrememberandpreferyourorganizationover othersinaseeminglycommoditizedbusiness. L$Liked$this$article?$Please$share$your$thoughts$with$us!here!-$ (The$processes$mentioned$above$are$all$supported$with$by$ECS s$solution,$a$leading$ customer$experience$solution$for$the$medium$sized$enterprise.$request$more$information$ about$ecs s$car$rental$solutionhere)