Getting Customer Satisfaction Right
I was recently reading a blog post on LinkedIn by Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance on the way that electric vehicles are now becoming mainstream. While the main focus was on the technical achievement and the sales, there were two things that particularly drew my attention.
The first was that customer satisfaction for owners of the electric vehicles is among the highest of all their vehicles. This is noteworthy because the industry has always had a concern that electric vehicles would not meet customer’s expectations, and consequently leave the customer dissatisfied. I believe that Nissan have consistently been honest and forthcoming about their electric cars, truthfully stating the expected range, and working hard to improve the infrastructure. As a consequence, they have been able to meet the realistic expectations the customer has developed.
That being said, the government incentives and the efforts of municipal governments to put charging stations in place haven’t hurt, but kudos to the manufacturer for believing that would happen in parallel with their sales drive.
Secondly, was the fact that the blog post focussed on one individual customer, Yves Nivelle, who had bought the 250000th vehicle, and made the story about him. In fact, not only the story, but also an accompanying video. A company who isn’t afraid to talk about their customers and even talk to their customers in public is a company that is serious about their commitment to customer satisfaction.
It looks to me that Nissan understand the relationship between customer service and customer satisfaction and are committed to ensure that both grow together.
Guest author: Colin Hensley @colingoeu
Colin has wide experience in managing and building brand and organisational reputations including more than 15 years in the automotive industry. He has had responsibility for communications and public affairs spanning public and private institutions across three continents.
