Auto Special: JLR: Top dealer services support the premium brand

Jaguar Land Rover marked the inception of its Tailored Service Program offered at its 60th dealership in China late last month. Second from left is Ricardo Viana, executive vice-president of aftersales, Jaguar Land Rover China.

More Jaguar and Land Rover owners in China are now able to enjoy faster routine maintenance as the British premium carmaker brings its "Tailored Service Program" to more local dealerships.

Jaguar Land Rover's dealership in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, recently became the 60th outlet in its national sales and service network to join the program.

The carmaker began the initiative in January with an original target of 50 dealerships offering the program within the year - a goal that it already surpassed.

The program provides customers with more efficient, convenient and courteous after-sales services along with a top brand experience, the company said.

Now the largest market for Jaguar Land Rover worldwide, China is the first country where the carmaker offers the program, demonstrating its long-term commitment to provide high-quality service to local customers, it said.

Jaguar Land Rover's Tailored Service Programme focuses on providing efficient, high-quality services. It enables customers to make an appointment so that preparations can already be made beforehand. Upon arrival, customers are provided with reserved parking spaces and service bays, and are also guaranteed of the use of only genuine equipment and hardware.

The core of the program is improved maintenance. With special equipment, optimized flow and two technicians working together, it now takes as quick as 70 minutes to two hours to finish more than 100 standard maintenance items, depending on the vehicle condition, thus greatly saving customers at least half an hour compared with previous methods.

While the vehicles are being serviced at the workshop, customers can wait in the cozy reception room and watch the whole process through a glass wall or video monitor. They can also use the Internet or catch up on some work in the privacy of a cubicle, as well as enjoy a massage in the comfort of a private booth equipped with a plasma TV.

"The work actually starts before the client arrives. Technicians and service consultants will make sure everything is ready for "warm, careful, English butler-style service", the company said.

Executive Vice President of Aftersales, Jaguar Land Rover China, Ricardo Viana said, the program will spread to all the company's dealerships in China by next year.

The company now has 106 dealerships in the country with another 45 scheduled to open in the next few months.

Dealers are "very happy" about the Tailored Service Program because it increases efficiency and productivity, reduces costs and improves customer satisfaction, Viana said.

"There's no way to think about sustainable business if we don't have customer satisfaction," he added.

Viana assumed his current position in September 2012. The Brazilian has rich experience in after-sales from his previous work with Ford, Toyota and Nissan in Brazil.

As emerging markets, China and Brazil share many similarities, including rapidly increasing customer expectations for premium brands, he said.

He added the quality of Jaguar Land Rover dealers in China is already very good, not an easy achievement in such a fast-growing market.

In 2012, combined sales of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles surged over 74 percent to more than 73,000 units in China.

To ensure the quality of everyday services, Jaguar Land Rover China evaluates dealer performances using professional measurement systems.

It has also joined the International After-sales Customer Satisfaction survey, which showed both brands have seen steady increase in customer satisfaction in China over the past three years, according to Viana.

And "we can do even better" in future after-sales, he vowed, noting that a pillar strategy for Jaguar Land Rover is enhancing training of its dealership staff.

"We will have the most capable people working for us to service the vehicles in the best way possible," he said.

Currently, the carmaker has two training academies in China. The facilities in Beijing and Shanghai can train more than 10,000 members of dealership staff every year. The company plans to build a new academy in 2013 in the southern city Guangzhou to expand its training capacity.

The company also launched an Apprentice Training Program in 2011, to cultivate future technicians that are highly needed by the rapidly developing China auto market.

In partnerships with local vocational schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Guangzhou, Jaguar Land Rover has been providing courses, experienced instructors as well as cutting-edge vehicles, engines and gearboxes to aid students in their studies.

Nearly 160 students have been enrolled in the ATP all over China to date. The Beijing program has successfully placed 100 percent of graduates as interns at JLR dealerships, 85 percent of whom were signed on as permanent employees after.

More than 450 students are expected to graduate from the Apprentice Training Program by 2015, and they will receive priority in working at the company's dealerships across the country.

Jaguar Land Rover China also holds competitions such as the Elite Technician Competition, Sales Competences Grand Prix and Service Advisor Competency Grand Prix to improve dealer partners' strength in providing a superior brand experience that meets the carmaker's international standards.

In addition to human resources, the automaker believes that infrastructure is also important to improving after-sales services. The company will need to think about expanding coverage of its parts distribution centers as the business grows further, Viana said.

Even so, the carmaker's current five parts distribution centers in China are able to ensure fast parts distribution across the country, he added.

"We also have an automatic replenishment system for parts, which means that every day we know what's happening at all dealers in China, so we can react very fast to provide parts to the dealers," he said.

hantianyang@chinadaily.com.cn

Technicians demonstrate their top skills. Photos provided to China Daily

(China Daily 01/10/2013 page13)