Just Another Customer

Side of Fries with Your Oil Change? - Now That You Mention It…

Customer Feedback can be Difficult to Solicit and Creative Efforts are Well Worth the Trouble

Event: 30,000 mile service for my car
Location: Clarksville, MD
Company: Hillmuth Automotive
Customer Experience Grade: B

What was done right:
A week or so ago, I took my car to Hillmuth Automotive, a local car maintenance/ repair shop, for 30,000 mile service. I don’t use them as often as I used to for routine maintenance as the local Jiffy Lube actually does a very good job and is much more reasonably priced. For more involved service, I still have more trust in Hillmuth.

As usual,the work was done in a timely manner and the service very professional. After paying and leaving though, I got a little “gift” with my receipt. It was a coupon redeemable at a local Outback Steakhouse for anyone who took the time to fill out an online customer satisfaction survey. Even though I don’t eat out often (two small kids), I thought this was a great idea. It can be difficult for any business to get good customer feedback, especially brick and mortar stores. Often all they can do is guess at their customers’ satisfaction based on whether or not they return again. I am not sure what financial cost they incurred with this idea (probably not much at all) but I am sure that the knowledge that they will gain about their customers and their business will be invaluable.

What was done wrong:
All in all, I had a typical experience with Hillmuth - good work, good service. They did give a very high quote for the work when I first called, so high that I almost considered going to Jiffy Lube. The final price was much lower and much more in line with what I expected but they almost lost a customer by not paying a little more attention to detail with the estimate.

Suggestions to Improve the Customer Experience:

• Although perhaps a little more complicated to manage, it would be nice to offer options for the discounted meal.
• Take more time with the estimate and perhaps have a range of values for typical services handy at the phone. Don’t let staff guess too much as an estimate either too low or too high can have very negative consequences. Too low - you may really alienate a customer when the bill arrives; too high and customers may look elsewhere.