A conversation with N.Prabhu: Ford India’s strategy to revamp customer service

Ford has been present in India for the longest time but hasn’t enjoyed as much success as the American ca maker would’ve liked. The Mondeo, despite being a great car tanked simply for being way ahead of its time for India. Then there was the Fusion which could be argued was the country’s first crossover. The Fiesta too was a hoot to drive but true success still evaded Ford. The main cause for this was the relatively weak after sales service which was the strongest point of Ford’s two main rivals, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai. But now Ford is undergoing a major brand transformation and the after sales service is one of the key areas which the company wants to improve. We spoke to N Prabhu, VP customer sales, Ford India with regards to the strategy that Ford intends to follow to instill customer trust and make its mark on the market. Here is a breakdown of the insightful meeting. 

What the plan is? 

When speaking to Mr Prabhu, he seemed to agree that the major influencing factor in buying a car is not the price of the car but the cost of running it. And he stressed on three critical points that Ford India intends to provide to its customers, affordability, accessibility and the reduction in cost of ownership. Ford plans to do this by firstly reducing the cost of scheduled service and maintaining absolute transparency of billing details with their customers. Ford also claims that their spare parts are the most affordable among the competition and they plan to make their spare parts readily available in all parts of the country. They also aim to provide unmatched service in all areas with the prime focus being the tier 3 and tier 4 towns and cities which often don’t have maintenance capabilities. 

How are they going about it? 

For starters Ford has a service estimate calculator on their website which enables Ford owners to calculate the cost of their next service or repairs. According to Mr Prabhu this isn’t just an estimate but the final cost of the customer service including labour and that the customer will not be charged a single extra penny. In addition one of the major driving factors in curbing costs have been localization of spare parts which entails sourcing spare parts from local and certified manufacturers to ensure affordability and quality. According to statistical data from Ford, the cost of maintaining a Ford car for 1,00,000km is significantly less than the company’s closest rival. 

Ford also says that most of its parts like the pollen filter and differential oil do not need change before one lakh kilometers and the air filter is required to be changed only after 50,000km whereas its competition needs its filters changed every 30,000km. The VP also stressed on the fact that they don’t want their customers to frequent the service workshops so Ford cars are built so that they have to be serviced only once a year. This coupled with the transparency of bills and the low cost of service further brings down the service cost of a Ford vehicle. 

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

In order to provide accessible service to its customers all across the country Ford has deputed dealers to open simple and small facilities in towns and small cities where a proper Ford workshop is yet not present to take care of its customers basic service needs. They are also expanding their parts distribution networks. The network is already up and fully functional in the seven southern states and in the next phase Ford has turned its attention towards the north and the east. By the end of this year according to Ford, there will not be an unavailability problem pertaining to its spare parts. 

He also touched on Ford’s recently introduced subassembly for replacement of damaged parts. In this process instead of removing and replacing a damaged part altogether, the damaged component in the spare part is identified and replaced. For example, in case of a malfunctioning alternator, say the pulley is damaged but the rest of the device is fine, so instead of swapping out the alternator for a new one, just the pulley will be replaced ensuring lower repair cost. 

How has it worked so far?

According to Mr Prabhu Ford India has a customer retention rate of 72 per cent which happens to be the best among the large volume players. When asked about the other 28 per cent which amounts to over one fourth of the total customers he assured that they will try to get those customers to Ford as well. But sometimes it so happens that a customer prefers to go to his personal mechanic for the basic service and part swap at least. In such a case Ford has also extended their help to the local mechanics and are even willing to train them with Ford cars and even supply genuine parts so as to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. 

What it means for you?

Let’s be honest here, No matter how well you train your technicians and relationship managers, there are bound to be some slip ups here and there especially when you have 280 dealerships and workshops spread across the country. But going by Ford’s new way of tackling its customer service shortcomings, things do look promising for the customer. They’ve assured us that all service personnel are trained in three levels with level three being the head technician who is qualified enough to handle the repairs on a Mustang and the Endeavour. And that they are trained constantly and at regular intervals. Then there is the affordability of the parts and as of now, things look up for the customer with Ford promising to keep parts readily available country-wide by the end of this year. Combine that with the subassembly repair process which cuts the cost of repair and service by almost half along with customer engagement camps and lucrative discounts that Ford India will offer to facilitate the brand transformation to gain traction among existing and prospective customers. 

In conclusion, it seems like with its brand transformation strategy Ford cars today are amongst the most affordable cars to run in their segment. But only time can tell how successful and viable this elaborate operation proves to be in the near future.