For nearly a decade, First Class Valet has provided valet services to car dealerships. From BMW, Mercedes, to Porsche to a proven and established national account with Genesis Motors Australia. It’s been a journey to see both valet parking evolve and the car industry in Australia. However, there is a common thread that binds all luxury brands together, and that is their exemplary service proposition. As we all know, the service you receive when buying and servicing a car directly impacts their brand which impacts NPS scores, which directly impacts turnover. This blog explores the key service attributes every industry can take from the car dealership industry.
First impressions count
The way customers are greeted and treated from the moment they walk into a dealerships sets the tone for the entire experience. It’s not just the physical experience that is important, but the service they receive and how they are greeted. If the service matches the brand values of a particular car brand it is key to that customer becoming more loyal. The same goes for hotels, if your brand signals a premium service, it sets customer expectations for what their whole experience should be at the hotel.
Personalised service enhances loyalty
At most of our sites, our goal is have the same team work at each site consistently, with very little turnover. This is because it helps with both smooth operations and personalised, familiar, service. Dealership teams often remember regular customers and their preferences, making future interactions smoother. Even at our everyday carparks, our regular customers are known to the team, the familiarity encourages loyalty, and let’s face it who doesn’t like to be greeted by their name? It’s one of those special customer service moments that are always remembered.
Through our First Class Valet Academy, we train our teams at car dealerships and other industries to understand the value of seamless service. Together with our SMS technology, the experience we deliver to customers is critically important to any business’s long-term success.
The focus on precision
One of the most immediate benefits of valet parking is the involvement of professionals who can work with the prestigious cars we are often driving and parking. This year, our teams will be putting a big emphasis on a no-incident outcome, as incidents are such an inconvenience to customers and clients alike. By being focussed on precision & care, the likelihood of accidents in your parking facility is greatly reduced and you’re also reducing the potential for liability claims that arise from damages to customers’ vehicles or property.
Many other industries can learn from this to reduce the number of incidents. At our hotel where we are working in peak holiday periods, we need to create an environment which can operate in high volume periods and as well as quieter periods. Our job as a valet parking service is to reduce the stress of parking, so doing it safely and expertly is critical to the service we are offering.
We’ve had at least three real-life examples where First Class Valet teams has worked at a car dealership, and after many years, they have taken on the valet parking in-house. This is often a cost decision, but if you have just one incident it can cost you far more than the initial savings. Inevitably, there is an incident, and in some cases quite serious damage to vehicles and even buildings! Valet parking operations are complex, and an experienced team is essential to reduce claims and incidents.
Investing in technology
One common aspect of every good car brand is they invest in technology that improves their service to customers. From sms notifications about your car, to instant service quoting and in-car technology that tells a car owner when they need servicing. Today, customers expect this level of technology to make their lives more convenient, save time and keep them informed. In some of our car dealerships, we’re managing more than 400 car movements in a day; without our valet parking technology and the car dealerships investing in technology, we wouldn’t be able to manage the number of car movements seamlessly we do each day at all out sites.
We’ve seen other valet parking operations from retail, to hotels and carparks still use paper tickets and manual systems. Our sms technology and reporting logs everything, and gives data so management can make quick and effective decisions.
The test drive approach
Customers are more likely to buy when they can experience the product firsthand, for decades this has been fundamental for car dealerships. The good dealerships do this so well, as it’s the most effective way to sell a car and the perfect opportunity to showcase the service they offer. Operationally, they have to get this right so provide the best impression to a customer. Any failure through the process allows a customer to have a bad impression of a car or brand.
We also take this approach at all our sites. By making sure every interaction is an opportunity to impress assures us that the customer will return to use our service and that of our clients, whether it be a hotel, restaurant or shopping centre.
For a full operational review of your valet parking, give us a call anytime and contact us here
