As car ownership in Viet Nam continues to rise and a higher volume of customers visit the service centre, expectations of the overall service initiation process have increased, according to the J.D. Power 2018 Vietnam Customer Service Index (CSI) Study released on Tuesday.

The study shows that although more customers are making service appointments in advance (90 per cent in 2018 compared with 66 per cent in 2017), fewer customers were ‘delighted’ with the ease of scheduling their service visit (12 per cent versus 16 per cent) and a higher proportion of customers were required to wait three days or more between booking the appointment and the actual service date (38 per cent versus 28 per cent).

The study measures overall satisfaction among vehicle owners who visited an authorised dealer or service centre for maintenance or repair work during the first 12 to 60 months of ownership. This study is based on responses from 1,295 new-vehicle owners who took their vehicle for service to an authorised dealer or service centre between June 2017 and December 2018. The study was fielded online between June and December.

Now in its 10th year, the study measures new-vehicle owner satisfaction with the after-sales service experience by examining dealership performance in five factors (in order of importance): service quality at 24 per cent, service initiation 21 per cent, vehicle pickup 20 per cent; service advisor 18 per cent and service facility 17 per cent.

Siros Satrabhaya, Regional Director, Automotive Practice at J.D. Power said with an increasing number of car owners booking their services via website or mobile apps, there were now higher expectations from customers for a higher standard of online service booking platform.

“It is vital that dealers ensure a seamless customer journey from the point of initiation online to the actual service premises. Customers are increasingly sensitive to waiting time and with more service delays being experienced, dealers need to focus on dealership productivity by addressing the growing service volume and responsiveness of service advisors,” said Siros.

According to the survey, satisfaction is higher when scheduling on digital platforms. Although only a small proportion of customers made service appointments through digital platforms (3 per cent on manufacturer’s applications and 6 per cent on manufacturer’s website), these customers are more satisfied compared to those who made an appointment through offline channels, such as calling directly or sending an SMS message (858 points in 2018 versus 824 points in 2017). However, for future service visits, 27 per cent of customers would prefer to make appointments on the manufacturer’s website.

Among the eight brands ranked in the study, including Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Mazda, Honda and Kia, Toyota ranks highest for the third consecutive year, with a CSI score of 837 points. Toyota performs particularly well on service facility and service quality. — VNS