Ford Rides Shotgun, Puts Customers at the Wheel

Loyalty360 caught up with Andrew Ashman, Global Consumer Experience Manager for Ford Motor Company, to talk about what’s new on the Customer Experience front.

In 2011, Ford launched the Consumer Experience Movement (CEM), a revolutionary initiative based on the concept that creating a world-class consumer experience hinges on having a world-class employee experience inside Ford dealerships. 

Co-created by Ford and a group of dealers, CEM started with 116 dealerships in the U.S. Three years later, under the leadership of Elena Ford, vice president, Global Dealer & Consumer Experience, the initiative has gone global with 1,090 dealers around the world voluntarily participating in the program. Today, all business key metrics–from customer satisfaction in sales and service to new vehicles retailed – point to marked success.

At the core of CEM is the belief that employees who are highly engaged at work have the greatest ability to develop long-lasting relationships with customers and foster a sense of trust and respect. That, in turn, builds customer loyalty. 

Dealers who choose to participate in CEM are assigned a professional coach who works with them to complete a Team Member Engagement Survey, which is designed to elicit honest impressions from both management and staff about the quality of the work environment. 

The goal of the process–which also includes data culled from mystery shoppers and customer feedback–is to give dealers comprehensive insight into their dealership’s leadership, culture and employee engagement. 

Ashman sat down with Loyalty360 CEO and CMO Mark Johnson for an intriguing Q&A.

Biggest Challenge

Ashman: Right now, it’s really about execution. Creating and executing on those ideas is much more difficult than coming up with the ideas. Launching CEM has been exciting as we introduce the concept in Asia, Europe, and South America, now it is about allowing the Regional differences to shine through to ensure its success.

Customer Loyalty

Ashman: Customer loyalty is a combination of the experience we provide the customer both with their vehicle and when they interact with the Brand and our Retailer. We are spending a great deal of time working with our data to allow us to get better at how we interact with the customer based on their needs. Understanding the dynamics of customers based on their different experiences has been a big part of our efforts in 2014.

Connecting Beyond the Vehicle

Ashman: We want to create a connection beyond the vehicle and create a bond with our customers. By understanding the needs and interest of our Customers, we can better communicate with them. 

We just started bringing all of our Voice of the Customer metrics into one solution such as call centers, surveys, social media, and we’re learning from so much more by putting all the information in one place.

Culture and the Store

Ashman: This is the most important aspect of the experience. We continue to work with our Retailers on creating a customer centric culture. We have seen tremendous improvements and our Retailers have really embraced it. Stores that have engaged with CEM have seen significant improvements in Employee Engagement and this has trickled down into Customer Experience. Their VOC metrics are seeing increases and more importantly actual customer loyalty is up in a big way. 

How to Manage and Change Customer Expectations?

Ashman: That’s the million dollar question. A lot of stakeholders throughout the company are involved. Fundamentally, our focus is on the ownership experience.

We want to make the ownership experience better and we are having new conversations throughout our organization to create a seamless experience for our customers. It takes a lot of work by everyone on the team, as we have been fragmented in the past. But our Leadership is committed to delivering on the Customer experience and we are starting to see success. 

Benchmarking

Ashman: We spend a great deal of time benchmarking. Whenever a member of our team travels to a new city or country, we seek out the best of the best and meet with them to share best practices. When we were in Shanghai, we met with the leadership team at Hai De Lao and in India, we met with the Taj Hotel. There is always so much to learn from these companies. There is one universal truth: A great employee experience will deliver a great customer experience.

About the Author: Mark Johnson

Mark is CEO & CMO of Loyalty360. He has significant experience in selling, designing and administering prepaid, loyalty/CRM programs, as well as data-driven marketing communication programs.

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