Saturn Case Study

Business experts have long debated whether GM’s Saturn Corporation was a success or failure in the automotive world. Today, many of the methodologies that the “Different Kind of Company” employed live on in other brands. One of notable areas that Saturn excelled was customer service. Until the waning years of its existence, Saturn was a perennial top 10 leader in customer service ratings. For example, Saturn finished first in 2002 among a sea of luxury and near luxury automobiles largely due to the dealership experience, according to J.D. Power.

I spent several years immersed in the Saturn culture as a sales consultant. Are there takeaways from the Saturn customer service model that applicable to other industries? Absolutely! Most businesses

Listening to a customer intently with empathy shows respect and it demonstrates character. Repeating or paraphrasing the conversation will illustrate that you are engaged, listening and understand the customer’s needs. It is amazing what you can learn about your customer when you ask the right questions and hear the answers.

Setting Expectations – Building trust in a person, product or service takes time. Trust is earned by meeting or exceeding expectations. Sometimes there is a large gap between perception and reality. Drawing upon my time at Saturn, the typical scenario was the buyer who expected to purchase a new, 8-passenger, all-wheel drive vehicle with leather seating, power options including a sunroof and an entertainment center for $300 a month with no money down. Oh, and by the way, Brian, could you throw in Saturn jackets for the

When you are out of the office for an extended period, do you indicate when you will return and do you leave an alternate person for customers to contact? If you are busy or otherwise unavailable, do you respond to messages in the same day or within 24 hours?

When leaving a voicemail message, speak slowly to identify yourself, include a phone number and a time you can be reached, and the reason for your call. It is a good habit to repeat your name and number one more time before ending the call. Be cognizant of the ambient noise around you. Travelling down the highway in your car at 70 M.P.H. with the car windows down makes your message difficult to understand at best.

Communicating a change in business hours is another small but important detail. Update your website whenever there is change in your hours of operation. Making a special trip to a retailer or a government office to find a locked door with a small note announcing a closure is the definition of