Part 2 of our interview with Noel Pope of Merityre Specialists on his company’s commitment to customer service

Yesterday we gave you part one of our interview with Noel Pope, Director of Merityre Specialists, a company bucking the trend and using excellence in customer service to drive their business forward in this challenging time.

Here is part 2 and the concluding part of the interview.  GA Training has been working in partnership with Merityre to provide customer service training that helps drive the business forward.

GT: How do you monitor customer service levels within Merityre?

NP: One easy measure is the number of customer complaints we receive but we also regularly take part in mystery shopping exercises to assess the levels of customer service within Merityre.

GT: What is your opinion on mystery shopping in general?

NP: It is an incredibly useful tool when used correctly. The most important thing is to take action on the results. Without the follow up action being taken the exercise is pretty pointless but if you do follow up correctly it is invaluable.

GT: We have used the results of the video mystery shopping as part of our training with Merityre and the results have been great, how does your staff respond to mystery shopping overall?

NP: I think there is a natural inbuilt level of scepticism but once the managers saw the undoubted benefits of using this tool there has been a solid commitment ever since.

There are a couple of things that you have to be aware of when embarking on mystery shopping, first of all on a practical level all staff have to be aware of the process and secondly and more importantly perhaps there needs to be a high level of trust in place to make it work.

GT: Can you elaborate?

NP: Well mystery shopping may show you something that falls outside of the remit of customer service and this is where you have to be very careful. We were very clear with our staff that if something came to light that may be a disciplinary offence we would not use mystery shopping as evidence against them, unless this was repeated on a subsequent occasion.

GT: What role has training played in your continued high levels of customer satisfaction?

NP: It is vital because it provides us a platform to take action on things. There was initially some resistance from some of the managers but this is only natural and I think now everyone knows GA and trusts that they have the branch’s best interests at heart.

GT: Have you faced any challenges regarding customer service?

NP: As I said there was initially some resistance however I think this was mainly down to fear of change rather than any resistance to providing excellent levels of customer service.

GT: So everyone has now bought in to the process?

NP: I believe so. It has taken a sustained effort and commitment but this is to be expected. Everyone sees the benefits of what we are trying to do and the managers are fully committed. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the process has to be ongoing – chip chipping away to achieve real improvements.

GT: What measurable changes have you noticed as a result of the mystery shopping and subsequent training?

NP: We are now getting lots more customer compliments, both informal and formal which demonstrates to us that the process is working.

GT: Other than mystery shopping how else do you measure success?

NP: We regularly conduct random customer surveys and most importantly we take action on the results.

GT: We have noticed that Merityre staff are extremely professional in the way they deal with customers which I don’t think is that common within the industry, I take it this is deliberate?

NP: Yes totally deliberate. We like to reassure our customers and build a trusting relationship with them. One very simple way of doing this is we insist on the use of a tyre tread depth gauge. Most of our staff can estimate tyre tread levels without a tyre gauge but we find that the use of the gauge eliminates mistakes and also helps to reassure the customer that this is not simply guesswork and there is a level of science behind it. It is all about doing the work in a professional manner.

GT: What are the levels of customer service like within the tyre and exhaust industry overall?

NP: As I said earlier things are definitely improving at all times but I think the bigger the organisation generally the more likely they are to fall below certain levels of customer service. As much as anything the larger the organisation is the more detached management have become from what happens on the ground.

GT: So like all MD’s whose company achieves high levels of customer satisfaction you are very in tune with what is happening on the ground – in other words in your opinion it starts at the top?

NP: Yes it very much starts at the top. Senior Management must always set the standard for customer focus and a dedication to excellent customer care. Without this it is nigh on impossible to create a positive customer service culture throughout the organisation.

GT: Finally Noel what is your opinion of the overall levels of customer service within the UK across all industries and sectors?

NP: Frankly pretty dreadful, particularly from some famous brands that simply should be able to do things much better!! Hopefully the situation will improve but I am still surprised at how bad it can be. As mentioned earlier the bigger the organisation the worse the service generally becomes.

GT: Thank you very much for your time today Noel and on behalf of GA may I wish you continued success at Merityre.

NP: Thank you Greg it was my pleasure.