A new service commitment by Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has set the industry standard for what customers should expect from manufacturers and dealers.
“The Service Commitment further supports our goal to be the No. 1 uptime provider in North America,” says Stephen Roy, senior vice president, Americas at Volvo CE. “The Service Commitment will be our blueprint for ‘getting it done’ with unmatched communication, responsiveness and expertise from both Volvo and our dealers.”
Volvo is the first manufacturer in the industry to make this specific type of commitment, which is based on four pillars:
- Uptime — Volvo products and services will help customers maximise uptime, while customers will also take confidence in our sense of urgency and commitment.
- Responsiveness — Service will be available 24/7, customers will have parts when and where they need them, service appointments will be scheduled promptly, and machine issues will be diagnosed quickly and effectively.
- Expertise — Customers will work with knowledgeable service and parts personnel from Volvo, and problems will be resolved correctly on the first time.
- Communication — Customers will be kept fully aware of warranty coverage, the status of service work and service and parts expectations.
“This level of service is what our customers already expect from us and our dealers, and this commitment is our way of inviting customers to let us know if we’re not delivering,” says Scott Young, Vice President of Uptime and Customer Support at Volvo CE.
Customer feedback through surveys and conversations with dealers will help the Volvo network continually improve upon the Service Commitment. “The direct comments from the customers will go to our dealers and Volvo as the manufacturer so we can better understand our customers’ priorities and improve in the ways they need us to,” says Scott.
Volvo CE has been laying the foundation for success with the Service Commitment over recent years, and future product and service innovations will expand on it.
Volvo has markedly strengthened its North American dealer network through acquisitions and territory realignments. These dealers have a deep knowledge of their local markets and solid success in providing a high level of customer service.
Uptime statistics have measurably improved over the past couple of years, thanks in part to ActiveCare Direct™, Volvo’s advanced telematics service. Less than 1% of machines being monitored via ActiveCare Direct turn into critical machine-down cases. This is hard proof of the OEM-monitored system’s effectiveness at pre-empting and correcting issues before they become a problem for the customer.
In terms of responsiveness, Volvo’s parts distribution footprint has grown with the opening of a new distribution centre in Toronto in 2019 and expansion of another in Reno, Nevada, scheduled to go live in early 2020.
For improved communication, Volvo will continue to invest in technologies that allow technicians, dealers and customers to communicate more efficiently in the field, such as mobile apps.
