Maintenance Costs Are Increasing

The cost of doing business in America is rising, says Mazda North American Operations Senior Vice President of Retail Operations Tim Manning, as is the price of a new car. As a result, customers are holding onto their cars longer. Older cars need more work as time goes on, Manning explains, and due to the cost of parts due to tariffs, cost of labor, and a number of other inflationary reasons, the impact of maintaining a vehicle is at an all-time high.

As such, ensuring its customers are happy in Mazda’s service department is paramount. Word of mouth spreads to friends, neighbors, and family members about how a branch treats them, and Mazda has been working to train personnel at all 550 dealerships. Part of its strategy is to increase the use of video, enhanced by AI training, as well as easy online appointment setting and offering parts at tiered price points to offer more choice.

“Service is not only important for the reputation of our vehicles on the road, but for the overall customer experience,” Manning stresses. “It plays a huge role in loyalty.

With that in mind, Mazda showed its technicians how to use video and AI to communicate with customers every time they service a vehicle. People learn and retain information in different ways, and offering a video summary helps customers understand exactly what’s happening. Both sides benefit.

“Customers find these videos very helpful, and they’re 95 percent more likely to return to Mazda,” Manning says. “It feeds into service retention, which leads to long-term loyalty.”

Communicating With Customers On Their Terms

Service techs have learned to get creative to reach their customers.

“First, they show their face at the beginning of the video and say something like, ‘Hi, I’m John and I am going to be your technician. Hey, let me show you what I’m finding,’” Manning explains. “We’re using technology to enhance that personal connection point.”

In one case, a technician was working with a customer who was hearing impaired. The Mazda tech knew a typical video wouldn’t convey the message properly, so he took the time to write a series of flash cards and displayed them to the camera as he conducted the walkaround. The response from the customer was overwhelmingly positive, Manning says.

Several years ago, this was a tough ask for its service professionals, Manning admits, as it was new and uncommon. Today, Mazda technicians have embraced it.

“It’s been so awesome,” Manning enthuses. "They’ve seen the impact of customers sending them thank you notes and they can conduct their business more efficiently because they’re getting rapid approvals. Customers see evidence of what’s happening to their car, and they can approve the job right then and there to keep the job moving quickly versus experiencing delays. They feel good about approving the job, because they know what’s going on."

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