Apple customer care comes to cars

Ford overhauls its showroom experience, is about to appoint a concierge in every dealership, and streamline the servicing process.
 
Ford Australia is about to embark on a multi-million-dollar overhaul of its showrooms -- benchmarked on Apple Stores. 
 
Ford is taking the unprecedented step of retraining all sales staff at its 200 dealers nationally, distributing more than 1000 iPads for use by customers, and streamlining the service check-in process by emailing owners a fixed quote before they hand over the keys.
 
The overhaul starts with every Ford dealership appointing a concierge to greet customers and offering them a drink rather than thrusting a brochure in their hands. 
 
Sales staff will also be retrained to take a gentler approach rather than trying to crunch a deal.
 
"Customers have changed and we need to change with it," says Graeme Whickman, Ford Australia's sales and marketing chief.

So far only one Ford dealership has made the switch under a pilot program, but others will follow later this year.
 
It's widely accepted across the car industry that most customers know what they want before they get to a showroom, having done their research online.
 
But as part of Ford's plan to be even more transparent it will give buyers access to the same detailed data the car industry uses internally when comparing models.
 
The data comparisons go into much more detail than what is typically available online across all brands, including differences such as whether a car has a full-size spare tyre, a space-saver spare, or a tyre inflator kit. It will also distinguish which cars have rear-view cameras, parking sensors or none at all.
 
One tap of the Ford iPad app (not available outside the dealership) will also highlight the pros of its models and, in a rare display of transparency, the cons. 
 
"We need to a better job, we want to do a better job," says Mr Whickman. "People have expectations based on their experience at a computer store … and that has left an impression on people's minds and we're going to try to live up to that and exceed that."
 
It's not the first time a big car company has declared a renewed focus on the customer, but Ford insists this time it's different. 
 
"I don't want you to quote me saying (we're) going to put the customer first. To me that's like discovering your thumbs," says Mr Whickman. "But customer requirements and expectations are in a different space now, and we need to change with them."