Village Volvo free essay sample

? Introduction and Overview Village Volvo was recently opened by two former experienced Volvo dealer mechanics. The owners of Village Volvo focus on provided their customers with custom care service at an affordable price. By providing their customers with a custom care service that is unavailable at other local dealers, they differentiate themselves from the competition. Village Volvo has four work bays, an office, a waiting room, and a storage room. In order to provide individual attention to each customer, they set aside specific times each week to devote to customers who need routine services preformed to their vehicle. If customers require a diagnosis and repair, Village Volvo’s encourages its customers to make an appointment. Upon bringing in their vehicle for service, a mechanic speaks with the customer to assure they understand exactly what is going on with the vehicle. From the moment the vehicle is dropped off until the time the customer picks it up, Village Volvo is in constant communication with their customers. We will write a custom essay sample on Village Volvo or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They make the preliminary diagnosis and give the customer an estimation of the cost if unexpected problems occur before additional work is performed. When the customer picks up his/her vehicle, it has been cleaned and parts are returned to the customer. In addition, Village Volvo informs its customers of any problems that may occur in the near future. Village Volvo hopes that their customers leave with an experience that they have not had at any of the competing dealerships. Question 1: Describe Volvo’s service package. A service package is defined as a bundle of goods and services with information that is provided in some environment. The bundle of goods for Village Volvo is as follows: Supporting facility: The suburban structure that houses Village Volvo is the supporting facility. It is a Butler Building located in a suburban area with four work bays, an office, a waiting area and a storage room. In addition, the facility has an office, waiting area and storage room. There are some amenities in the waiting room to provide some extent of comfort to the customer while they wait for the quick, routine services such as tune-ups and oil changes. Facilitating goods: The goods that facilitate the service product include the vehicles brought in by the customers and the mechanical components identified by the mechanics that are required to repair customer’s vehicle. Information: Information provided by the customer to the mechanic who will be working on the vehicle. In addition to that, another source of information is the CCVD, which is a continuing file with the service history performed on the vehicle. Moreover, since Village Volvo develops a closer relationship with the customers, it allocates specific hours of discussions between the owner-mechanic and the customer to go through all aspects of the vehicle existing problems before the service is done. Feedback is continuously provided thru the CCVD records. Explicit services: The explicit services include the face to face customer consultation, the relaxing waiting room, the diagnostic and repair and/or maintenance of the vehicle, and the customer leaving Village Volvo with a smooth-running vehicle after the service has been performed. Implicit services: Customized service is provided to each customer by scheduling non-work hours during heaving customer contact times so that owners-mechanics can spend time with customers and discuss their issues. This customized care not only attracts, but maintains customers. Additionally, customers have the assurance of a reliable and on-time service within a reasonable cost, without exploiting the customers with unfair practices of changing car components without the proper need. Village Volvo also has a deeper understanding of the customers vehicle thru the database developed – CCVD. The following table illustrates the service bundle of Village Volvo: Service Bundle Matrix Element Core Service Example Busines Out-of-warranty Volvo Vehicles Core Quality repair at a resonable cost Peripheral Goods CCVD vehicle dossier Peripheral Service Waiting room amenities Variant Experience, customer-mechanic interaction, transparency on the repair, scheduled appointments, specific hours for tuneup and oil change, vehicle cleaning, vehicle test drive for quality assurance of the repair Question 2: How are the distinctive characteristics of a service firm illustrated by Village Volvo? Customer Participation in the Service Process Customers at Village Volvo rate their customer service by their experience. The quality of service is enhanced if the service facility is designed form the customer’s perceptive. The location of Village Volvo must be convenient for its customer base. If the repair shop were located in an area where people might not drive/be able to afford Volvos, it might miss an opportunity to locate itself closer to its customer base so that vehicle drop-offs and pickups are convenient. Village Volvo involves its customer in the service process by having the mechanic consult with the auto owner to discuss the repairs performed and repairs that will be needed in the future. Because the customer can wait onsite, they are also part of the service process by nature of the facility. Perishability The time-perishable capacity of the service offered by Village Volvo is illustrated by the fluctuations in demand experienced throughout the day and the fact that Village Volvo could miss out on a service opportunity if a mechanic is not available to service a walk-in guest.