I love cars, more especially hot hatches to the sporty and sleek performance ones, subsequently when ‘Ford’ is mentioned to me, this is synonymous with the Focus Focus RS, Mustang GT, Shelby GT350R, and the iconic Ford GT.
In hearing about the Kuga situation in South Africa, there are some lessons which we can learn from this experience (…well this the hope.)
Here’s a brief overview of the situation:
The Delay:
From the earliest tragedy reported in December 2015 (where Reshall Jimmy died, my condolences and empathy to the Jimmy family) to the subsequent recall, there is clearly an apparent time-lag, pronounced noticeably, as to what some suggest as “the lag to act effectively”, thus ultimately this created a heighten impact of the reactions of the consumers..
It is duly understood that the source of the fire needs to be identified, although the investigation should not take about 13 months and then only to arrive at a course of action after 46 Kugas were burnt at the risk of lives.
The customers needed answers….however
Communication or the lack thereof:
As a strong sense of agitation echoed in frustration, reminiscent in the attribution of trust as there appeared to be a visible a lack of communication protocols.
This was a time for communication to inform people that their respective grievance is received, acknowledged and WILL be addressed in the shortest period as possible.
These relevant parties included the; customers, dealership networks and respective insurance companies.
Customers had an experience from the pillar to the post…although…
Planning to Deal with the situation:
The subsequent recall appears that it could’ve been executed with a sense of purpose to provide some level of comfort to the customer during a tenuous period.
It strongly appeared as people arrived at the dealerships, and courtesy vehicles weren’t available and also an apparent delay in checking-in their vehicles as per reports suggest.
Also the characteristics of the respective channels being inundated
.
Customer made themselves heard…
Consumers Have a VOICE & This MATTERS!
Foremost of mind is true to the experience.
This voice was powerful, bold yet swift, particularly when it was utilized in unison and this call of reverberation transfixed around into various unique geographical locations,from Genadendal to Centurion, Sandton to Berea, this had an unparalleled motion with the acceleration and top-end that was close to the limit of the chart in user-generated content.
Impact on consumers:
Their Kuga SUV provided a way to work, those memorable drop-off and pick-up runs to the school, to the quick stops at the shops and then those fascinating and scenic weekend getaways across varying terrain, their Ford Kuga enabled them with convenience and mobility.
As for some customers were counting down the days until their car was paid-off and the log book was in their hands, sadly this was changed as these unfolding events became the antagonist.
Understanding the experience from the respective customers’ perspective, according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, safety is right up next to psychological needs, in this particular situation there was a breach of safety, which the filtered onto the level of trust and thus the relationship could be transitioned into the compromised position.
The value of the vehicle is reported to have diminished significantly, this is denoted by over-supply (customers looking ‘to sell or trade-in amidst their safety concerns’) of the vehicle and at there’s same time decline in demand, the hopeful position is that the equilibrium would return to its original levels, herein highly dependent this would take some time .
For respective consumers this article is insightful “should there be an increasing number of vehicles on the roads with similar issues, it will result in more claims which could make it necessary to increase premiums on this of insurance” said Carolyn Thompson the head of Personal Lines at Mutual & Federal in reference to electrical and mechanical breakdown cover.
How could have Ford South Africa handled the situation could much more effectively?
Accordingly to the stats presented by Naamsa, in South Africa the total car sales had declined to 512,188 units during 2016 when compared to the 617,648 units sold in 2015 while it has been noted that Ford South Africa had experienced a significant market-share growth in October 2016 period.
Everything seemed to be on steadfast on-course but why, how did things go things venture off-track?
The above factors that are listed (The Delay, Communication and Planning) resulted in a cumulative effect, which heighten the transitional wave in the situation across the channels from social, to email support to the call-center became as the motion closed in upon the epicenter motioned by the concerns and queries by the respective customers .
The subsequent delay to act and in prioritizing the investigation into source the fire of the fire resulted in significantly reduced the brand’s foothold while there were fires burning around, this could have be adverted if findings from the insurance companies were acknowledge and then consolidated, and a time-frame for the investigation period was defined, in conjunction this ultimately had a bearing on the communication spectrum and the planning frameworks as everything had to executed in haste, reactive as opposed to proactive.
How many customers would have probably received a reply; “I/We have no idea, contact the head office.”
Where communication is needed to instill an amount of trust, there where communication gaps, enabling lines of communication to the dealership networks and to the customers could have provided an invaluable line of support during this ‘torrid’ period.
The Planning aspect from the ‘2015 Financial Report of the Ford Motor Company’, stated that Ford EMEA had about 3,000 employees;
Of those employees, how many are based in the customer facing points?
Ford South Africa was set to recall 4,556 Ford 1.6 Kugas.
Proactively looking at the CRM database, with the purpose of identifying the customers who have vehicles which are within the confined recall range, and then initialized the communication to those respective customers, via social (sponsored content) or calls or emails. Especially as the VIN numbers on a car is generally unique or can least tell about geographical location of a production line .
A situational analysis could have proved insightful:
4,556 / customer facing employees = number of direct interactions required, or the process could have been electronic;
a said customer gets an email; where they are firstly informed of the recall, and the recall procedure and it would have been highly beneficial to have a IT integrated framework, where respective customers could book their vehicle into a dealership, (or after the email was sent the contact center contacted the customer about the email and using the functionality to book in their vehicle.) This could have mitigated against the perceived shortage of courtesy vehicles, and navigated the recall-avenue, while instilling some level of trust, accountability and leadership.
For customers seeing their vehicle going up in a blaze of fire, is probably very traumatic indeed, so for the providing trauma counselling.
Conclusion:
Sometimes a PR Crises, is like a day at the beach with the radiance of the sun that embraces, a smoothening sea breeze in this distance a faint noise can be heard, suddenly the water is in retreat, start wandering in deeper then next is all that’s around is under water, now that distant noise was a siren echoing.
Are we creating situations of apathy or experiences with empathy?
Are we the plethora of pain or the radiance which delights?
Salute
Kash
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