The client

Our client is the UK arm of one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world.

UK operations include logistics, manufacturing, sales and marketing, finance and insurance, training and hundreds of local retailers and service centres.

The challenge

The motor industry is seeing a significant shift in the retail environment. New entrants are offering different kinds of experiences to customers, greater choice, and a wider range of services. The expectations of customers and employees alike are changing rapidly.

As part of an initiative to keep ahead of these changes, our client introduced a strategy to transform the dealer network and create more personalised and memorable customer services.

The people elements – roles, structures, skills and capabilities – and matching them to the needs of showrooms and service centres were critical to the strategy’s success.

So they asked Change Associates to help in transforming the customer experience.

What we did

Change Associates provided four highly experienced change managers to provide organisation design and change management support to outlets across the UK. The network includes a range of retailers, from PLC organisations and large multi-manufacturer groups to smaller family-owned businesses.

We worked closely with the client’s transformation team to drive change forward and support the centres in achieving the strategy’s objectives and transforming customer experience. 

Our consultants:

  • Developed a framework to guide the approach, helping centres identify areas for improvement to enable their teams to deliver seamless, memorable customer experiences.
  • Designed a toolkit and forum for sharing best practice to support and equip the network, including vodcasts, skills plans, and team culture assessments.
  • Created profiles for new and existing roles to improve the customer experience during important interactions.
  • Examined how the various specialist teams in the centres work together, with a focus on ‘one team’ working.
  • Supported centres in attracting and retaining the right people through reward and recognition.
  • Produced skills and talent plans to provide a longer-term talent pipeline that included apprenticeships and traineeships.
  • Ran process workshops with teams to identify opportunities to ‘wow’ customers.
  • Supported the centres in trialling new roles and ways of working and implementing the changes.
  • Assessed each group and produced a customised action plan to close any potential gaps.

The result

The programme is still ongoing.

To date:

  • More than 100 centres have joined the programme
  • Nearly two-thirds have implemented change
  • 300+ new roles have been implemented across the network
  • Customer Review scores have noticeably improved
  • Recruitment and retention of key staff has become significantly easier
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the Change Management support provided is 83 (80 is considered world-class).

Image (c) Shiutterstock | Dusan Petkovic and Unsplash | Max

get in touch to discuss your project
Car Showroom 2

“You are like an extension of our team and constant support for our transformation strategy. Your input has been invaluable.”

“The process also enabled us to challenge how we move forward, drive engagement, best practice and future change requirements. Our group is able to change direction quickly, try new initiatives and roles, and although this is clearly a fortunate position to be in, you have helped us sanity check the pace of change and our ideas. You are a truly valued member of our change team.”

“The staffing structure has had a transformational effect on our aftersales business.”