Hino is top of the customer satisfaction pops!

Hino is top of the customer satisfaction pops!

Hino South Africa is doing the best job in the truck industry when it comes to customer satisfaction. This is no whimsical marketing claim; the company topped the list for outstanding overall customer satisfaction in the latest Datatrack Comparative Truck Study – with a super impressive score of 98.92.

 

How important is this study? And how has Hino achieved these superb results? Leslie Long, Senior Manager: Hino Product Planning & Marketing, and Pieter Klerck, General Manager of Hino South Africa, have revealed all in an exclusive interview.

 

Introducing the study

Customer satisfaction is measured by truck companies all over the world. After all, delivering an exceptional customer experience is a pretty standard goal for any successful business. A customer satisfaction rating is an extremely important indicator of where the company is going right (or, indeed, wrong). Some companies have tried to measure their own customer satisfaction; for fairly obvious reasons, this is sometimes viewed with some cynicism. The preferred route is to hire an independent research company.

In South Africa, that service is provided by a company called Datatrack Management. It has the largest managed truck industry database available in South Africa (just over 37 500 truck and fleet operators). A total of 2100 interviews are conducted with these customers per quarter. “Most of the South African commercial vehicle manufacturers participate in the Comparative Truck Study. We pay for this service and we receive our own results,” explains Long (pictured below).

 

The full results are not published and so we are unable to reveal which companies came second or third. However, Hino has chosen to reveal that it was the clear winner in the last quarter (and, given this result, who can blame them?) The score was also substantially higher than the national average of 93.19.

 

Nothing new

Hino’s superb performance in the customer satisfaction rankings is, in fact, nothing new. In 2016, it came first in all four quarters. In 2017, it came first in two of the quarters and second in the other two – a feat it managed once again in 2018. Hino led the way in the first three quarters of 2019, dropping to third place in the fourth quarter of that year. In 2020, it came first in quarter one, second in quarter two, first in quarter three and … well … we all now know the result in quarter four.

 

 

Klerck (pictured above) says the team is very proud of the track record – because, of course, customer satisfaction is so very important. “Satisfaction builds trust. Trust is very important in a business-to-business relationship because it keeps the wheels turning (literally, in our case). Your business partners (and we strive that our customers regard us as such) rely on you to keep up your side of the bargain so that they can concentrate on their core activities,” he points out.

 

Of course, you will always get transport operators that buy the cheapest available trucks. “Some customers buy on price only and they will always do so,” concedes Long. “But most customers that are concerned with building a sustainable business buy based on the total value offered by a brand. This is made up by a combination of price, aftersales support through the dealer network and the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), financial solutions, parts availability and product quality, durability and resale value. In short, they buy trucks based on the value that the OEM offers as a business partner.”

 

Secrets to success

So, Hino rocks when it comes to customer satisfaction. This is the aim of every single truck supplier on the planet. How has Hino achieved this?

Klerck says the Hino Total Support philosophy plays an important role. “All our strategies are built and driven by the Hino Total Support philosophy. Simply stated, this is all about building trust and aligning the activities of all the Hino supply chain participants, namely Hino Motors Japan, Hino South Africa, the Hino dealer network and our suppliers. We want to become a trusted business partner of the users of our trucks,” he explains.

 

Playing its part

Hino isn’t only coming up trumps when it comes to customer satisfaction; it’s also doing a terrific job when it comes to service and parts. These aspects of the trucking business are also rated by Datatrack and Hino came first in both areas in the last quarter – achieving an almost unbelievable score of 99.70 in the area of service (well above the national average of 92.02) and 99.08 in parts (the national average is 92.59).

Long says that this is thanks to the fact that Hino and its dealer network focus on delivering according to customer expectations. “The customer expectation when the vehicle needs a service or part supplied is that it will be done efficiently, cost-effectively and completed within the promised time. Delivering this every single time will give you high levels of appreciation from the customer, which will convert into these high scores,” he explains.

 

Challenging times

What makes these scores especially remarkable is the fact that the Hino team achieved these results during various levels of lockdown. It wasn’t an easy time for anyone. “As was the case with the rest of the businesses in the country, it brought complete disruption to our daily tasks and routines. We had to rethink the way we communicate to and support our customers in order to keep their trucks on the road. Even in Level 5 lockdown, many of our customers continued activities as part of delivering essential services,” notes Klerck.

Accordingly, the Hino team appealed to dealers for their assistance – and they came to the party. “Congratulations to the Hino dealer network for their absolutely positive response in meeting our customer service and parts requirements during the lockdown. Dealers opened their parts and service centres to meet the expectations of the customers. Dealers also serviced vehicles at night and over weekends – all while maintaining the strictest health and safety protocols. The extra effort from the dealer network definitely contributed to the high scores achieved by both the parts and service departments,” says Long.

Now the Hino team is eyeing the future – and they’re not planning to rest on their laurels. “It is not only important to do things right. In order to become a partner in the truck customer’s business, you have to do things consistently right,” stresses Klerck.

His statement is reminiscent of the old Toyota slogan: “Everything keeps going right.” Because that’s very much what appears to be happening at Hino right now.