I am a Saturn guy. The car brand, not the planet.
The very first car I bought was a Saturn
SL1 in 1991: A green, four-door, tan interior, compact with dent-resistant
polymer panels for those runaway shopping carts. I remember reading and
watching commercials about this quirky and
"different kind of car" company when I was in graduate school. A
whole new model of American car manufacturing and selling born in the 1980s. The
car wasn't flashy or fancy. It was affordable, reliable and it sold itself on
being all about the customer. A no haggle, no hassle,
it's-all-about-making-the-customer-happy kind of car company. Unimaginable at
the time.
I know the story for Saturn didn't end
well. You can read accounts in Forbes or Curbside
Classic or view the timeline of its rise and demise here.
The car brand was discontinued by parent General Motors in 2009. Saturn
went the way of the Pontiac, Pinto and
Edsel, but as a model for a great customer experience it will always set a very
high bar with me.
This resonated with me recently when I was reading The Ten Principles Behind Great
Customer Experiences by
Matt Watkinson. It brought me back to the way I experienced Saturn as a
customer, and how many of the things they did were right in line with his thinking. As Watkinson writes, great customer experiences help set new expectations
and then meet them. They are stress-free, effortless and personal; often, they put the customer in control.
Saturn did all this very well with me over the years.
From Skeptic to True Believer
The initial shock of Saturn when it first
launched was the no-haggle pricing and shopping experience (see this video). They knew that the
traditional car-buying experience left people feeling like they had
been swindled (this was in the pre-Internet, on-line buying scenarios
we have today).
So, of course, I was very skeptical the first time I
bought a Saturn. In fact, I went to two dealers in different towns to see if it
was really true. It was, but I didn't understand how it worked and what
they were up to. They set the expectation that you would be 100% satisfied
and they surveyed you all the time to check -- and if you weren't satisfied
they wanted to know about it so they could meet that expectation (Today, nearly
every car dealer does surveys and will do anything for that perfect score).
When you picked up your Saturn, it wasn't
"sign here, take the keys and your car is in the back." It was a fun
celebration. It was the beginning of a relationship, not the end of a
transaction. When I picked up my first Saturn, the car was actually waiting
inside the dealership and presented like a gift. The entire sales department,
service department, receptionist, etc., came to congratulate me and wish me
on my way.
I remember one salesman I got to know over
the years, Norm. He was the most laid-back,
non-pressure guy you'd ever meet. He knew cars, but he really knew
people. He met with me and my dad. There was no "what's it going to take
to get you to drive out of here in a car today" pressure (I've had those,
too, at other dealers). It was all about what I was looking for, what I needed
the car for, what I valued and what was going to make me happy as a
customer.
Finding the Secret to Each
Customer's Satisfaction
After having owned two Saturn sedans and
one coupe (I told you I was a Saturn guy), my wife and I were about to start a
family and we needed a bigger car. It was the first year that Saturn was
introducing its SUV called the VUE. It looked like a great car, but it was in
its first year of production and so you always wondered if they worked the
kinks out.
I believed in
Saturn. They had set an expectation with me that the purchase would be easy. The
dealership would stand behind the car. I knew many of the people there (like
Norm). And, they would do their best to keep my experience stress-free and
effortless.
Well, a week or so after having my VUE, I
started to hear this horrible creaky sound every time I would stop to make a
turn. It sounded like some old jalopy instead of a brand new car.
I was still dealing with Norm and I told
him this was not what I had signed up for at Saturn. I was not satisfied. He kept talking
to me to understand what it was that would turn this around for me. He only had
so many options -- none of which made me satisfied -- and he asked me if I
would like to speak to someone at Saturn's corporate office, which I did.
The next day, Norm called me and asked me
to stop in. He said he and the dealership owners felt badly that this car
wasn't all that I had expected from a new Saturn. They didn't know when Saturn
would have the fix available, but they wanted to do something. They
would make my monthly car payments until they could fix the car. And, they did that for six months until Saturn came out with a resolution for the squeaking. Definitely
proof to me of a different kind of car company.
Some people may have written Saturn off, but for me they turned a disappointment into a great example of
customer focus and stood behind their brand promise.
Great Customer Experience Comes in the Most Tense
Moments
For years, I stayed loyal to Saturn. The
cars themselves were solid, a few problems here and there, but I knew the
Saturn brand and commitment to customer satisfaction meant something.
I remember the day
I was taking the VUE to pick up my first child Emma at the hospital. I
was stressed out and I couldn't get the seat belts to lock up on the
car seat I had installed. I was in a panic and called the dealership with a
not-so-friendly tone. The head of the service department Mike got on the
phone and patiently explained to me how the seat belts worked
(they don't lock until there is tension); he even offered to send someone over to help me out. I was a little embarrassed and thanked him
profusely for the help. To me it was unusual to get such friendly service. For
him, it was the way they did business.
The Secret Ingredient of Great Companies
Over the years, I've enjoyed some great --
and not so great -- customer experiences. Customer obsession, customer focus,
customer delight… whatever you call it, it is the secret ingredient of great
companies – and one you can’t fake.
