Saturn: Customer Service from Another Planet

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.

My expectations are high for customer service, and sometimes they may be a bit "out of this world,” but that is to be expected since they started with a “different kind of car” company called Saturn.