Mercedes to expand after-sales 'My Service'

The newly refurbished Mercedes-Benz service center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has offered customized after-sales service, called My Service, from March. It is comprised of an after-sales service and repair complex. / Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

By Park Jin-hai

Kim Ji-yeon, a budget-minded Mercedes owner whose car warranty had expired, walks into the newly furbished Mercedes Suwon service center at 2 p.m.

She reserved from Mercedes the My Service Economy after-sale option and a trained service crew, one armed with an iPad, greets her.

The point person explains the maintenance process and informs her that she will get a 10 percent discount because she visited the center at one of its least-busy times.

In the second-floor lounge, another woman in her late 40s, who chose the My Service Lounge option, takes her time, receiving a massage and nail care while her car is being serviced.

Mercedes-Benz announced on Thursday at the Suwon service center that it will expand its customer lifestyle-tailored after-sales service, My Service, to increase customer satisfaction.

“We always emphasize that the sales sell the first car, but after-sales is doing the business for the second car,” said Cho Kyu-sang, vice president of Mercedes-Benz Korea. “If we have placed more priority on expanding new car sales, now we will focus more on our current customers whose cars have aged and who are sensitive to parts and repair prices.

He said as customers’ lifestyles and their needs have changed, and sticking to one after-sales method is not working anymore.

My Service offers four service options depending on the lifestyle of customers _ an Economic option for budget-minded young customers, the Lounge option for people who want to enjoy the amenities of the luxurious service area, the Speed option for business people and the Pick-up & Delivery option for those who have no time to drop off their cars at the service center.

Korea is the second Asian country that the German carmaker has initiated such an after-sales program, after Taiwan.

“My Service has been implemented only in some delicate markets,” said Pierre-Emmanuel Chartier, director of after-sales and repair operations at Mercedes-Benz, who visited Korea for the event. “In the top 10 Mercedes markets, Korea is a major player, which may become increasingly important. The U.K., the U.S. and Germany are three main countries in which we offer the service, along with Korea."

“Customer satisfaction has always been our priority. What is new today is that we, with My Service, offer more differentiated services to customers based on the outcome of local research that says Korean customers are willing to, and wishing to, have faster and premium services,” Chartier said.

The service has been test-run from March at the Suwon service center and is scheduled to be expanded to other service centers throughout the country.

Mercedes plans to have three additional service centers offering My Service by the end of the year.

With the Suwon center, it has seen its customer satisfaction level soar five times compared with the average satisfaction rate for its other after-sales service centers, said the company.