According to the J.D. Power 2015 Canadian Customer Service Index Long-Term (CSI-LT) Study released today, providing an outstanding service experience generates high levels of retention and unlocks significant revenue potential for vehicle service providers in Canada. While this isn’t exactly news, to us, what’s interesting is the numbers reported in the study.

The study measures the service experience, satisfaction and intended loyalty among 11,000 owners of vehicles that are 4 to 12 years old. They looked at the customer experience from both the warranty and non-warranty service occasions. Overall satisfaction is based on the combined index scores of five factors that comprise the overall service experience.

In order of importance: service initiation (24%); service quality (23%); service advisor (20%); service facility (17%); and vehicle pick-up (16%). Scores for each factor are reflected in an index based on a 1,000-point scale.

The study found that overall customer satisfaction with automotive dealerships is 731, and satisfaction with aftermarket shops is 749. This puts the aftermarket shops in the lead over dealership service satisfaction.

The study found that owners with an overall satisfaction rating of 10 on a 10-point scale are “delighted” with their most recent service experience and 93% say they “definitely will” return to the service facility for work they are willing to pay for. This really isn’t a surprise. If I received 10/10 service somewhere, of course I’m going to return there.

61% of the customers who rated their experience at 8/10 would return to the shop. 8/10 is pretty good for a shop in my eyes…

Key findings of the study are:

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