TOWARDS A GREENER FUTURE - Honda Malaysia

Honda AND YOU: Dealer’s Story“Operations here go onsmoothly because ofgood teamwork.”The team of Service Advisors are well-preparedin ensuring that customers expectations are met.Dealer Owner of Peringgit Sri Motor, Ong Kah Hong, remainsmodest despite the dealership’s tremendous improvement.Service Manager, Lim Ping Hwa (far left), andSales Manager, Bernard Lim, with some of theirSales and Service Advisors.Dealer attributesrobust growthto resilience andgreat teamworkAs the owner of a Honda authorised dealer, you know you have made itwhen you have all the services under one roof. Ong Kah Hong was oneof the earliest founders to set up a Honda service centre on the stretchof Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur. What started off as a business toservice car owners around the neighbourhood in the 80’s has expandedto include a showroom upstairs, more service bays and a Body & Paintcentre. Still, Ong is humble about the growth of Peringgit Sri MotorSdn. Bhd.“Most of the customers come here for after sales service. We just keepdoing what we are supposed to do, which is to ensure customers aresatisfied, and it ultimately helped us to achieve our goals,” he shares.While Peringgit has been recording a steady growth in sales, he is notone to rest on his laurels as he aims to reach new customers outsideof its district.“We set new targets every year and I am thankful for Honda Malaysia’ssupport and guidance in improving our competency. Even though wehave been around for a while, competition gets stiffer each year. Thebusiness climate is also not easy to predict as no two headwinds arethe same. We have to work hard to improve customer and employeeretention,” he explains.An average of 80 to 90 cars gets serviced here each day. With thatvolume, everyone in the team needs to be performing efficiently to keepcustomers happy. A free shuttle service to Mid Valley is also available butfor customers who are waiting, they are welcome to use the workstationswith complimentary Wi-Fi and enjoy a free flow of snacks and hotbeverages. Beyond that, the Service team sends scheduled servicereminders to customers and follow up with an after-service call to ensurethat customers’ cars are running optimally.“Operations here go on smoothly because of good teamwork,” addsLim Ping Hwa, Service Manager. “Our staff turnover is very low and wepride this as our strongest asset. With all our collective efforts, we hopeto achieve higher productivity this year.”He believes that when a team member is faced with a difficulty, everyoneshould work together to resolve it. “However, we need to be even moreunited in 2011 because our performance will be evaluated differently. Wescore a point in Honda’s performance indicator only if a customer gradesus as ‘Excellent’, which is our biggest challenge,” he shares animatedly.For Sales Manager, Bernard Lim, the dealer owner plays a significantrole in the operations. “Gaining the trust and independence from Ongis something we absolutely appreciate. When it comes to meetingcustomers’ expectations, prompt action is crucial. It helps that both Limand I are given the authority to make the right decisions, whether it is forthe employees or customers.”This year will be all about enhancing Honda and Peringgit’s reputationamong Malaysians, he emphasizes. “Each of us here is committed toplay an active role in increasing customer loyalty. The exciting thing hereis we have got a great product that is highly valued. We just have toinvest our time in customers and employees to move forward.”06 | with dreamswith dreams | 07