The Garage 353

The Road
to Inclusive
Workshops
Castrol study identifies five key
steps to help create a more
inclusive workshop experience.
Recent research from Castrol finds that there is significant
opportunity to make automotive workshops more
inclusive, from first impressions through to post-service
engagement.
The Castrol study titled, “The Road to Inclusive
Workshops”1,focuses on different people’s perceptions and
experience of independent workshops and is the first in a
series of studies exploring how workshops might enhance their
approach to inclusivity.
This first study which was conducted across seven markets:
China, Germany, India, Malaysia, Poland, Thailand, and the
United States, focused specifically on women’s experiences
at workshops and identified five steps that workshop owners
can consider taking to create more inclusive workshops, and
hopefully attract a wider customer base.
1. Arriving at the workshop: Ensure customers feel more
comfortable right from the start: with parking, clear signage
and clear communication.
2. Entering the workshop: Provide a designated reception area,
that is inviting, clean and well lit.
3. Vehicle repairs: Build trust with respectful communication and
transparent pricing.
4. Waiting for the vehicle: Create a comfortable environment
away from the shop floor with amenities.
5. Post-service and after-sales: Continue communication during
and after the transaction, with additional services provided to
help secure future business.
Overall, the message from the research was clear; across
cultures and geographies customers (particularly women in this
case) are looking for high quality, professional, and trustworthy
customer service.
Nicola Buck, Chief Marketing Officer, at Castrol says: “Our
‘Road to Inclusive Workshops’ study series is another concrete
step in this direction. The first study in our series explores the
experiences and expectations of what female customers want.
Based on these findings we’ve identified how workshops can
adapt their current offers and create more inclusive workshops.
While there is still much more to do, both across our Castrol
branded network and the industry generally, we hope this
research will help improve the experience for all our customers
and opportunities for workshops as well.”
Helping workshops navigate the road to inclusivity
To help workshops put these key learnings into practice,
Castrol has developed a five-part micro-learning experience.
This program will be supported with printed and digital materials
to reinforce the training, as well as consumer communications
that hope to demonstrate workshop commitment to providing a
better quality of customer service.
To find out more, please visit: https://go.bp.com/YBZqJ
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