Volkswagen SurVey

AN EXPLAINATORY STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SATISFACTION @ VOLKSWAGEN AGRA

A PROJECT REPORT Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the degree of requirement r equirement for the award of

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMISTRATION AND MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRAION

Submitted by SANANT GOYAL ENROLLMENT No: A3923009013

Under the guidance of Dr. Ruchi Jain Asst. Prof. in Management Studies

AMITY UNIVERSITY AMITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

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CERTIFICATE

This

is

to

Certify

that

the

Project

report

on

“CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION @ VOLKSWAGEN AGRA” is a bonafide work and submitted by Mr. Mr. Sana Sanant nt Goya Goyall in part partia iall fulf fulfil illme lment nt of the the degr degree ee of Bach Bachel elor or and and Mast Master er’s ’s of Bu Busi sine ness ss Admi Admini nist stra rati tion on,, Amit Amity y Scho School ol of Bu Busi sine ness ss,, Amit Amity y University.

This certificate is issued based on the declaration by the candidate.

Dr. Ruchi Jain (Project Guide)

Dr. Alka Munjal (HOD)

Project Report evaluated & Viva Voice held on …………….

INTERNAL EXAMINER

EXTERNAL EXAMINER



















DECLARATION BY CANDIDATE

I declare that this project work on “AN EXPLAINATORY STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION @ VOLKSWAGEN VOLKSWAGEN AGRA” AGRA” is a bonafide work done and submitted by me and the research work was carried out under the guidance of Mr. Anil Mall, General Manager, Volkswagen Agra and under overall supervision of Dr. Ruchi Jain Asst. Prof. in Management Studies .

I further declare that this Project Report does not form of any other project reports or dissertations on the basis of which a degree was awarded or conferred conferred on an earlier occasion on me or any other candidate.

Place: Noida Date:

SANANT GOYAL



















ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep sense of gratitude to our respected director Dr. Alka Munjal for giving me a wonderful opportunity for doing Bachelor and Master’s of Business Administration in this esteemed esteemed institution

I wish to place my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Anil Mall, General Manager, Volkswagen Agra. For his valuable guidance throughout the project.

I consider it a great privilege to be under the guidance of Dr. Ruchi Jain, Asst. Asst. Prof. Prof. in Manageme Management nt studies, studies, Amity Universit University. y. The contribution contribution and significant role played by her help me in preparation and submission of project report in time.

Last but not the least I would like to thank my parents and friends for their valuable support and encouragement through out the course of the project.

SANANT GOYAL



















CONTENTS

Chapters

Page No.

1. Introduction

1

2. Company Profile

15

3. Review of Literature

19

4. Research Methodology

29

5. Data Analysis and Interpretation

35

6. Findings

55

7. Suggestions

57

8. Conclusions

59

9. Annexure

I

10. Bibliography

II



















INTRODUCTION Research Motivation

A multitude of companies today has already identified the need to create a loyal loyal custom customer er base base and acknow acknowled ledges ges that that mainta maintaini ining ng existi existing ng custom customers ers and extend extending ing busine business ss with with them them is signif significa icantl ntly y less less expens expensive ive than than acquir acquiring ing new customers. Empirical proof of the proliferation of such customer loyalty efforts in the bus busin ines esss worl world d is e.g. e.g. prov provid ided ed in the the form form of loya loyalt lty y prog program rams, s, whic which h many many compan companies ies have have instal installed led during during the past past years. years. By engagi engaging ng in efforts efforts aimed aimed at creating customer loyalty, which in turn fosters financial success in monetary terms firms react to increasing competitive challenges.

Within research, the investigation of customer loyalty gained importance when the classic marketing paradigm with its instrumental and transactional orientation proved unsuitable in the context of longer-term business relationships. Instead, the relationship marketing approach, which is specifically concerned with the study of relational ex-changes, gained importance within research, serving as a conceptual foundation for the majority of customer loyalty researchers.

The question of how loyalty develops has been subject to an abundance of research, leading to an expansive body of literature on loyalty determinants. The extant literature exploring different factors and their constituent effects on loyalty,





















while industrial services have received relatively little attention so far. In addition, the majority of articles incorporates merely a few potential determinants and thus fails to draw a comprehensive picture of the mechanisms of customer loyalty formation.

Research Goals

As outlined in the preceding section, Customer feedback is confronted with diverse management challenges that result from continuous growth, globalization, and customer diversity. The aim of the present study therefore is to identify determinants of custom customer er loyalt loyalty y in relatio relationsh nships ips between between Compan Company’s y’s and their their custom customers ers by expl explic icit itly ly cons consid ider erin ing g diff differe erent nt chara charact cteri erist stic icss and and cult cultur ural al cont contex exts ts of such such relati relations onship hips. s. In this this sense, sense, the presen presentt resear research ch is positi positione oned d at the interfa interface ce of marketing and feedback and is intended to contribute not only to satisfaction research, but also to research in marketing, customer loyalty, and cultural studies.

In order to address the concept of customer satisfaction, it is important to understand the mechanisms underlying loyalty in the company’s outsourcing context.



















analyses analyses by investigatin investigating g cultural cultural differences differences between two important important markets markets for cust custom omer er sati satisf sfac acti tion on,, the the USA USA and and Germ German any. y. Part Partic icul ular ar diffe differe renc nces es betw betwee een n German Germany y and the USA will be identi identified fied and applie applied d to the previo previousl usly y devise devised d custom customer er loyalt loyalty y model. model. As a result result,, differe difference ncess betwee between n the two countr countries ies with with respect to the formation of customer loyalty can be inferred.

Finally, this study will investigate in how far different relationship conditions infl influe uenc ncee the the deve develo lopm pmen entt of cust custom omer er loya loyalt lty. y. For For this this purp purpos ose, e, impo importa rtant nt relationship characteristics will be identified and their moderating influences on the custom customer er loyalt loyalty y model model will will be examin examined. ed. This This will will provid providee inform informati ation on on the robustness of the customer loyalty model versus relational contingencies and will suggest if it is necessary to differentiate customer loyalty efforts accordingly.

Customer Satisfaction

The term satisfaction is often misinterpreted to mean need. In fact, the scope of satisfaction goes well beyond need. Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet



















customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus employees on the importance of fulfilling customers’ expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability. These metrics quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective.[ Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction.

In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort, for example, might receive a lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its facilities and service would be deemed superior in “absolute” terms. The importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has increased bargaining power. For example, cell phone plan providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, participate in an industry that is an oligopoly, where only a few suppliers of a certain product or service exist. As such, many cell phone plan contracts have a lot of fine print with provisions that they would never get away if there were, say, a hundred cell phone plan providers, because customer satisfaction would be way too low, and customers would easily have the option of leaving for a better contract offer.



















Customer Satisfaction Satisfaction in 7 Steps

1. Encourage Face-to-Face Dealings

This is the most daunting and downright scary part of interacting with a customer. If you're not used to this sort of thing it can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience. Rest assured, though, it does get easier over time. It's important to meet your customers face to face at least once or even twice during the course of a project.

2. Respond to Messages Promptly & Keep Your Clients Informed



















as soon as possible. Even if you're not able to solve a problem right away, let the customer know you're working on it.

3. Be Friendly and Approachable

A fellow Site Pointer once told me that you can hear a smile through the phone. This is very true. It's very important to be frie ndly, courteous and to make your clients feel like you're their friend and you're there to help them out. There will be times when you want to beat your clients over the head repeatedly with a blunt object - it happens to all of us. It's vital that you keep a clear head, respond to your clients' wishes as best you can, and at all times remain polite and courteous.

4. Have a Clearly-Defined Customer Service Policy

This may not be too important when you're just starting out, but a clearly defined customer service policy is going to save you a lot of time and effort in the





















your customer service policy is present on your site -- and anywhere else it may be useful.

5. Attention to Detail (also known as 'The Little Niceties')

Have you ever received a Happy Birthday email or card from a company you were a client of? Have you ever had a personalized personalized sign-up sign-up confirmation confirmation email for a service that you could tell was typed from scratch? These little niceties can be time consuming and aren't always cost effective, but remember to do them.

Even if it's as small as sending a Happy Holidays email to all your customers, it's something. It shows you care; it shows there are real people on the other end of that screen or telephone; and most importantly, it makes the customer feel welcomed, wanted and valued.



















It's It's poss possib ible le this this is the the most most impo import rtan antt poin pointt in this this artic article le.. The The simp simple le message: when you promise something, deliver. Clients don't like to be disappointed. Sometimes, something may not get done, or you might miss a deadline through no fault of your own. Projects can be late, technology can fail and sub-contractors don't always deliver on time. In this case ca se a quick apology and assurance it'll be ready ASAP wouldn't go a miss.

Customer Loyalty

Obtaining a thorough understanding of customer loyalty is a prerequisite for the execution of the research at hand. For that, the development of customer loyalty research within the framework of relationship marketing will be presented first, before differe different nt custom customer er loyalt loyalty y concep concepts ts will will be introd introduce uced. d. From From these these concep concepts, ts, a



















second second phase of extern external al focus focus follow followed, ed, where where firms firms directe directed d attenti attention on to their their customers, trying to retain existing ones and to win over new ones (churning). Since “acquiring new customers is much more expensive than keeping them”. And “loyal customers are the bedrock of any business”. A loyal customer base represents a barr barrie ierr to entr entry, y, a basi basiss for for a pric pricee prem premiu ium, m, time time to respo respond nd to comp compet etit itor or innovations, and a bulwark against deleterious price competition. Loyalty is critical to brand volume, is highly correlated to market share, and can be used as the basis of predicting future market share; consequently, understanding loyalty appears critical to any meaningful analysis of marketing strategy.

In marketing research, two trends mark the development of customer loyalty. While individual transactions initially were in the center of marketing research, the focus shifted towards analyzing relationships states that the ‘traditional’ marketing



















While the development of relationship marketing began in the early 1970s, it was not until the late 1980s that works from the ‘Nordic School of Services’. Initiated a paradi paradigm gm shift shift that that geared geared market marketing ing toward towardss the creatio creation, n, conser conservat vation ion,, and extension extension of buyer-selle buyer-sellerr relationship relationships. s. Although Although relationship relationship marketing today is widely accepted among marketing researchers, its promoters do not postulate the replacement of the transactional approach, but rather juxtapose the two approaches. For exampl example, e, deline delineate atess a strate strategy gy contin continuum uum,, in which which differ different ent goods goods requir requiree different degrees of transaction- and relationship-based marketing strategies. As a result of the focus on relationships in marketing research, customer loyalty gained importance within research.

Before determining which stream the present study can be associated with,



















distinguishes an active, supplier-focused component and a passive, customer focused component of customer loyalty.

In the supplier-focused perspective, customer loyalty is seen as a bundle of measures that aim at improving relationships with customers. The supplier is in the center of attention and the customer is only regarded as the factor at which success of customer loyalty becomes manifest. Here it becomes clear that this approach contains a conceptual deficit. It is the customer who eventually decides on whether customer loyalt loyalty y manage managemen mentt is succe successf ssful ul or not, not, becaus becausee all activit activities ies underta undertaken ken by a supplier can only be geared at influencing customers to be loyal. A customer-focused perspective therefore has to be added to evaluate the success of customer loyalty management.





















It is clear that the supplier-focused perspective with its instrumental approach is significantly different from the other two approaches. Distinguishing the customerand the relationship-focused perspective, however, is difficult, because both focus on the customer.

Behaviorist customer loyalty concepts

Behavi Behaviori orist st concep concepts ts of custom customer er loyalt loyalty y have have been been at the core core of early early





















Another disadvantage of behavioristic customer loyalty concepts is their ex post approach. When loyalty is only expressed through purchases, information on customers’ actual loyalty status in between purchases is not available. Consequently, decrea decreasin sing g loyalt loyalty y is only only recogni recognized zed after after it manife manifests sts itself itself throug through h change changed d purchasing behavior. Only in relationships with frequent interaction can a supplier integrate further aspects, such as complaints, into customer loyalty management. The reason, why behavioristic concepts may still be valuable, is because the measurement of cust custom omer er loya loyalt lty y in this this appr approa oach ch does does not not neces necessi sita tate te invo involv lvem emen entt by the the customer. The assessment of attitudes and intentions would always imply customers’





















approach by examining the causes of loyalty. As early as 1969, Day concluded that “loyalty “loyalty should be evaluated evaluated with both attitudinal attitudinal and behavioral behavioral criteria” otherwise accidental repeat-purchases, merely resulting from situational exigencies, would be regarded regarded as indicators indicators of loyalty. loyalty. There is no agreement, agreement, however, on the question, question, whether attitudes are part of customer loyalty or merely an antecedent of it. Some authors propose that only positive attitude can lead to ‘true’ customer loyalty. If attitude then is a necessary prerequisite of customer loyalty, some drivers of loyalty cannot be explained. Transaction cost theory, for instance, provides the concept of asset specificity. Relationship-specific investments create economic switching barriers





















overview of the determinants identified in these works, they can be structured in three dimensions:

(1)

Company-related determinants refer to the supplier itself or to the goods or services offered. It is a prerequisite for the existence of customer loyalty that the offered goods or services create utility for the customer and that they are available. In this respect, an assessment is usually performed by examining quality. quality. In order to evaluate evaluate the price-performance price-performance ratio, customers will pay attention to prices. Customer loyalty will also be influenced by the reputation





















placed in one of the three dimensions. However, as most other determinants influence satisfaction, it cannot be clearly separated and should therefore be listed as a distinct category.













































ABOUT Volkswagen AG is a Germany-based automobile Volkswagen automobile manufacturer. The Company develops vehicles vehicles and componen components, ts, and also produces and sells vehicles, in particular Volkswagen Volkswagen brand passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The Company consists of two divisions: Automotive and Financial Services division. The Automotive division is... BUY/SELL























REVIEW OF LITERATURE SURVEY

After having presented the necessary fundamentals of customer loyalty in the























THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Attitude Measurement Measurement

Attitude is defined as a predisposition of a person to respond to an idea or























attitudinal continuum ranging from an extremely favorable disposition to an extremely unfavorable one

Measurement scales

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































CONCLUSIONS

In addition to suggestions and findings, this study also provides several scopes for further research, which will be addressed in the following paragraphs:

(1) (1)

Whil Whilee the the cust custom omer er loyal loyalty ty model model valid validat ated ed in this this study study posse possess sses es good good power for explaining repurchase intentions and referral behavior, only partial explanation of the construct of additional purchase intentions is achieved For

this this reason reason,, future future studie studiess should should explor exploree additi additiona onall determ determina inants nts of this this loyalt loyalty y dimension.

(2) (2)

Meas Measur urem emen entt mode modell asse assess ssme ment nt reve reveal aled ed that that the the oper operat atio iona nali liza zati tion on of fairness in this study does not achieve sufficient discriminance from other constructs, especially from trust and relational satisfaction. As there is a strong theo theore reti tical cal indi indicat catio ion n that that fairn fairnes esss is impo importa rtant nt in cust custom omer er loya loyalt lty y considerations, further studies should modify fair-ness’ measurement model, e.g. by more strongly recurring to the concept of inequity.





































Volkswagen Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty Survey

EXCELLENT

Making you confident that this was the right vehicle

Handling your purchase in a professional and timely manner

VERY GOOD GOOD

FAIR

POOR



















YES Were all your questions answered at the time of delivery?

Was enough time spent with you at the delivery time?

Was the delivery of your vehicle a pleasant experience?

Was the exterior clean and undamaged?

Was it delivered with all the features promised?

Did they have you throughly inspect the vehicle?

Was the vehicle's maintenance schedule explained to you?

Were all operating controls explained to you?

Were all the terms of the warranty explained to you?

Was the Owner's Manual explained to you?

NO



















YES

NO

Were you introduced to someone in the service department?

Did the car come with a full tank of gas?

Has the dealer contacted you regarding your satisfaction?

When you received your new vehicle was it problem free?

Your salesperson

Your finance person

The way your new vehicle was delivered to you

Your overall purchase experience

Your new vehicle

TOTALLY

VERY

SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT VERY

SATISFIED

SATISFIED

SATISFIED

DISSATISFIED DISSATISFIED





















Were you offered a test drive?

Yes, offered and taken

Yes, offered but not taken

No, not offered

Overall, how would you rate the thoroughness of your test drive.

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Fair



















How satisfied are you with the actions taken by the dealership to resolve your problem?

Totally Satisfied

Very Satisfied

Somewhat Satisfied

Somewhat Dissatisfied

Very Dissatisfied





































We would appreciate your completing the following information to help us classify your responses:

Sex:

Male

Female

Age

Under 25

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 or over

























































BIBLIOGRAPHY Books: •

The Loyalty Guide report series - Peter Clark

•

Marketing Management 12 e – Philip Kotler

Websites: •

www.google.com

•

www.wikipedia.com

•

www.Volkswagen.com

Volkswagen SurVey

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