SIM Group automobile retail and service centers
How to Solve Customer Disputes – The Smart Way
SIM Group, a member of the Russian Car Dealer Association, has been on the national market for 15 years. The group is an official dealer of Suzuki, Kia, Renault and Hyundai vehicles. In 1998, the SIM showroom was among the first in Russia to be awarded official dealer status for Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. Today, seven state-of-the-art SIM car retail and service centers provide a full range of services to their clients. The SIM quality management system has been certified ISO 9000-compliant – all products, raw materials, production processes and services have been carefully tested to prove their compliance to required norms. The standard also covers the terms of service the company gives to its clients.
With no a way to monitor car service and repairs, the company was unable to properly investigate customer disputes. When it was claimed that damages had occurred as a result of repairs, the situation was often resolved in the clients’ favor. This was costly, but the company had no clear evidence that their service people were not at fault. SIM Group service areas offer clients the option to monitor technicians during service calls – but they wanted to protect against fraudulent disputes, while also monitoring the work of their employees.
Another needed feature was centralized video monitoring through a single control centre with an integrated user rights management system to control video channel access. The influence of the human factor on system operation and data collection had to be reduced as much as possible. In addition, better theft prevention and parking control was required.
The SIM Group board decided to create an integrated video surveillance system across the entire retail/service center network to monitor events and to establish video control over the premises.
A Revealing Solution
The solution was found in Axxon Enterprise - a multi-purpose security software platform upon which a video surveillance system was built. The Axxon Enterprise platform was selected in part for its capability to integrate virtually any make and type of equipment, making the platform extremely scalable and minimizing additional peripheral equipment costs.
Grand Prix, established high-tech security system integrators, performed the installation. Grand Prix is well known for creating and supplying reliable security systems that ensure stable and profitable business operations for its customers. To provide 24/7 monitoring of parking lots and surrounding areas, Grand Prix chose high sensitivity speed dome day/night cameras for video patrolling, operating as a separate unit within the Intellect-based system.
The access control system was enhanced using additional cameras with the Face-Intellect feature. This technology grants personal access rights to certain areas using remote facial identification results.
Workplaces located in service areas were equipped with video control to prevent lift platform accidents. Grand Prix installed an LCD display in the customer waiting area, enabling customers to monitor the service area and their vehicles in real-time.
The integrated system is managed from the head office, with monitoring workstations provided for security officers, company board and site managers.
Better Security, Better Management, Better Savings
Since the system was installed, SIM Group management now receives logs of the precise work done on each car, which also takes into account the complexity of each job. These journals are created for each technician to record the vehicles they service and jobs they perform.
Because video evidence is now available, dispute resolution is quicker and easier. Using the Axxon Enterprise-based system, SIM Group managers are much better prepared to manage clients’ behavior, and to correct initial job estimates should they require increased man-hours.
As promised, Axxon Enterprise has improved SIM Group’s ROI. Axxon’s system brought safety and transparency into SIM Group’s relationship with its clients – which translates into long-term savings.
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