ZR
07-31-2017, 07:42 AM
DETROIT — After decades of loyalty to Mercedes-Benz, Jim Stevenson switched to a Lincoln MKX in September. It's been great, he said, except that he often can't get the voice-controlled navigation system to recognize what he's saying.
"I'm still just trying to get used to it," said Stevenson, a retired land developer. "Sometimes, you get aggravated and it's easier to pull over and pull out your phone."
Stevenson's complaint earned understanding nods from others who filled the lounge in the otherwise quiet service building at Jack Demmer Lincoln on a Saturday morning. Martin Whitehead, a Ford Motor Co. retiree, jumped into the conversation to vent that the buttons on the instrument panel of his MKX, offering an alternative to the voice commands, were too small.
"We're talking about tiny little buttons for old folks," Whitehead said. "We used to try to surprise and delight, and I'm not surprised nor delighted in the size of these buttons."
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CA/20170731/RETAIL07/170739987/H2/0/H2-170739987.jpg&MaxW=450
More tech, more problems
The group of 11 people, mostly retirees, had come for Jack Demmer Lincoln's monthly Sync Seminar. The dealership in Dearborn, Mich., about 2 miles down Michigan Avenue from Ford's world headquarters, offers the sessions to help customers learn more about the infotainment systems in their vehicles.
Officials at Jack Demmer, which also holds monthly seminars at its Ford store a few towns farther west, realized that the more technology Ford packs into the dashboards, the more potential there is for drivers to become frustrated or overwhelmed — and thus dissatisfied with their vehicle. Early versions of the Ford Sync system dragged down Ford's performance on third-party quality and customer-satisfaction surveys, putting dealerships in the position of trying to smooth over relations with confused owners.
The latest iteration of Ford's system, known as Sync 3, has addressed many of the glitches and design flaws that MyFord Touch often was criticized for, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily easy for all customers to figure out.
"There's still as many questions, maybe more so with this new system," said Eulah O'Connor, who manages the business development center at Jack Demmer Ford. "We discovered that when a new car's being delivered, they may not remember everything because there's so much to absorb at one time."
Bob Faust, general sales manager at Jack Demmer Ford, said the dealership has gotten "tons of positive feedback" about the sessions.
"Customer satisfaction scores are certainly a bit higher, and our repeat business is a very large part of our business," Faust said.
Jack Demmer Ford sells 3,200 new vehicles and 1,100 used vehicles a year. Jack Demmer Lincoln sells 1,500 new and used vehicles annually.
Personalized help
The dealerships' salespeople and designated Sync experts are happy to help anyone who calls or stops by with a question, but they started the Saturday morning sessions about three years ago as a more formalized way to encourage customers to seek assistance.
"Other features they can pretty much figure out, but the Sync system can be tough," O'Connor said. "If they are still having a problem, we offer a personalized one-on-one consultation with that customer for however long it takes until they feel comfortable — an hour, two hours or whatever."
Each seminar begins as a question-and-answer session but sometimes evolves into a de facto product-development focus group. The expert leading the gathering then takes time to sit in the customers' vehicles and resolve whatever problems they're having.
"The questions do get tougher as more stuff is added on," said Samer Awazem, a Jack Demmer Lincoln salesman who ran the seminar that Stevenson and Whitehead attended. "Sometimes it's the car, but most of the time, it's the customer input."
Pat Montague-Wade, a retired Ford plant supervisor, said her phone was constantly disconnecting from the 2017 Continental she had bought two weeks earlier. Awazem hopped into the passenger seat and navigated through the touch-screen menus to figure out why.
"My granddaughter keeps telling me to get a new phone, but I like my flip phone," Montague-Wade said.
Awazem said her granddaughter might be onto something, but he also removed the phone's battery to reset it before trying to re-pair it with Sync. In a few seconds, the screen confirmed that it had recognized the phone correctly.
"That's the first time somebody tried that," Montague-Wade said, visibly impressed to see that it worked.
Back inside the dealership, which normally is closed on weekends, Greg Baranyai said he has come to several of the sessions to get insight on his 2013 MKZ and his wife's 2015 MKC and found them beneficial.
"I pick up a couple tips here and there," said Baranyai, a package handler with FedEx. "Once you learn how to use the navigation, it's not bad."
"I'm still just trying to get used to it," said Stevenson, a retired land developer. "Sometimes, you get aggravated and it's easier to pull over and pull out your phone."
Stevenson's complaint earned understanding nods from others who filled the lounge in the otherwise quiet service building at Jack Demmer Lincoln on a Saturday morning. Martin Whitehead, a Ford Motor Co. retiree, jumped into the conversation to vent that the buttons on the instrument panel of his MKX, offering an alternative to the voice commands, were too small.
"We're talking about tiny little buttons for old folks," Whitehead said. "We used to try to surprise and delight, and I'm not surprised nor delighted in the size of these buttons."
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CA/20170731/RETAIL07/170739987/H2/0/H2-170739987.jpg&MaxW=450
More tech, more problems
The group of 11 people, mostly retirees, had come for Jack Demmer Lincoln's monthly Sync Seminar. The dealership in Dearborn, Mich., about 2 miles down Michigan Avenue from Ford's world headquarters, offers the sessions to help customers learn more about the infotainment systems in their vehicles.
Officials at Jack Demmer, which also holds monthly seminars at its Ford store a few towns farther west, realized that the more technology Ford packs into the dashboards, the more potential there is for drivers to become frustrated or overwhelmed — and thus dissatisfied with their vehicle. Early versions of the Ford Sync system dragged down Ford's performance on third-party quality and customer-satisfaction surveys, putting dealerships in the position of trying to smooth over relations with confused owners.
The latest iteration of Ford's system, known as Sync 3, has addressed many of the glitches and design flaws that MyFord Touch often was criticized for, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily easy for all customers to figure out.
"There's still as many questions, maybe more so with this new system," said Eulah O'Connor, who manages the business development center at Jack Demmer Ford. "We discovered that when a new car's being delivered, they may not remember everything because there's so much to absorb at one time."
Bob Faust, general sales manager at Jack Demmer Ford, said the dealership has gotten "tons of positive feedback" about the sessions.
"Customer satisfaction scores are certainly a bit higher, and our repeat business is a very large part of our business," Faust said.
Jack Demmer Ford sells 3,200 new vehicles and 1,100 used vehicles a year. Jack Demmer Lincoln sells 1,500 new and used vehicles annually.
Personalized help
The dealerships' salespeople and designated Sync experts are happy to help anyone who calls or stops by with a question, but they started the Saturday morning sessions about three years ago as a more formalized way to encourage customers to seek assistance.
"Other features they can pretty much figure out, but the Sync system can be tough," O'Connor said. "If they are still having a problem, we offer a personalized one-on-one consultation with that customer for however long it takes until they feel comfortable — an hour, two hours or whatever."
Each seminar begins as a question-and-answer session but sometimes evolves into a de facto product-development focus group. The expert leading the gathering then takes time to sit in the customers' vehicles and resolve whatever problems they're having.
"The questions do get tougher as more stuff is added on," said Samer Awazem, a Jack Demmer Lincoln salesman who ran the seminar that Stevenson and Whitehead attended. "Sometimes it's the car, but most of the time, it's the customer input."
Pat Montague-Wade, a retired Ford plant supervisor, said her phone was constantly disconnecting from the 2017 Continental she had bought two weeks earlier. Awazem hopped into the passenger seat and navigated through the touch-screen menus to figure out why.
"My granddaughter keeps telling me to get a new phone, but I like my flip phone," Montague-Wade said.
Awazem said her granddaughter might be onto something, but he also removed the phone's battery to reset it before trying to re-pair it with Sync. In a few seconds, the screen confirmed that it had recognized the phone correctly.
"That's the first time somebody tried that," Montague-Wade said, visibly impressed to see that it worked.
Back inside the dealership, which normally is closed on weekends, Greg Baranyai said he has come to several of the sessions to get insight on his 2013 MKZ and his wife's 2015 MKC and found them beneficial.
"I pick up a couple tips here and there," said Baranyai, a package handler with FedEx. "Once you learn how to use the navigation, it's not bad."