Reference no: EM133176749

Describe 3 specific issues Bill Patterson must consider, based on the facts and cicircumstances presented in the case - specifically addressing the survey results. You may use ONLY the facts presented in the case. Understand that the focus of this case is to get you to think about MEASUREMENT. It's easy to throw out random suggestions, but ONLY what gets MEASURED gets DONE. The difference between success and failure for any service improvement is MEASUREMENT. The ability to measure leads to consistent individual accountability which leads to consistent individual performance which leads to consistent team performance which leads to improvement.

For each of these 3 specific issues:

• List 3 specific action steps which could be taken. These must be specific enough so that if you handed them to Bill Patterson, he could act on them in a way that would be observable and measurable. For example, "improve customer service" is generic, not measurable, and therefore not actionable (and certainly not an effective action step). "Answer all incoming calls within 3 rings" is specific, actionable, and measurable.
• Describe EXACTLY how you would MEASURE each of the action steps. You must be very specific here as well. Specific enough that if you handed them to Bill Patterson, he could implement these measurements immediately. For example, if one of the things you were going to measure was "answer the phone in three rings", how, EXACTLY, would you measure that??
• Patterson Auto Sales and Service (PASS) is a full servicedealership for a major domestic automobile brand thatprovides three main services: new car sales, used carsales, and repair and maintenance service. Because ofthe competitive nature of the market, the firm'sowner, Bill Patterson, wants to take a more systematicapproach to improving service and providing a highlevel of customer satisfaction. Through surveys, focusgroups, and analysis of complaint data and informa-tion, he identified some important requirements forthese services. Customers expect a favorable impressionwhen they arrive at the dealership-awiderangeofvehicles and options to evaluate, available salespeople,be greeted promptly, and feel comfortable and not pres-sured. They also expect salespersons to be courteous,knowledgeable about the cars, respect their time, andhonor verbal promises. For repair and maintenance ser-vice, customers want to have the work explainedappropriately, be fully informed of any additionalnecessary work, and have all work reviewed upon com-pletion. They want good time estimates and communi-cations with the service department.Suppliers play an important role in the businessand the entire value chain. The dealership needsquality parts, product availability when needed,timely delivery, and fair prices. PASS also receivescorporate support for its employee benefits andcertain training programs, information technologyplanning and intranet/Internet development, market-ing and advertising, and strategic planning direc-tion. PASS is facing increasing competition forskilled employee talent, changing customer demo-graphics that are leading to growing demand, andmore competition as a result of new foreign dealer-ships that are locating in its market area. Bill recog-nizes the need to"become the dealership of choice"in its market"