May 15, 2020—Farzam Afshar, the CEO of VeriFacts Automotive, has taken note of customer service's swift evolution during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, his recent exchange with Amazon was downright eye-opening
"I bought this thing, and they called me back the next day, wanting to now 'Did I take care of you, and did you get my return voucher?'" Afshar recalls. "And this morning, I saw they're looking for thousands of new employees. They're growing, despite the (pandemic) situation."
Body shops should take note of such resilience and positivity, Afshar says.
Where others see doomsday predictions for businesses, Afshar sees potential for opportunities, assuming body shop owners can lead positively.
"People are going to (start) driving a lot more," the VeriFacts executive says. "We need to be able to see 'How do we reach out to our existing customers that we've had?' This is a great opportunity to call those customers, send a mailer to them, and say 'Thanks for being our customer the last five years."
Now, more than ever, body shop staffs need to have a personal touch to their customer service, letting past customers know that they're ready to help, if needed. That's similar, Afshar says, to how OEMs like Ford and Tesla have helped create ventilators for hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.
"That's the kind of thinking we need," Afshar says. "That's going to get us back on track (as an industry) faster than thinking 'Oh my god, my world is this and that. We can get over this really fast, we just need to have the right mindset, and right leadership, and right message."
