Europcar drives change in customer experience

From: Europcar
Published: Tue Sep 01 2009


Europcar, the UK's leading vehicle hire company has taken a leaf from its counterparts in the airline and hotel industries to create a fresh approach to customer experience management.

Following detailed research amongst customers and analysis of the customer journey, Europcar has created what it believes is the car and van hire industry's first Customer Experience Guide for employees. At the same time, a new, uncomplicated, step by step customer rental guide 'Your Guide to a Smooth Journey' has been launched for provision to every customer to ensure a simple, stress free hire experience.

The Customer Experience Guide is a new process to be adopted by all customer-facing employees across Europcar UK Group's business, from those working at the 200 plus branches throughout the UK along to those dealing with telephone reservations and enquiries at Europcar's contact centre. The aim is to create the best possible service to customers from the point of contact through to the end of the hire.

Catriona Lougher, Marketing Director for Europcar said: "Whilst high volume business car hire customers have always enjoyed a good level of service from vehicle hire companies, it would be fair to say the leisure customer has not traditionally received the same focus of attention."

Europcar looked at each aspect of the customer journey in line with extensive customer research undertaken early in 2009 to create a more cohesive approach to service for both business and leisure customers. The guide maps out the different steps of the car hire experience, what customers want at each interaction and the key customer facing operational standards to be delivered.

New key fobs have also been developed for each customer-facing member of staff outlining the 6 golden rules for good customer service to ensure they understand how to deliver great customer service and to gain some consistency across the business.

At the same time Europcar is making vehicle hire easier for customers with a new step by step car and van hire guide. 'Your Guide to a Smooth Journey' offers all the key information customers need to make their hire experience enjoyable - from what to do before setting off to improving fuel economy, keeping the kids happy in the car as well as the useful telephone numbers customers may need.

Catriona Lougher concluded: "By providing customers with the consistency and clarity they demand, these initiatives will pay dividends for the business enabling Europcar to develop the products, service and experience that delivers differentiation, preference and loyalty. We've already launched a range of new products this year that are setting us apart from the competition, from free delivery and collection, to one way airport car hire, now we're really demonstrating our commitment to be the first choice for car and van hire for consumers and businesses across the UK."

Notes to Editors

About Europcar
Europcar is the European car hire leader in passenger car and light utility vehicle rentals. The company serves business and leisure customers throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. Since March 2007 with the acquisition of Vanguard EMEA, its network comprises over 5,300 rental outlets in 160 countries.

The Europcar fleet has an average CO2 of 158g/km compared to the average UK car parc which has 164.9 g/km CO2. Excluding franchise operations, in 2008 Europcar signed more than 10 million rental contracts, with 8,000 employees and a fleet exceeding 225,000 vehicles. In September 2008, Europcar and U.S. market leader Enterprise Rent a Car joined forces in a strategic alliance to form the world's largest car rental network, with more than 1.2 million vehicles and 13,000 locations around the world.

For further press information please contact:
Dominic Dennis
HSL
Churcham House
1 Bridgeman Road
Teddington
Middlesex
TW11 9AJ
T: 020 8977 9132
F: 020 8977 5200
Company: Europcar
Contact Name: Dominic Dennis
Contact Email: enquiries@pr-sending.co.uk
Contact Phone: 020 8977 9132

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