GM Committed to Providing Excellent Technical Support to Customers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Training of Dealer technicians and fine-tuned processes for faster results - creating customers for life in Sub-Saharan Africa markets.

General Motors Sub-Saharan Africa (GMSSA) is striving to ensure that all its customers, no matter where they are based on the continent, receive the same impeccable service that sets General Motors apart from its competitors.

This requires a comprehensive approach through liaising with its entire Dealer Network, which covers countries from Cape Verde, Senegal, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Ethiopia and Mauritius.

Daniel Gitau, Service Operations Manager for GMSSA, and his technical support team, takes responsibility for a wide range of aftersales processes.  These processes include the Global Warranty Management and Warranty Coordination processes, technical support, aftersales launch readiness processes and technical training with the GM South Africa training centre in Johannesburg, for SSA Markets.  Technical support is one of the central pillars for ensuring customer expectations are met, especially in cases where products have technical concerns that must be attended to in a much faster manner.

"We provide technical support for our products  freely and timeously.  We offer support to our Dealers, either over the telephone, by e-mail or by directing them to a website.  The goal is to get back to the Dealer within eight hours of receipt of the email or request.  If the issue is still not resolved, the Dealer fills out a technical problem escalation form that we send to General Motors South Africa (GMSAf)," says Gitau.

GMSAf has a fully established technical support team that GMSSA can ask for assistance in certain cases where they have more experience.  If GMSAf cannot resolve the issue, they involve the source plant.

Gitau goes on to say, "We also offer training to all our Dealers. Before the launch of a new product, any Dealer approved to access that product must have his technicians trained. The training is based on New Model Information and Diagnosis, which incorporates training on diagnostic equipment and unit overhauls. Training is a prerequisite for sending a new product to a Dealer."  Gitau is also responsible for following up with other stakeholders regarding the GM Difference and Customer Satisfaction Index implementation in identified markets.

"The GM Difference is founded on the notion of creating customers for life. To create customers for life, value creation and delivery is important. Customers determine value, which is at times subjective. We must do everything to ensure we have happy customers through exceeding their expectations. Customers buy products for certain purposes. When these products develop technical defects and can no longer operate as intended, the utility is lost. In such a scenario, the customer would require the product repaired as quickly as possible."