'BENCHMARKING' QUALITY-MEASUREMENT SURVEY SYSTEM KEEPS TOYOTA DEALERS IN TOUCH WITH CONSUMERS

    ATLANTA, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota's "benchmark" system of internal customer satisfaction surveys keeps the company and its dealers in touch with customers and measures progress in satisfying them, said the top customer relations executive of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., here today.
    Speaking before the International Quality & Productivity Center, John P. McLaughlin, national customer administration manager for Toyota's national customer relations department, said that the company's "Voice of the Customer" satisfaction survey systems started in 1986 have helped Toyota increase its share of the U.S. market 3.6 percentage points in the last six years to around nine percent, despite the three- year recession.
    Toyota and its dealers accomplished this with a strong focus on customer satisfaction reinforced with annual performance goals for each of its customer satisfaction objectives, McLaughlin said.
    "It's a truism in our industry," McLaughlin said.  "What gets measured gets done."
    McLaughlin predicts that continuous improvement caused by the quality measurement surveys also will help Toyota attain its goal of being the best in the auto industry in all products and services.
    The surveys yield key information providing Toyota and its dealers a strong impetus to please customers.
    "If we begin with 1,000 Toyota customers and satisfy them in their sales and service experiences, we can expect over 871 of them to return to the same dealers," McLaughlin said.  "If dissatisfied, only 22 intend to come back to buy another Toyota from the same dealer.  These kinds of examples help everyone at Toyota and its dealers to understand the severe cost of dissatisfaction."
    McLaughlin said that since Toyota's customer satisfaction survey system began in 1986, its three original indexes have shown good improvement.  The indexes measure dealer sales and delivery, service, and overall customer satisfaction with the dealership.  A fourth, added last year, measures percentage of zero-defect vehicle delivery.
    Toyota's indexes show a full 20-point boost in overall customer satisfaction when dealers focus on follow-up.  "Follow-up is often a matter of simply communicating with the customer," McLaughlin said.
    Toyota's survey indexes are at an all-time high, he said, with customer satisfaction gains mirroring sales penetration gains since 1986, despite a difficult market.
    "We can see that our customer satisfaction activities are a major reason for our sales success," he said.  "We believe that maintaining a 'Customer First' philosophy is our insurance for the future."
    In calendar year 1991 Toyota received over 400,000 sales and delivery surveys with a 55-percent return rate and 70 percent written comments, as well as over 180,000 service surveys with a 42-percent return rate and 76 percent with written comments.  The company receives over 580,000 surveys per year.  The large numbers and return rates ensure accuracy, McLaughlin said.
    Toyota listens to the voice of the customer via a Customer Assistance Center with a toll-free 800 number for direct customer inquiries and to assist with any problems or concerns they have. Toyota's Customer Satisfaction Survey System mailings track sales, service and vehicle quality.
    Customer satisfaction criteria are included in dealer recognition and incentive programs.  For example, McLaughlin said, the prestigious "Toyota Touch President's Award" recognizes excellence in a dealer's business performance, high ratings in Toyota's customer satisfaction survey, and all Toyota dealer operating standards.
    In addition, he said, Toyota's internal benchmarking provides specific detail to address problems in all company operations as well as in Toyota's 1,400 dealers.
    "We identify the who, what, where, when and why of each customer's transaction," he said.  "In today's market, customer satisfaction has evolved into more than just a competitive issue," McLaughlin said.  "It has become an issue of survival."
    -0-                        1/26/93
    /CONTACT:  Xavier A. Dominicis of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A, Inc., 407-488-4427

CO: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. ST: Florida IN: AUT SU:

AW-JB -- FL001 -- 9169 01/26/93 14:47 EST