Customer Perception/Benchmarking Assignment

CLIENT:
An international supplier of brake and hardware and systems to truck and trailer manufacturers and to the replacement market.

PROBLEM:
Our client was finding it increasingly difficult to retain or expand its share of the market with original equipment manufacturers for both new vehicle installations and service parts programs. Concurrently, it realized its independent aftermarket programs, while generally successful, were not uniformly well received nor expanding up to planned performance levels. No system existed to measure customer satisfaction not to benchmark against competition for future improvements.

ASSIGNMENT:
MacKay & Company undertook three parallel research program, one with vehicle manufacturers, a second with truck dealers and a third with independent distributors. Individual interviews were held with manufacturing, engineering, marketing and service parts executives at each significant truck, trailer and engine manufacturer to determine how our client, his product, program and people were perceived and positioned. OEM clients were asked to benchmark our client against their best suppliers on several key criteria. Concurrently, a series of focus groups were conducted with independent distributors and truck dealers, structured to develop similar insight and benchmark data.

RESULT:
Based upon both OEM and aftermarket feedback, our client undertook a restructuring of its product programs, customer relationships and individual OEM and aftermarket programs aimed at critical customer criteria and key competitor benchmarks. Where feasible, products or systems were modified to more closely match customer preferences. Sales and marketing programs were modified to more closely meet expressed customer needs and priority benchmark criteria.