The Hindu Business Line : Of cars, care and connecting

LATE October 2003 saw the launch of a new service brand from the renowned TVS group. Called My TVS, it integrated under its umbrella two fledgling facilities - servicing of all brands of cars and buying and selling of used cars - and introduced a third one, which was the emergency assistance scheme. Described as a unique initiative, it claims to cater to most of the latent needs of a car owner.

Says R. Srivatchan, Vice-President (My TVS), T. V. Sundaram Iyengar & Sons Ltd, "With the advent of multinationals, cars have evolved and so have their Indian owners; services, however, haven't kept pace." A product can be packaged but not a service. Customer perception can be different, too - one may think frequent enquiries are a sign of good service, another might find them irritating, points out Srivatchan, adding that My TVS hopes to manage those experiences well.

For the last three years, under the TVS Xpress brand, TVS had been servicing all brands of cars through franchisees. TVS Value, the user car selling and buying service, is operated by the company itself, while the new 24x7 emergency care service is run with the help of franchisees. On unifying these three services, Srivatchan says, "The various brand names were confusing people. Also, we were losing out to later entrants (with regard to the used car business) in terms of brand advertising."

The 24x7 emergency service, the newest of the lot, is a standard service the world over. (In the UK, reportedly 85 per cent of car owners are covered under such schemes.) "What do you do when you are stranded? First you think of God, then you think of help; that's where we come in," says Srivatchan, chuckling. This is a three-tiered subscription-based service. Now restricted to Tamil Nadu, it aims to provide a "bandaid solution" in case of a breakdown. The State has been divided into grids of 50 km and there is an authorised service provider (ASP) at every 50th km. A call centre with 10 incoming lines and 60 outgoing lines has been put in place to deal with the customers in this service.

"First, the person who receives the call will try to put the caller at ease, then get the details of where the car is, why it broke down, what make it is, and so on. Simultaneous calls will be made to the ASP to check his availability. The ASP will reach the spot and at the very least ensure that the car can go on to the next major town where a more thorough job can be done. However, in case of accidents and injury, a Platinum membership, among other things, will entitle one to taxi service and insurance for unknown occupants, says Srivatchan. This costs Rs 2,500 per year. The Gold card subscription costs Rs 1,250 and is valid for three free services or a year, whichever is earlier, while the Silver card costs Rs 750 per year and applies only to Chennai city.

Ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi helped TVS formulate the brand identity. TVS has been advertising this service on TV, outdoors and in print. This has resulted in many calls for help, mostly from non-members who are attended to, and 40 per cent of them become members gradually. The company expects 80 per cent conversion by next year. In May, there were nearly 250 calls, and 30 per cent were from members. In the UK, there are 11,300 calls a day, says Srivatchan. Data of this sort is not available for India but the most common complaints are electrical problems (with fuses, alternators, wires, batteries) and engine-related (to do with the clutch, brakes, steering, overheating). "There are 76 reasons why a car can halt, ranging from tyre puncture to the car computer not working," says Srivatchan.

My TVS has tied up with 175 ASPs including ambulance services, taxi services, those to help with mechanical and electrical breakdowns, towing and even with those who can help with filing FIRs. So far, the brand has raked in 5,000 subscriptions, and deals with nearly 400 cases a month. It aims to service 1,000 cases by end-March 2005.

The all car service in the My TVS portfolio aims to be available to as many people as possible. Typically, TVS plants franchisees in residential areas, and where there is "large night parking." Explaining this, Srivatchan says that this would be any area with a large number of households. "If, say, FoodWorld has a shop in the locality, we would be present too," he says, adding that this is retailing technique applied to car service.

TVS trains each franchisee in the technical and front-office aspects, and supplies the spare parts necessary to repair the cars. Each franchisee has five service bays and the corporate office follows up on the service with the customer.

Why would a customer approach My TVS and not the dealer from whom the vehicle was bought? According to Srivatchan, for dealers, service is "a necessary evil." Explaining, he says they make their money by selling cars, and 40-50 per cent of the service they dispense is obligatory because of the manufacturer's warranties. The personal touch is missing. Further, investment in a service station is high, so there can only be a few which are not easily accessible to all. Independent workshops, such as those My TVS has, are smaller, but close to customers' homes or offices. In mature markets, says Srivatchan, authorised dealers retain only 15 per cent of their customers.

A buyer may travel 15 km to check out a vehicle he wants to buy but when it comes to getting it serviced or repaired, would like something in easy reach. As the vehicle gets older, the customer looks for value for money, and does not want to spend much on the car. My TVS helps in that aspect as it uses genuine spare parts and delivers on schedule, says Srivatchan.

As the My TVS workshops are smaller set-ups, most are managed by the owner himself. As he has a stake in the service, personal relationships with customers are nurtured. There are no high overheads or infrastructure costs as the amount of space necessary does not exceed 1,400 sq ft. TVS also looks for people who are passionate about cars.

The NFO Tri*M Relationship Index is 87 for My TVS's all-car service. "Most dealerships in India get a score between 60 and 78," says Srivatchan, "which ranges from apostles to mercenaries to detractors to captives."

Says V. Rajesh Kanna, who owns a Maruti 800, a Matiz and an Opel, "Rather than having to go to three different dealers to get each of these cars serviced, My TVS affords me the convenience of getting them serviced under one roof. Further, it's more economical at TVS. The TVS franchisee I go to managed to find genuine spare parts even for my Matiz, a difficult feat today given the company's situation."

The all-car service facility is available in 35 centres in Tamil Nadu, in 15 in Kerala and two in Karnataka. Incidentally, the TVS group also has dealerships of various vehicle brands including Fiat, Honda and Mercedes Benz.

The other two-year old business, that of dealing in quality used cars, tries to provide customers an alternative to the uncertain and shadowy world of unorganised second-hand car sales business. "A lot of tampering goes on and most customers don't know how to go about verifying authenticity. The documents, parts, odometer ... anything can be fiddled with. In general, the more fantastic the seat, the deeper-seated the problem," quips Srivatchan. So My TVS goes the entire length to ascertain the vehicle's pedigree, including verifying the age of the car with the RTO and detecting the actual number of miles travelled, and certifies the car before selling it. This business is now operational in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, with seven outlets in all. It now sells around 300 cars a month and hopes to hike that to 400 by March 2005.

In five years, My TVS hopes to become a national player. Immediate on its agenda are Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. It wants to saturate one State before going on to another. "Can anyone other than TVS have done this? We have been in the service business for over 70 years, we are the only large and organised player in India and we have a name people can trust. For TVS, we are trying to get back our identity and reclaim the direct relationship we once had with our customers," says Srivatchan, explaining that with the nationalisation of the bus service, which TVS ran once, TVS had fewer opportunities to connect directly with the customer.

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