Ford is on a journey of transformation, intent on reducing red tape that’s hindering efficiency – and the results are beginning to show.

Now six months into the transformation and FCSD (Ford Customer Service Division) has taken significant actions to improve how it works with dealers around warranty work. It was done by listening to the "voice of dealer" in focus groups, Dealer Council, one on one meetings, surveys, and complaints.

“It was a very deliberate approach to find areas where actions could be most impactful,” says Maggie Morse, Ford Global Operations Warranty manager. “Through the first quarter, we launched 19 actions, and there’s more to go because the work is never done.”

 Another crucial step in this transformation journey is specifically looking at technician retention and recruitment. Technicians are the front-line workers for the brand at the dealership level. This point of entry for in-service product failure is critical and complicated. The dealer must make a rapid decision regarding a failed part, allowable repair time, workload of staff, the experience of the technician, and reimbursement by Ford. In response, Ford added diagnostics and programming time to make sure they appropriately reflected the time a technician spends diagnosing increasingly complex vehicle systems and ensuring the proper time is spent identifying the root cause of a customer’s concern.

“I think that the bureaucracy was taking its toll on senior techs. They had to remember to punch in and out, make a list exactly what parts they need from the workshop manual before servicing a vehicle.” says David Abatsis, owner of Acton Ford in Acton, Massachusetts. “Now, a list is already created for those parts and sometimes the technician is surprised to hear that they don't need prior approval anymore. In terms of retention, these changes are definitely going to help us.”

By streamlining the process, dealers are becoming more successful, and the percentage of claims approved right away by Ford is increasing. According to Abatsis, “By relaxing some of those standards used by the company, it has improved our throughput. It’s easier for us to get paid by providing documentation at the time of the claim eliminating the back and forth. You can see in terms of claims being accepted the first time. The same thing with one-time-use parts which the manual indicates needs to be installed as part of the repair. We had 1400 of those parts and working with team, they've cut the paperwork requirement down to 4 components that are absolutely necessary to get a claim paid. That was a big change for our techs to not be concerned about whether a job went through.”

Ford’s relentless scrutiny of warranty processes throughout the dealer network has also brought about the formation of the Warranty Consulting First Process. Early results indicate positive reaction from dealers.

Every year, Ford audits about 100 dealers out of 3300. While the goal is to improve pain points where the dealer satisfaction is low, dealers felt warranty policies and practices led to customers mistrusting them. This also caused problems with retaining good technicians.

By holding a consultation first with the dealer and proactively coaching them in their overall service process, Ford has been able to empower the dealers to take care of Ford customers. The consult process is also reducing fear of an audit and restoring trust between Ford and its retailers.

FCSD is committed to continue our collaborative efforts to reduce red tape and bureaucracy, to improving warranty processes and to building customer loyalty. Stay tuned, there is more to come!