GM Offering Employee Bonuses Based on Customer Loyalty

Implementing a new compensation structure, GM North America president Mark Reuss is focusing on customer retention in a way the company might have never tried before: employee bonuses.
As part of an over all strategy to improve customer satisfaction with the brand, Reuss is issuing bonuses to employees that promote customer loyalty for both return purchases and service.

“That is the ultimate result of why we’re doing all of this, right? People come back and buy our cars and trucks,” Reuss told Automotive News.

All 29,000 of GM’s salaried North American employees will be included in the new system, which will be measured by third-party sales data and internal numbers that determine if a dealership hits its loyalty target. The system builds on something Reuss already implemented in 2011, where salaried workers are paid an annual bonus for reaching a company-wide vehicle quality target.

It’s a big step forward from a few years ago when the brand was going through restructuring in 2009. At that time, it was common that dealers would be pushed into taking more inventory than was actually needed on the lot to keep cash flowing through GM.

Instead, this latest policy development is a reflection of the brand’s commitment to creating a more customer-service based experience. Reuss is also hoping that by encouraging employees to broaden their customer service focus, overall brand profitability will improve.

“Everybody had their own metrics, which somehow were all green, or positive,” Reuss said of the old GM. “But, weirdly, when we added it up, it was pretty red.”

Now, with a direct focus on quality vehicles and overall customer loyalty, the focus might finally shift from individual task completion to a company with greater overall health, ultimately leading to a better end-user experience.

[Source: Automotive News]