Improves Customer Service with All-Mobile Offering
February 24, 2004 TORONTO –Belron Canada, Canada’s largest auto glass retailer, announced today that it is committed to a major change by offering consumers in the Greater Toronto Area and on the Island of Montreal a world-class mobile service for two of its banners, Standard AutoGlass and Lebeau Vitres d’auto. The company now intends to replace auto glass directly where the consumer’s vehicle is located, at home or at work.
“From Belron Canada’s 2003 consumer research, we learned that 72% of consumers are not aware of the mobile service, but that the vast majority would like to have access to such a service and felt that this type of service offered real value,” indicated Chris Webb, General manager of Standard AutoGlass, Ontario and Eastern Canada. “For the consumer, it’s a problem free and time saving solution. The new business model launched by Belron Canada is in this respect radically different from what the rest of the industry is able to offer around the country.”
A major rollout
Due to this major change in client service, thirteen of its stores in the Toronto region will be grouped into three regional centers, which will offer mobile service directly to the consumer’s home or work, according to their preference. On the Island of Montreal, 10 stores will be combined into five regional centres to the same end. To provide better customer support, the regional centres, all strategically located, will offer an even wider variety of products and services.
All employees of Standard AutoGlass in the Toronto region and Lebeau Vitres d’auto on the Island of Montreal who are assigned to mobile units, as well as those working in the new regional centres, received extensive training in one of the two training centres recently opened by the company. Other training activities will follow to ensure that employees have mastered what they have learned and offer efficient and quality service.
The mobile service will be deployed using a new fleet of attractively coloured mobile units that will serve a territory from the new regional centres. To make the new service known, a radio ad campaign combined with billboard ads will be carried out in Toronto and Montreal.
A well planned move
This new business model is based on the solid experience developed by Belron Inc., the parent company of Belron Canada. Belron Inc. is active in 27 countries, the majority of which are in Europe, where this model has been proven for reliability and quality. The products and technologies used are at the cutting edge of this domain, thanks, among others, to research conducted by its subsidiary Belron Technical. Millions of windshields are repaired or replaced each year from Belron’s mobile services. In the United Kingdom, for example, more than 80% of repairs or replacements of auto glass are completed using this business model.
In addition, the rollout activities perfected by Belron Canada take into account the results of a pilot project conducted in Scarborough, Ontario and in Montreal in March 2003. This project made it possible to fine-tune all the technical details of this new approach, especially with respect to telecommunications and service logistics.
About Belron Canada
Belron Canada is Canadas leader in service and solutions for auto glass repair and replacement, operating in all regions of the country under three banners: Standard AutoGlass, Lebeau Vitres dauto and DURO Vitres dauto. With activities across Canada, it serves its customers directly or through partnerships with insurance companies and commercial customers. Belron Canada employs more than 1,200 people at its 260 outlets in Canada. The company is a subsidiary of Belron Inc., the world leader in the auto glass repair and replacement industry.