Saying, “The biggest luxury we can give someone is time,” Andrew Frick, Director of Sales and Services for the Lincoln Motor Company walked me through the brand’s new standard Pickup and Delivery Service. Available across all 2017 models, this means that Lincoln owners will never have to take their cars to the dealership for service if they choose not to.
In theory, complimentary pickup and delivery is simple. You schedule an appointment with your dealer and a Lincoln valet comes to your home, business or wherever else you want your car picked up, takes your car to the service department and leaves behind a loaner car while yours is in the shop. In practice there were a lot of bugs to work out before they could implement it across the entire Lincoln dealer network in North America.
“We piloted the program for over a year to make sure the valets are properly trained and our software is flawless,” said Frick. “One of the biggest challenges was making sure we had the proper infrastructure to exceed customer expectations,” he continued. “For instance, if a customer schedules a pickup for 10:15, we have to pick up at 10:15, not sometime between 8:00 and noon. That just wouldn’t be acceptable.”
Lincoln sales are up nearly 15% year to date thanks to their new MKX and MKC crossovers. But knowing that there’s more to a luxury brand than just the product, Lincoln executives began looking for ways to separate the brand by offering an elevated client experience. In doing so they turned to luxury marketing consultant, Pam Danziger.
“The ultimate luxury is time,” said Danziger. “Everybody talks service in the car business, but rarely deliver on it in a meaningful way.” By turning the usually unpleasant experience of servicing a vehicle from a negative to a positive, “Lincoln is miles ahead of other luxury brands,” she said.
Lincoln’s Pickup and Delivery Service will begin with the launch of the new Continental in September, and be available to anyone who buys any 2017 model year vehicle. It adds onto its already extensive range of customer service experiences including Lincoln’s Concierge service and Lincoln Black Label premium services.