If it works for Apple, then maybe it can work for Lexus. We’re talking about Apple’s so-called ‘Genius Bar’, which is a communal-style help desk located inside the company’s retail stores.
For those of you wondering why car dealership customers would need a technical support station, all you have to do is look at the increasing number of electronic gizmos found in modern day vehicles, especially in the luxury car segment.
According to Forbes, Lexus will create its own version of Apple’s ‘Genius Bar’ at its U.S. showrooms and for this reason, many of the company’s 230 dealers in the country will increase the number of people who work in their sales department by as much as 20 percent.
Vincent Salisbury, training manager at the company’s Lexus College brand-education enterprise, told the magazine that some 2,400 people will pass through two-and-a-half-day training sessions in California by June for this matter.
Their goal will be to explain to Lexus owners and future buyers all the technological systems that appear in the brand’s cars, including navigation and digital-audio systems, Bluetooth connectivity, the new Enform telematics system, phone pairing, smart keys and more.
“It’s like the Apple Genius Bar concept,” explained Mark Templin, Lexus division’s general manager. “We’ll be dedicated to helping the customer understand the advanced technology of the new vehicles.”
According to Lexus, the company’s customer-service phone lines received approximately 5,000 calls in 2009 with questions about navigation and infotainment systems, but that number almost tripled to around 13,000 calls in 2011.
“Technology issues are easier to explain at the dealership when you’re with a real live person as opposed to doing it over the phone,” said Salisbury. “That’s what’s really driving this.”
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