Lexus dealer uses Japanese art of ‘omotenashi' to surprise, delight service customers

Jewelers have spent decades convincing consumers that little things mean a lot, but a Lexus dealership in suburban Boston has found that the adage applies to more than fancy baubles.

Lexus of Watertown has been delivering surprise, custom-built boxes full of branded tchotchkes from its parts inventory to some wholesale parts and service customers and discovered that the resulting goodwill from the gesture leaves a lasting impression on the recipients.

"Customers have a choice" of where they buy their parts and get their vehicles serviced, said Patrick Blake, fixed operations director at Lexus of Watertown. "When they come here and do business, it means they thought of us, so this is a way we can let them know that we're thinking of them as well."

Lexus of Watertown has been in its current location since 2001 and sells an average of about 125 new and 155 used vehicles per month. Blake said the dealership's 35 service bays process an average of about 2,300 customer-pay repair orders per month.

The idea for the boxes came from a challenge by Lexus for its dealerships to explore the Japanese custom of omotenashi. In practice, it means creating unexpected delight with what amounts to random acts of kindness — not exactly how most customers expect to feel after leaving most service departments, especially if they've just paid for a repair order.

Blake said the idea for the handcrafted boxes originally came from Parts Director Bethany Esposito and Service Manager Amanda Carr. Esposito crafts the boxes, filling them with tastefully arranged hats, branded shirts, keychains, umbrellas, tumblers, water bottles, golf balls or other small items that are fixtures within most dealership parts departments.

The contents of the omotenashi boxes "really isn't anything that's going to be eye-popping; in fact, each box probably costs us more in time to make than it does the stuff that's in there. But the idea is that the gifts are something that might wow them one day," Blake said.

On the box lid is a personalized note addressed to the chosen customer and signed by the fixed ops department's leadership: "Did you know that omotenashi is the Japanese spirit of hospitality that not only fulfills our guest needs, but anticipates them? That is what makes up the culture at Lexus of Watertown. Please accept this small gift as a token of our appreciation for your continued loyalty to us."

The dealership chooses the recipients based on suggestions from its service advisers and parts employees each month — not based on who spent the most money but on customers "who are most engaged in coming to the dealership," though Blake said the definition of "engaged" is loosely interpreted.

"It might be the answer to, 'Who loves coming in? Who loves living the Lexus life?' because they're going to be the one that's going to appreciate a $3 Lexus tumbler the most," Blake said.

Blake has departed Lexus of Watertown since he was interviewed about the boxes. However, the dealership will continue the practice.

Measuring the net impact of the boxes is difficult because of their incremental nature. Not every customer is getting one, and the dealership isn't advertising the practice because that's not in keeping with the humble nature of omotenashi.

However, Lexus of Watertown has achieved its customer satisfaction goals in service in every month since the practice started earlier in the year — feedback from those receiving the surprise gift boxes has been universally positive, Blake said.

Blake said each box costs the dealership roughly $35 and is hand-delivered to the customer's home by a dealership employee, usually one of its shuttle drivers. The cost and effort to assemble the packages each month pales against what the industry traditionally spends to keep customers coming back.

"There's no downside to this," Blake said, pointing out that the materials his team is using in the packages can themselves go stale if the brand changes its marketing. "All this really is doing is making the best use of really what is essentially parts inventory that's sitting around becoming obsolete anyway."