Is it time to write the obituary for the venerable customer service index survey?
Growing numbers of service managers, consultants and other industry observers think it's time to pull the plug on the dealership evaluation tool, which has been used to measure customers' satisfaction with dealerships' service since the 1980s.
Some believe it's an antiquated tool that no longer truly measures how well dealerships serve their customers. Others believe it strongly contributes to mental health issues for service advisers, whose compensation — and sometimes even their employment — is tied to CSI scores. That, in turn, contributes to the exodus of fixed ops employees from dealerships, they say.