For the last seven-and-a-half years I have been
privileged to work for the Royal Automobile
Club (RAC) and in that time witnessed, and I
hope in some part contributed, to what has
been little short of a revolution in customer
service. Only one thing during this period has
remained unchanged, and that is the quite
unbelievable commitment and dedication
which our front-line staff have shown in their
service to our members, and which remains
our greatest strength and asset.
Since the mid-1980s, the RAC has been
without question the most progressive and
fastest growing motoring organization in the
world. Over the last decade our membership
has more than trebled from two to nearly six
million, while service levels during this time
have increased by between 20-30 per cent,
leading to substantial improvements in cus-
tomer satisfaction.
I would guess there is hardly a reader who
has not at some time had occasion to call on
the services of a motoring organization. I
would guess, too, that your experience of the
service you received will be etched in your
memory as clearly as if it were yesterday. As
many of you can no doubt recall the first car
you ever owned or your first journey, so too
can I recall my very first breakdown. It was
inevitably a cold and very wet evening, those
many years ago, when I first had cause to call
on the services of the RAC. Now the first real
challenge was to find which telephone num-
ber (somewhere amongst the 30-odd separate
numbers on the back of my membership card)
I was meant to ring – if only I could read the
indecipherable print. I would have made the
call at least 20 minutes sooner if I had been
able to find a phone that worked and if I had
some coins. Eventually I made the call, only
to receive the familiar but discomforting
sound which we all know to be “the engaged
tone”. Now the engaged tone as a front-line
response was not peculiar to the RAC in those
days, but we did use it to rather full effect.
Eventually the telephone rang, and rang, and
rang, and rang. Was it possible I had called
the only line where the staff had gone home
early? I remember thinking, should I try
another telephone number? So I did, and
12
Managing Service Quality
Volume 5 · Number 4 · 1995 · pp. 12–15
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0960-4529
Celebrate and record
Creating competitive
advantage via
customer service: the
RAC case study
Frank Richardson
The author
Frank Richardson is Managing Director, Motoring
Division, RAC Motoring Services.
Abstract
Describes a revolution in customer service at the Royal
Automobile Club (RAC). Explains how, since the
mid-1980s, the RAC has become the most progressive and
fastest growing motoring organization in the world,
through a policy of locating new technology to automate
breakdown handling processes, the creation of five
regional supercentres and a pursuit of service excellence
through the involvement and participation of all staff.
This article is based on a paper delivered at
Creating and Managing the Customer-focused
Organization – an ICM conference. For details of
future events contact ICM on 44 (0) 171 839 9388.