Nio goes the extra mile for customer satisfaction

Nio, among dozens of major electric carmakers available in China, has the most loyal following, and it wins hearts not only through its competitive products, but by simply being nice to its consumers.

It may sound simple but Nio has gone much further than merely putting on a smile when people visit a dealership, as most other marques' salespeople are trained to do.

For example, fancy making dumplings at Nio's showrooms to celebrate the Spring Festival? Or holding a party with your friends there? Or what about meeting the crew of a box office smash hit?

If those fail to blow your mind, imagine the following: your car gets a flat tire on a sparsely populated island but local mechanics are not available. Or you fly thousands of kilometers to visit your parents but you're worried about your cat.

Would you recommend this brand to your friends when Nio sent a team to your aid, or a loving Nio staffer took the order and came to help by cleaning your cat's litter box and giving it fresh food and water?

Most of its car owners choose to do so. Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Nio, said recommendations from existing customers factor in roughly 60 percent of its new sales, which hit 122,486 in 2022, up 33.86 percent year-on-year.

Qin expects Nio's sales to grow further this year, to overtake Toyota's premium arm Lexus's deliveries in China, thanks to its growing number of models and increasing recognition among customers.

Some may question the economic benefit that the effort of ferrying a team out to help a customer may entail, but Qin said Nio will continue doing such things.

"As long as we are still in charge, we will do such things. We can do a lot for one user when he or she is in urgent need of help," he said.

As a business executive, he frankly admitted that it would not be a heavy burden financially on the company.

"It is not like you have to do such things 100,000 times a year. It is probably dozens of times you need to go the extra mile. I mean, they are in dire need of help, why don't we give a hand?"

During the Spring Festival travel rush, Nio set up a 7,563-member service team, who finished over 199,000 orders ranging from getting a car wash and valet charging to emergency roadside services.

It also offered 372,324 battery swaps free of charge along China's expressway network.

Qin said all the cost involved may be roughly the price of a billboard advertisement in Beijing's downtown business area for a year.

"You will not see our commercials at such places. We'd rather spend the money on service," said Qin. He admitted that good service will contribute to its reputation and consequently sales.

Analysts said startups need things to differentiate themselves from others, be it the heartfelt service of Nio or Elon Musk's image as a science geek at Tesla.

But they added that it will be impossible for hired managers at established giants, whose key performance indicators are concrete and specific, like sales or revenue.

Qin said it is reasonable that carmakers have different business approaches as they vie for a footing in the fast-evolving sector.

He said the electric car sector is still in the very early stage of its development, although roughly one in four new vehicles sold last year in China was a new energy vehicle.

"Competition might be fierce, some might be faster and others a little slower, but I am positive about every electric carmaker as long as they are serious as the sector is the trend," said Qin.

Sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids are forecast to reach 9 million this year in China, up from 6.9 million in 2022, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.