Oman's Most Trusted Brand: Interview with Abdullah Ahmed Suhail Bahwan al Mukhaini

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Nissan was named 'Oman's Most Trusted Brand' in the automotive category when results of an online survey, conducted by Muscat Daily, were announced on October 19.

The award was presented by H E Yahya al Jabri, chairman of the Capital Markets Authority and the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm, to Abdullah Ahmed Suhail Bahwanal MukhainiofSuhail Bahwan Automobiles, the Japanese automaker's sole dealer in the sultanate.

The online voting process for the awards lasted from June 7 to July 10 this year, with the public voting for their preferred brands across ten categories.

In an interview withMuscat Daily, Mukhainidiscusses the Nissan brand's strengths, products and performance in the Oman market.

What factors played a key role in Nissan's favour in the survey?

First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all residents of Oman who voted for Nissan as 'Oman's Most Trusted Brand' in the automotive category. It is truly a reflection of our continued efforts to deliver world-class services in everything that we do with our patrons.

I believe there are three key factors which would have facilitated this stature –productsuperiority,network presence and emphasis oncustomersatisfaction.

On the product front, Nissan's strong line-up provides an excellent proposition across all segments of customers with varying budgets. Backed by strong technological support from Japan, Nissan's products are always a notch ahead. Our wide presence across the length and breadth of thesultanate through our 20 showrooms, 24 service centres and 35 spare-parts outlets ensures that we meet customer requirements for their automotive needs. We strongly believe that a satisfied customer is our best brand ambassador; hence all our people processes are tuned to deliver and surpass customer expectations at every touch point.

How does Nissan focus on building trust with customers and preserve the faith entrusted in its brand in Oman?

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles believes in servicing every automotive needs of a customer under a single roof. We provide solutions for every transactional need in thelife-cycle of a customer ranging from new vehicle purchase, servicing, parts retail,pre-owned cars, automobile financing and leasing.

Providingsatisfaction at every customer touch point also helps in this direction. We have a structured loyalty programme that aims to incentivise customers for their repeat purchases. These initiatives coupled with periodiccustomerconnect programmes that facilitate information sharing related to new launches, network expansion, technology / model upgrades help consolidate customers' faith and trust in the brand.

Oman's auto market is considered to be over-served. How do you ensure that Nissan remains the most trusted brand?

Differentiation in products and services plays a very important role in a competitive market. In our business, we aim to create that through our processes at everycustomer touch point. This leads tocustomersatisfaction, which is spread by word-of-mouth. This has become a way of life for us at Suhail Bahwan Automobiles and Team Nissan.

Going ahead, we intend to further realign our processes keeping in mind the changing needs and preferences of our discerning customers. We feel our continuous emphasis on developing transparent customer-centric processes will help us retain this position by differentiating the brand over competition. Assimilating technological innovations, learning new ways of doing business and changing with the times have always been a way of life for Suhail Bahwan Automobiles.

How would you characterise Nissan's sales performance in Oman, and which are the best performing models?

Nissan started its journey with the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles in 2005. The name has been respected in Oman for more than 40 years for its adherence to strong values and business ethics. While we pride ourselves on our ability to embrace change and modern business practices, our core values and corporate culture remain at the core of our business strategy. Exercising the 'Customer First' philosophy on a continuous basis, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles has attained formidable growth over the last decade.

Thanks to our customers, who are an integral part of our growth, who have led Suhail Bahwan Automobiles in achieving the prestigious 'Operational Excellence Award' the golden award for achieving the sales target, 'Champion Distributor' award – thrice in a row - and the coveted 'Global Award'.

All our models find wide acceptance across residents in Oman. Noteworthy among them are Altima, Maxima, Patrol, X-Trail, Sentra, 370Z and Urvan.

Oman's economy is experiencing a slowdown. Is thisaffecting the auto sector, or do you still see market growth?

The low oil prices have definitely impacted the auto market adversely. However, we foresaw the possible negative fallouts and have undertaken a slew of proactive steps to overcome the situation. New product launches across segments through the introduction of the new Maxima, Altima, Patrol V6, Patrol Nismo, Navara and the recently launched Patrol Pickup Special version helped in reaching out to our patrons with a renewed focus and enthusiasm.

In the coming few months, some more exciting models are lined up for launch in the SUV and crossover categories. The government's thrust on promoting tourism and developing revenue streams from non-petroleum activities is sure to put the domestic economic scenario on a better footing going forward. We hope this will reverse the current trend in the automotive market.

What new technologies has Nissan adopted in terms of improving vehicle performance, efficiency, safety etc?

Globally,Nissan's brand promise is 'Innovation that Excites'. In this direction, the brand has been at the forefront of engineering innovation for more than eighty years. Nissan Leaf is officially the world's best-selling electric vehicle.But Nissan's relationship with innovation goes beyond just electric vehicles – consider the company's ground-breaking Nismo division, which 'brings race track performance and advanced car technology to the street' or its development of 'Safety Shield' technologies - a series of advanced features that make drivers aware of potential dangers like never before. Nissan has been working to develop the 'Autonomous Drive Car' and have plans to have commercially viable autonomous drive vehicles on the road by 2020.

On the safety aspect also there are several innovative technologies in place. Hill start assist, hill descent control, blind-spot warning, lane-departure warning, moving-object detection, active-trace control are among a host of safety features that ensure maximum passenger safety while on the move. In the days to come, I am sure you will experience more technologies from Nissan which will change the way we drive.

In Oman, how do you assess Nissan's success in terms of customer/client satisfaction?

Customersatisfaction is at the foundation of everything we do. Apart from developing people processes which drive this, continuous training of human resources to practice those processes has helped in maintaining a high score on this front. We have always been motivating our team to increasecustomersatisfaction and embrace it as a way of life.

Continuous assessment ofcustomersatisfaction scores through internal and external agencies and periodic course correction have always been our thrust areas. In a survey conducted across competing brands by an independent external agency, Nissan was ranked No 1 in bothsales andservice. This is truly a direct reflection of our efforts in this direction.