Toyota Financial Services Special Handling/Assistance program has been earning customer and media kudos thanks to efforts at reaching out to customers impacted by recent natural disasters, including mudslides in Washington, tornadoes in the south, and hurricanes. The company thinks it makes good business sense to continue the operation, according to TFS GVP of Service Operations & Corporate Planning Al Smith. TFS has about 100 employees in service centers across the country designated as loyalty operations. Under normal circumstances, they make calls to customers who are coming to the end of leases, offering disposition details or other services. But when calamity strikes and FEMA designates a disaster area, those employees are redeployed to find and contact the customers in the impacted ZIP codes. Once customers are reached, TFS offers payment flexibility, like extensions, deferrals or ACH payment cancellations. Smith told Auto Finance News, “If you’re loyal to your customers, they will be loyal to you.”
