By Percy Fick | Chief Visionary Officer – Evolve Consulting Services

Over the past few weeks, I’ve experienced something that completely reframed my thinking about customer centricity. It’s a topic I’ve explored deeply throughout my career in automotive and mobility—but this time, it took a personal and organisational turn that I wasn’t expecting.

Like many of us in the industry, I had long believed that customer centricity belonged primarily to those in customer-facing roles: the sales consultants, the service advisors, the CRM team. But my recent experiences with three different brands—Al Masaood Nissan, Suzuki South Africa, and Jetour Dubai—challenged that belief most powerfully.

The Turning Point: Al Masaood Nissan

Throughout twelve focused sessions with the Al Masaood Nissan team, we began exploring customer centricity from an unconventional angle. These sessions weren’t with showroom staff or aftersales consultants—they were with internal departments that don’t typically interact with customers directly: HR, finance, operations, logistics, and admin.

What started as a standard discussion around internal alignment quickly turned into something more profound. As each session unfolded, we began to explore a simple yet powerful question:

“Who is your customer, really?”

The moment that mindset shifted—from “the end buyer” to “the next person I serve internally”—everything changed. Individuals began seeing how their decisions, response times, and communication impacted not just colleagues, but ultimately the end customer. The ripple effect became real.

Cooperation turned into collaboration. Ownership replaced routine. And customer centricity no longer belonged to one department—it belonged to the entire organisation.

Customer Moments That Teach Us Everything

Before those sessions, I travelled to South Africa. I was there to buy a car—an experience that, as it turns out, became a case study I now refer to often.

I visited a Suzuki dealership and, in true Genchi Genbutsu (Go and See) fashion, chose to observe quietly. I sat in the customer lounge for nearly four hours and watched over forty walk-in customers engage with the space, the cars, and the staff.

Most of the visitors were women. The models that drew the most attention were the Suzuki Swift and the Fronx. Some opened the boot first, instinctively checking for space. Others sat in the driver’s seat and immediately flipped down the sun visor. These small but meaningful behaviours were telling: practicality, self-image, and first-time ownership were key themes emerging through body language alone.

One customer stood out. I encouraged a nearby sales consultant to offer to take a photo of her inside the Swift—thinking it could be a moment of affirmation and connection. The consultant was hesitant, unsure how it would be received. So, I walked over to myself and said, “This car suits you. The colour, the vibe—it’s spot on.”

She smiled, sat confidently in the vehicle, and asked me to take the photo.

That night, she shared the image with friends and family. The next morning, she came back to the dealership—this time with her entire family. They left with two cars instead of one.

From Photo to Process: The Social Media Shift

What happened next was even more powerful.

The Suzuki team took that idea to their social media and marketing leads. Together, they transformed it from a one-off gesture into a deliberate customer touchpoint strategy. Today, photo moments are embedded in the experience. Customers are celebrated as part of the brand story. With their permission, these moments are captured, shared, and elevated online.

But it wasn’t just the digital strategy that changed.

Non-customer-facing team members—those working in vehicle prep, logistics, and even inventory—began to see themselves differently. They saw how their roles contributed to a moment that made someone feel seen, valued, and proud of their choice. They understood, perhaps for the first time, that their work shapes the memory of a customer—even if they never meet them.

It was no longer about “doing your job.” It was about delivering moments that matter.

Jetour Dubai: Operational Excellence Meets Human Connection

Back in the UAE, I had the opportunity to visit Jetour Dubai, represented by The Elite Cars. The showroom was alive with activity—at least fifty customers on the floor, and yet, within moments of walking in, we were welcomed, offered coffee, and invited for a test drive.

What struck me was the test drive experience itself. It wasn’t just a drive. It was a fully guided experience led by a specialist who not only understood the vehicle but knew how to personalise it for each guest. Feature explanations, comparisons, use-case scenarios—it felt tailored, intentional, and human.

That level of experience only exists when the system behind it is seamless.

From omni-channel lead integration to vehicle readiness, from test drive scheduling to digital data capture—every backstage player was part of making that moment feel effortless.

And yet, most of them never interacted with the customer at all.

The Quiet Truth of Customer Centricity

The moral of all these stories—Al Masaood Nissan, Suzuki South Africa, Jetour Dubai—is this:

We all sell cars, whether we realise it or not.

Customer centricity isn’t a department. It’s not a KPI you assign to sales or marketing. It’s a culture. A language. A way of thinking that must be shared across every function in the business.

Because when logistics sees its work as part of the customer journey, things arrive cleaner and faster. When finance sees its accuracy as supporting a family’s trust in the brand, reconciliation becomes more than numbers. When marketing considers the power of a single photo to influence multiple purchases, strategy becomes intensely personal.

Every moment—visible or invisible—contributes to how a customer feels. And that feeling is what determines whether they return, refer, or forget.

The Next Person You Serve

So, here’s the question I leave with every team I work with:

“Who is the next person you serve—and do you treat them like a customer?”

That is where customer centricity begins. And when you get it right, it’s where loyalty, advocacy, and connection begin, too.

About the Author

Percy Fick is the Chief Visionary Officer of Evolve Consulting Services. With over 25 years of experience in the automotive and mobility industry across Africa and the Middle East, Percy specialises in customer engagement, behavioural strategy, and strengths-based leadership. He is the creator of Torque of Trust™ and RPM Leadership, and host of the Torque Talk podcast.

📨 Connect with Percy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/percyfick

🎙 Host of Torque Talk

📍 Based in the UAE | Working across Africa and the Middle East