How Automakers Are Building Effective Customer Experiences. Conclusions Paper

Transcription

1 Conclusions Paper How Automakers Are Building Effective Customer Experiences Insights from the Automotive News webinar How to Create Effective Customer Experiences Featuring: Angelia Herrin, Editor of Special Projects and Research at Harvard Business Review Marlo Donate, Chief Digital Strategy Officer at Toyota Financial Services Kurt Unkel, Chief Digital Officer at Team Detroit

2 Contents Introduction... 1 Lessons Learned in CEM... 1 Toyota Financial Services: Transforming CEM... 2 Disruptions in the Car Industry...2 The Battle to Win Customers Is Online...2 Team Detroit: Creative Relevancy in a Fragmented World... 3 Introducing the Content Studio...3 The Next Step: Shifting Perceptions...3 Conclusion... 4 About the Speakers... 4 Learn More... 4

3 1 Introduction The auto industry is one of the most competitive out there. But how people are making car buying decisions is changing. Gone are the days when someone would spend hours at a dealership and eventually drive away with a new vehicle. Today, car buyers are doing the bulk of their research online. Along the path to car ownership through service and maintenance to when they are ready to purchase their next car, consumers are interacting with automakers through many different touchpoints. As a result, car companies are realizing how important it is to make that entire experience a positive one. To build loyalty and generate profits and to be successful in an industry that is currently undergoing huge shifts and changes carmakers need to manage the entire customer experience holistically. And they need to capitalize on opportunities that come from every interaction beginning with that initial search for a car online. What Is Customer Experience Management? Customer experience management (CEM) comprises the processes a company uses to track, oversee and organize every interaction between a customer and the organization throughout the customer life cycle. Lessons Learned in CEM It is not just the automotive industry. Companies in all industries are beginning to understand the value of CEM in the digital age. But when it comes to implementing the practice, how well are they doing? Are they making strides? What can leading companies tell us about best practices in implementing CEM? To find out, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services did a study. 1 Interestingly, although many companies recognize the importance of CEM, the majority still do not have a mature CEM program in place, researchers learned. But companies that do make CEM a strategic priority say they are gaining a clear competitive advantage. The reason many companies are not fully committed to implementing CEM is no secret it is hard work. A huge challenge exists around managing the customer experience, says Angela Herrin, Editor of Special Projects and Research at Harvard Business Review. The days of the single customer touchpoint are gone. Now companies have to optimize the customer experience across multiple channels and product lines while meeting demands for real-time, customized execution. } } Now companies have to optimize the customer experience across multiple channels and product lines while meeting demands for real-time, customized execution. Angelia Herrin, Editor of Special Projects and Research at Harvard Business Review Herrin points out the biggest hurdles to implementing CEM: Tying CEM investments to ROI to justify funding the program. Integrating systems and data to get a single view of the customer. Cultivating a customer-focused culture across the organization. 1 Lessons From the Leading Edge of Customer Experience Management, a report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. webview.pdf

4 2 Based on the study, respondents who gave high ratings (scores of 8, 9 or 10) when asked how forward-looking their organizations are on CEM emerged as leaders. Although these companies face the same challenges as others, they are fully committed to making the enterprise-level changes necessary for effective CEM. What are these companies doing differently? They adequately fund their CEM efforts. They hire the right talent and develop the necessary skills. And they put in place the tools, systems and processes for making data-driven CEM decisions. As a result, organizations that wholeheartedly pursue CEM initiatives report higher profits, higher stock prices and increased customer retention. Toyota Financial Services: Transforming CEM In the auto industry, one company making strides in CEM is Toyota Financial Services. The organization, which provides financial options to 4 million Toyota vehicle owners, plays a key role in managing customer experience for the brand. Customers want a connected experience, explains Marlo Donate, Chief Digital Strategy Officer at Toyota Financial Services. When engaging with car companies, customers expect interactive and unique personalized information. They also expect convenience and fast responses to inquiries. To meet those expectations, Toyota s CEM program centers on three areas: Acquisition: The shopping and purchasing experience, a process that involves Toyota as well as its dealers and digital partners. Service: Throughout the lifetime of owning the vehicle, a customer brings a car in for service and maintenance. Retention: Driving loyalty back to the brand ensures customers return to Toyota when they make their next car purchase. These areas cover the entire customer life cycle, from buying a vehicle all the way to a consumer s next car purchase. Delivering on the promise of CEM is complicated. And for carmakers, it is being made more complicated by major upheavals in the industry. Disruptions in the Car Industry Innovations in the car industry are changing the way consumers think about car buying and car ownership. And they are taking expectations for convenience and customer service to a whole new level. For example, today s car shoppers get pricing and see what vehicles are in stock through companies such as TrueCar and Edmunds. And if you need to try out a vehicle, no need to head to the dealership anymore. A startup called Tred delivers on-demand test drives to wherever you happen to be for a nominal fee. As for city dwellers, a new economy of ride sharing companies has evolved. Consider Uber and Lyft. These startups provide a highly personalized experience. You interact with the company through a mobile device. The driver knows exactly where to find you, and no money is exchanged. And for those who need a car for running errands, Zipcar lets you rent one for only hours at a time. And finally, Tesla, the company known for electric vehicles, is challenging the notion of how we buy cars. Instead of going to dealerships to negotiate a car purchase, Tesla customers visit showrooms located inside shopping malls and then buy direct from the manufacturer online, without having to haggle over pricing. The Battle to Win Customers Is Online It s no surprise that savvy car buyers are doing the brunt of their car research online. Even before setting foot in a dealership, most car buyers today already know what brand and vehicle they want to buy. If automobile companies want to win over customers, they need to begin online not in the dealership. What s more, influencing customers today requires a lot more than an entertaining TV commercial or print advertisement. Consumers are sharing information on Facebook and Twitter, where news travels quick. Suddenly everybody else s experience is playing a major role in influencing decision making, says Donate. According to Donate, before deciding what car to buy, the average consumer spends 10 hours researching brands, models and financing options online and after that, five hours in the showroom. But the process is fragmented. The customer experience online doesn t always match up with that in the dealership.

5 3 Carmakers need to change this. Auto companies need to blur the lines between the physical and the digital experience and make sure what happens at the dealership connects with what people experience online, says Donate. } } Auto companies need to blur the lines between the physical and digital experience and make sure what happens at the dealership connects with what people experience online. Marlo Donate, Chief Digital Strategy Officer at Toyota Financial Services She goes on to say, We have an opportunity to engineer the consumer s path, so what consumers learn through friends and family, dealer sites, OEM sites and even financial service sites is consistent with what they find in the dealership. Team Detroit: Creative Relevancy in a Fragmented World When it comes to delivering content, staying relevant is one of the biggest challenges automakers face, says Kurt Unkel, Chief Digital Officer at Team Detroit, the agency that handles advertising for Ford Motor Co. Relevancy is all about communicating with customers without giving them the hard sell. Instead of pitching products in the way of traditional advertising, it involves providing information that makes the consumer more intelligent and aware. Key to this process is being always on or staying continually tuned in to the conversation. Unkel uses the analogy of a cocktail party. To get people to listen, you don t want to walk in shouting. Instead, you want to learn what s going on. Once you become part of the dialogue, if you have a point to make or a perspective to share, you have a much better chance of being heard, he says. If automakers want to get consumer attention, they need to deliver timely messages that match a customer s interests at that moment. We need to constantly listen to what s happening, sort through the noise, figure out the true signal and identify points of relevance that keep the conversation going, Unkel says. Marketing analytics is critical to managing this data-driven process. Introducing the Content Studio To deliver relevant content on a consistent ongoing basis, Team Detroit developed a content studio an always-on publishing model that supports Ford s broad global communication efforts. The content studio plays a vital role in helping the auto giant tell its story to a wide variety of audiences through print, video, the web and social media. The approach combines advertising and PR with the defining characteristics of the real-time, data-driven newsroom. The content studio organizes its communications around demographics groups of individuals that represent key audiences from a branding and sales perspective. Once Team Detroit defines a demographic, the next step is: How do we build content that is relevant to those audiences on a regular basis and drives brand perceptions over time? explains Unkel. } } Once you become part of the dialogue, if you have a point to make or a perspective to share, you have a much better chance of being heard. Kurt Unkel, Chief Digital Officer at Team Detroit The Next Step: Shifting Perceptions By engaging in conversations on a continual basis, Team Detroit uses its always-on marketing strategy to shift consumer perceptions and drive loyalty back to the Ford brand. This is a completely different approach than campaigns. Traditional campaigns require planning, a long time to roll out and a focus on a single concept. Campaigns represent the big idea. Conversely, always-on marketing weaves together smaller ideas. The key is to pinpoint moments and play off of them. We look for themes we can go back to with regularity. It s not as big an idea as a campaign, but it s a relevant experience that allows us to engage with customers, says Unkel. And over time it helps us shift attitudes and perceptions by repositioning the brand on a daily basis, a daily touchpoint.

6 4 Team Detroit used the strategy during the release of the Ford Mustang Prior to launch, the agency leaked scratchy images of the car, which represented a complete redesign of the iconic 50-year-old model. By monitoring people s reactions on social media, the agency began gathering insights and engaging with consumers. Ultimately, it was able to shift consumer perceptions of the new vehicle within 24 hours. It was a great example of how we were able to actively participate in these dialogues and position the brand in a much more front-and-center manner, says Unkel. Today Team Detroit is scaling its always-on strategy to fit an everyday approach. It organizes conversations around demographic groups, which it calls beats, and builds content specific to the lifestyle of a particular beat. Often content drives a brand message but not always. Sometimes it s a take on life that resonates with an audience and drives home some of our core principles, Unkle explains. The move to real-time content and analytics represents a fundamental shift for Team Detroit and Ford. This is the consumer experience of the future, says Unkel. Conclusion Today, the entire process of car buying and ownership is radically changing. Consumers are sharing experiences online and engaging with automakers through multiple touchpoints. What matters most is the complete customer experience how issues are handled and what the customer s perception is along the way. Successful automakers are capitalizing on opportunities that come from every interaction, and marketing analytics is key to understanding and managing this process. About the Speakers Angelia Herrin is the Editor for Research and Special Projects at Harvard Business Review. Before that, she was Editorial Director at womenconnect.com, a website focused on women business executives. Herrin s journalism experience spans 25 years, primarily with Knight-Ridder newspapers and USA Today, where she worked as Washington editor, heading national political coverage. As the Chief Digital Strategy Officer at Toyota Financial Services, Marlo Donate oversees management and development of the company s consumer websites, mobile sites, mobile apps and core mainframe financial systems. During the span of her 17-year technical career, Donate has worked in industries ranging from telephony and networking to analysis and application development. Kurt Unkel is the Chief Digital Officer at Team Detroit. Ford is Team Detroit s major client, and Detroit-based Unkel is no stranger to the auto industry. He started his advertising career at WPP s JWT, working on Ford. Before joining VivaKi when it was launched in 2008, he created and led digital strategy, investment, analytics and ad operations teams for 10 years within Publicis Groupe, with a focus on General Motors. Learn More Download the full HBR Analytic Services report: Report_April2014_webview.pdf. Read about SAS automotive solutions: sas.com/automotive. To contact your local SAS office, please visit: sas.com/offices SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright 2014, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved _S