The automotive industry's nine pillars for exceptional customer experienceThe digital revolution is not just apparent in the design and build of cars themselves, but digital tools are reshaping the automotive industry's customer buying and after-sales environments as well. Dereshin (Dees) Pillay In fact, nowhere is the digital revolution more apparent than in the automotive sector, as traditional players fight to maintain traction in a market becoming overrun by exciting auto-tech players like Tesla, Faraday Future and Google. Consider that customers spend an average of 14 hours[1] researching cars via digital channels – pouring over reviews, videos, comparing prices, viewing the line-ups on dealership and manufacturer websites and even playing around with the different customisations like interior and exterior colours. In fact, research suggests that over 75% of the purchasing journey happens online[2], with customers only visiting dealerships an average of 2.2 times[3] – often once to test drive, and the second time to collect. These experiences set the tone for the future. Positive experiences can lead to lifelong brand loyalty – towards certain brands of cars, certain models, and even certain dealerships. We’ve identified nine key pillars - across the entire buyer lifecycle – from which automotive players can build their customer experience strategy, combining and capitalising on some ground-breaking new technology innovations. The nine pillars
As the explosion of digital, mobile and social tools completely reshapes the way customers engage with automotive companies, those that keep up with the pace of change are more likely to garner loyalty and market share. Undoubtedly, customer behaviour is changing, as they look to interact quickly and access information across any form of media and device, anytime and anywhere. They’re looking for tailor-made, personalised service, and as little friction as possible.By digitising one’s sales and after-sales processes with the clever application of technology to address these nine pillars, it’s possible to meet and even exceed these demanding customer expectations. References:[1 & 2] Experience is Key to Success in Automotive Industry About the authorDereshin (Dees) Pillay, Head of Manufacturing & Automotive at T-Systems South Africa |