Management update on “Best Customer Experience 4.0”: quotes from Britta Seeger fact sheet
Key facts about Mercedes-Benz’s sales strategy:
Quotes from Britta Seeger, board member of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, head of marketing and sales:
“For many of our consumers, luxury means convenience and, infrequently, even more importantly, time-saving. With ‘Best Customer Experience 4.0’, we need to do this for our consumers and provide them with a seamless and convenient luxury experience, regardless of the time, position or channel they use».
“The last few months have been a challenge for all of us. However, our sales and service groups around the world have been able to respond very temporarily to the conversion of visitor demands and legal requirements. Our global partners have developed creative, virtual and contactless responses so that we can continue to provide our consumers with the most productive service imaginable. The buying interest of our consumers remains strong and we get very positive feedback on the many online activities of our business partners around the world ».
“Our current assumption is that by 2025, we will generate a quarter of global car sales with our business partners through online channels. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitization process.”
“For us at Mercedes-Be Mercedes-Benz will continue to invest in the digital transformation of its sales and after-sales. A seamless and comfortable luxury experience along the entire customer journey will be critical to customer satisfaction in the future.nz, digitalisation has long been a key element of our global sales strategy. We introduced ‘Best Customer Experience’ in 2013 in order to align ourselves with changing customer needs in the digital age and we have invested in all aspects of digitalisation in sales and after-sales.”
“We assume that by 2025, our consumers will receive 80% of all online service appointments. Our consumers will get personalized donations and appointment recommendations that can settle for an undeniable click”
“Personal face-to-face interactions will be important, but even visits to our business partners are undergoing a virtual transformation.”
“Mercedes-Benz’s most productive moment in China to date shows the impressive speed at which demand is recovering lately in our largest market. We are cautiously positive that other markets will continue gradually. Today, almost all of our dealerships around the world are reopened. In June, global car deliveries were already higher than last year.”
Contactless and convenient: Mercedes-Benz continues to progress with sales and after-sales digitization, and focuses more on the individual of customers.
The global sales strategy “Best Customer Experience 4.0” systematically puts consumers and their desires first. That’s why the contacts between Mercedes-Benz and its consumers in recent months are basically through its many virtual channels. The brand’s global business partners have temporarily developed arts and contactless offerings to provide their consumers with the most productive service and support imaginable, even in difficult times.
Stuttgart There has been a growing emphasis on virtual offerings in the sales and after-sales spaces. Customers should be able to contact their favorite logo anytime, anywhere. “For us at Mercedes-Be, Mercedes-Benz will continue to invest in the virtual transformation of its sales and after-sales. A fluid and comfortable luxury delight in the visitor’s adventure will be an essential necessity for visitor satisfaction in the future.” Nz, digitization has long been a key component of our global sales strategy,” said Britta Seeger, a board member of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, director of marketing and sales. “We presented the ‘Best Customer Experience’ in 2013 to align with consumer conversion desires in the virtual age and have invested in all facets of sales and after-sales digitization.” As a result, the logo has built a foundation forged in recent months to provide its consumers with comprehensive recommendations and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2013, Mercedes-Benz has invested $3 million annually in the progression of its sales business as a component of the “Best Customer Experience” strategy.
“For many of our customers, luxury means convenience and, sometimes even more importantly, saving time. With ‘Best Customer Experience 4.0’, we want to make it as easy as possible for our customers, and offer them a seamless and convenient luxury experience – regardless of time, place or the channel they are using,” explains Britta Seeger.
“Our current assumption is that by 2025, we will generate a quarter of global car sales with our business partners through online channels. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitization process,” says Britta Seeger. Thanks to its complex digitization in the sales and after-sales spaces, Mercedes-Benz has temporarily responded to the conversion scenario and the legal needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The last few months have been a challenge for all of us. However, our sales and service groups around the world have been able to respond very temporarily to the conversion of visitor demands and legal requirements. Our global partners have developed creative, virtual and contactless responses so that we can continue to offer our consumers the most productive service imaginable. Meanwhile, almost all Mercedes-Benz dealerships worldwide have reopened. “Our consumers’ buying interest remains strong and we get very positive feedback on the many online activities of our business partners around the world,” says Britta Seeger.
In particular, highly digitized markets such as China and South Korea have given significant impetus to other markets through a number of attractive initiatives. Mercedes-Benz consumers will get benefits from all those experiences.
Digital projects around the world.
In terms of digitalisation, China is setting new standards worldwide. Mercedes-Benz has been successively expanding its digital offerings in recent years, and has a number of different digital channels in China through which customers can interact online with the brand and its products. Via the official Mercedes-Benz website, the ,Mercedesme’ WeChat account and the Mercedes-Benz app, the company offers its customers in China product information, advice and configuration as well as the ability to order vehicles, replacement parts and services online. During the COVID-19 pandemic customers were able to order their desired vehicle completely contactless. Adoption of digital offerings has increased rapidly, especially in recent months: in June the share of customers in China who signed electronic financial contracts online was 85 percent.
Since the opening of the Tmall Flagship Store (a digital marketplace in China) in 2015, customers have been able to conveniently book a test drive online via the website. With the help of Tmall Flagship Stores, the brand is able to present its new models to customers in a direct and very convenient way. As of June 2020, the Flagship Store had almost 300,000 followers. The number of sales via the Tmall Store grew by 95 percent over the previous year. China is the biggest market and one of the driving forces of Mercedes-Benz’s success. “Mercedes-Benz’s best second quarter to date in China shows the impressive speed at which demand is currently recovering in our largest market,” explains Britta Seeger. “We are cautiously optimistic that other markets will gradually follow suit. By now nearly all of our worldwide dealerships have reopened. In June, global car deliveries were already slightly above last year’s level.”
One example of the seamless integration of online and offline offerings is that Mercedes-Benz customers in China can order tyres for their vehicle via smartphone. They can see directly if the set of tyres they want is in stock, place their order and then have the set of tyres purchased online fitted to their vehicle at selected locations in China within two hours.
In India, Mercedes-Benz offers a fully digital buying experience called #MercFromHome. Everything is completely contactless and can be done conveniently from home – from choosing the perfect car to financing solutions, the option to trade-in a used vehicle and choosing the preferred service package. A human online concierge assists the buyer through the entire customer journey. The concierge helps with navigating the website, organising test drives, and with payment and vehicle delivery.
Even face-to-face transactions are becoming more and more virtual. In South Korea, for example, all contracts are practically signed, either at the dealership or at the house on the couch. After unmarried access to a virtual firm, all bureaucracy is displayed through the visitor with an unmarried click. Documents are delivered electronically. This allows the visitor to authorize the contract temporarily and safely and reduces bureaucracy.
Expansion of digital channels and offerings
Digital touchpoints have become a fixed feature of every customer journey – regardless of whether the selected vehicle is ultimately purchased online or in person on-site. Virtually every vehicle sale starts off digitally with online research, meaning that around 90 percent of customers are already well informed by the time they arrive at the dealership. Previously customers used to visit the dealership an average of eight times before making a purchase decision. These days, customers come into the dealership an average of one to two times before deciding to buy.
One important part of the digital customer journey is the online configurator. Customers can use the configurator to build their desired car in the comfort of their own home. With the latest update improved and faster vehicle configuration is now possible in more than 40 markets. Highlights are the new navigation as well as better integration of related options such as booking test drives. The customer experience on the websites is also even more personalised than before.
In 2016, Mercedes-Benz was the first car maker in Germany to introduce a nationwide online store for new vehicles, which was expanded just one year later to include online purchase of pre-owned cars. The Mercedes-Benz online store for new cars was relaunched in December 2019 and since then it has received more than 700,000 visits. The Mercedes-Benz online store for new cars offers a continuously available selection of around 1,000 vehicles at attractive terms that can, if desired, be delivered contactless straight to customers’ doorsteps within 14 days. New models are available as soon as they are launched. With the Home Delivery option, the number of visitors to the German online sales platform increased by around 70 percent between April and June. There are now Mercedes-Benz online stores for the sale of pre-owned and new vehicles in more than 14 markets.
A fluid luxury delight in car shopping
Modern technologies and the conversion of customer behavior are opening up new opportunities for the sale of vehicles and services. In December 2017, South Africa became the first market in which Mercedes-Benz provided a direct selling style for new cars. Since April 2019, Swedish customers can also enjoy a consistent and comfortable luxury experience, as all the tactile issues imaginable for the climber or scale are seamlessly and digitally incorporated when purchasing a new vehicle. For customers, this means less complexity combined with greater flexibility, accessibility and ease of interaction with Mercedes-Benz. For example, after a stopover at the dealership, the scale operator can seamlessly make the final adjustments from home and then complete the fully digital acquisition. One of the benefits is that the value of the cars presented is the same nationwide, whether the scaler or buys your new car digitally or at a dealership’s site in the classic way. This consistency of value is welcomed by customers because their final value is no longer based on their trading skills, eliminating the need for tedious haggling.
In 2021, Austria will also move to the direct sale of new vehicles, to react to the conversion of visitors’ wishes and prepare for the future. The new sales style also provides key opportunities for Mercedes-Benz’s commercial components to remain a significant component of the price chain in an increasingly virtual world, while seamlessly connecting the entire visitor sales bureaucracy. Distributors will be able to focus even more on consumers and therefore focus even more on the recommendation and logo experience.
After-sales scanning
Digitalisation of the Mercedes-Benz sales process also includes the service centre and after-sales business. Customers appreciate the new digital possibilities and are increasingly taking advantage of them. “We assume that by 2025 our customers will book 80 percent of all service appointments online. Our customers will receive personalised offers and appointment recommendations that they will be able to accept with one simple click,” says Britta Seeger.
In combination with a pick-up and drop-off service, visitors to the vehicle store to some Mercedes-Benz partners may even take up position without their owners. In the future, after-sales scanning will also come with virtual authorization and payment for some other contactless service that saves consumers time.
New virtual and contactless retail offerings
Despite all the virtual offers, physical commerce remains an essential component of the visitor’s journey. When consumers were unable to enter showrooms during store closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercedes-Benz’s commercial components evolved and expanded their visitor touch through virtual features: short videos instead of emails or phone calls were well earned through consumers. Anyone who does not need to go to the dealership on a recommendation can contact an expert product via a live chat and take a walk through their favorite vehicle, or communicate about the next maintenance or facilities during a video call. This type of communication connects non-public acceptance as true with direct but “remote” communication. “Personal face-to-face interactions will be important, but even visits to our component stores are undergoing a virtual transformation,” Seeger says.
If a visitor needs more detailed data about a formula or is informed more about the MBUX formula, they can do so at any time, without appointment and from anywhere. Many explanatory videos can be held 24 hours a day in the Mercedes me app or on the YouTube channel.
The “Visible Workshop” service also provides greater flexibility, transparency and time savings for consumers when they visit the service center. This makes it less difficult for the visitor and technicians to talk about the additional maintenance imaginable directly on the vehicle. The technician films the vehicle during service from other angles and provides a detailed explanation of the recommendations of additional paints. The visitor receives the video with an appointment. If they wish, the consumer can click to settle and ask the paint shop to make the paintings.
Another fully contactless service for consumers Mercedes-Benz service centers is the Digital Detector. When the vehicle passes through the detector, it documents the condition of the vehicle. Measure the tread of the tire and take shots on all sides, adding the base of the vehicle. The service advisor temporarily and directly identifies any damage to the vehicle and can show it to the vehicle owner. The condition of the vehicle is re-registered after its stopover at the service center. This generates an unbiased record that is useful for both the scale operator and the service center, and is absolutely contactless.
As part of ‘Best Customer Experience 4.0’, Mercedes-Benz is working continuously on new offerings for its customers. Some service locations will soon be testing completely contactless vehicle handovers. For instance, once all customer service questions and concerns have been clarified, the customer can check-in their vehicle themselves without having to enter the service location. The digital authorisation with signature can take place directly at the terminal, meaning the customer avoids any potential wait time and is no longer bound by the workshop’s opening hours.
Digitization will continue to dominate the process.
Digitization is turning the way other people do business, as well as the way companies do business. “We are very well located with our virtual customer-oriented initiatives. Transparent and embedded interaction with consumers through online and offline channels will be to the satisfaction of our consumers in the future. Customers will constantly move between physical and virtual touchpoints. For this reason, we will continue to invest in virtual transformation despite all the challenges that exist,” says Britta Seeger.
SOURCE: Daimler
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