Autokeskus focuses
CUSTOMER CASE STUDY: AUTOKESKUS
HUBSPOT & DATA-DRIVEN BUSINESS
A common issue in the automotive industry is that customer service typically plays a brief and focused role in the customer’s buying journey. Once the car is purchased, follow-up care is rarely proactive. Autokeskus is an exception to this rule, as they decided to invest in better customer relationship management with the help of Roger Studio.
That's usually how it is," says Tapio Pallasvirta, Marketing Director at Autokeskus. "After the sale of a car, we haven't been proactive enough in reaching out to customers." According to Pallasvirta, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have changed business models in recent years. "We have been learning new ways to stay in touch with customers throughout their buying journey and the car's lifecycle. Additionally, technological advancements have changed the way we operate—cars now automatically schedule their own maintenance," Pallasvirta chuckles
Customer data is important, but also quite complex
"Nowadays, everyone wants to 'own' the customer. Our principals—i.e., the car brands we represent—are rapidly moving towards selling cars directly to customers through online channels. With this shift, the risks of losing customers have increased. If we don't reach out to the customer, they might not even realize they are an Autokeskus customer," Pallasvirta explains.
Customer data is extremely crucial in Autokeskus's customer service, and the quality of this data is even more critical. A customer can be a person, the car itself, the car's owner, or its user. "We need to know the role and identity of our customer at any given time. Without this information, we cannot direct the customer to effective service channels, and our service capability declines. The task is made more difficult by the fact that customer data is often incomplete, outdated, or the same customer is identified differently across various systems," Pallasvirta says.
"As the car brands we represent enhance their digital capabilities and marketing prowess, we must keep pace. Customer service across our partner network relies on high-quality and seamless customer data. This is a huge challenge for us."
”Roger understood our desire to stay grounded in reality very well. We were on the same page from the start," says Pallasvirta. "The work and communication have been effortless. Initially, we had a small team involved, but we have gradually expanded the collaboration to ensure that customer data management and utilization is a collective effort across the entire organization, not just something for a select few in an ivory tower."
Tapio Pallasvirta - marketing director, Autokeskus
Application Jungle Hinders Automation of Customer Journeys
The situation is similar across the automotive industry: fragmented internal systems, with only partial integration, do not effectively support data management and utilization. These data points may come from multiple sources. Autokeskus employees use 140 different applications in their work. As a result, data related to car sales, maintenance, after-sales, parts, servicing, and repairs can be dispersed and organized in various ways. Achieving a 360-degree view of the customer is challenging, calculating the value of the customer relationship is difficult, and delivering services and communication becomes problematic.
Processes fail because data flows are too easily interrupted: for example, if a car owner changes and this information does not reach the right place in Autokeskus’s systems, customers might experience unusual scenarios. Customers may receive messages related to their old cars, while previous customers might wonder why Autokeskus has not been in touch. Additionally, a car might have a separate owner and user (such as in a lease), leading to messages getting lost or directed to the wrong recipient.
"In the digital age marketing encompasses sales, customers service, sales support, and marketing communication". Previously, the role of marketing was to run campaigns, but with new marketing technologies, marketing is becoming the custodian of customer relationships," says Tomi Valasvuo, Chief Information Officer at Autokeskus. "We aim to leverage data from multiple sources to communicate with our customers with the right messages, at the right stage of their journey, at the right time, through the right channel, and to the right customer."
"Before intensifying our collaboration with Roger Studio, we had been trying in various ways to improve customer data management for a long time, but we did not achieve results. The complexity combined with outdated systems leads to problems, and the marketing process does not function effectively.
No More Systems, Just a Model to Manage Data
"Software should support car salespeople, not the other way around. Salespeople often spend too much time jumping between systems instead of engaging with customers. Our goal was to help all our salespeople achieve better performance equally and ensure that all customers could receive a consistent purchasing experience," says Tomi Valasvuo.
"Instead of just adding more tools, we wanted automation. That's why we started developing HubSpot, which was already in use. We built a Customer Data Mastering tool within HubSpot to identify and integrate disparate customer data from various systems. Previously, HubSpot had been an occasional newsletter tool in our processes. We decided to leverage this tool more effectively."
"Before strengthening our collaboration with Roger Studio, we had been trying various methods to improve customer data management for a long time without success. The complexity combined with outdated systems created problems, and the marketing process was not functioning effectively."
Tomi Valasvuo - chief information officer Autokeskus
Using HubSpot as a Customer Data Platform
"The client already had HubSpot licences, but thier use had been neglected due to personnel changes" says Sami Akseli, who is responsible for HubSpot business at Roger Studio. “The client’s IT management aimed to build a genuine competitive advantage from customer data, as future competitiveness in the automotive industry will hinge on understanding customers and nurturing customer relationships.”
Roger’s approach to solving Autokeskus’s challenge involved questioning traditional software providers right from the initial situation analysis. “We immediately realized that the client’s key license investments were already made, and they had access to top-tier marketing tools. Instead of focusing on architectural design, we could start by maximizing the business benefits from the licenses as quickly as possible.”
Marketing and IT are on the Same Page
Autokeskus and Roger Studio have established an open and productive collaboration from the outset, focusing on ambitious long-term goals. However, these goals are approached incrementally, allowing for small, actionable business benefits to be realized each month. This approach ensures continuous progress and adaptation, fostering a dynamic working relationship.
"The synergy between IT and marketing at Autokeskus is exceptional" which makes it easy for Roger to integrate into the overall system," says Tapio Pallasvirta, Marketing Director at Autokeskus. "Involving business units actively in the planning, execution, and development of programs ensures that the solutions are well-aligned with our operational needs."
A playful project named the "Customer Machine" exemplified this approach: progress was made step by step, while also maintaining a vision for the future. Together with Autokeskus, Roger identified and designed several automation programs, demonstrating how these initiatives could quickly deliver results. Some of these new use cases would not have been feasible with previous, disparate systems, highlighting the advancements brought by the new solutions.
"After the initial pilot, which lasted just 10 weeks, we began the project to integrate HubSpot with backend systems. We then proceeded to develop new marketing programs. Currently, we are operating in an agile model, which has allowed us to deliver new marketing programs that support the business. These include integrations with Nettiauto, experimenting with WhatsApp as a customer service channel, and incorporating information from website reservation payments into HubSpot's sales system. Among the website leads processed through HubSpot, a portion comes through chat, with 80% of those handled by a bot," says Max Nilsson, Marketing Technology Specialist at Roger Studio.
Additionally, Autokeskus can now assist salespeople in collecting and maintaining customer data more efficiently. For example, marketing can notify sales staff if customer data appears outdated, prompting them to verify and update it. Another straightforward use case was ensuring that after a quote is made, the sales team follows up with the customer after a specified period, streamlining the sales process and improving customer engagement.
”The customer's IT department aimed to build a genuine competitive advantage from customer data, as the key to future competitiveness in the automotive trade lies in understanding customers and maintaining customer relationships. Roger's approach to solving Autokeskus's challenge was to challenge traditional software providers right from the initial situation analysis.”
Sami Akseli, Roger Studio
From Distinct Marketing Campaigns to Measurable and Ongoing Marketing Programs
Autokeskus's collaboration with Roger remains strong. "Roger understood our desire to stay focused on concrete results. We were on the same page from the start," says Pallasvirta. "The work and communication have been effortless. Initially, we had a small team involved, but the collaboration has steadily expanded to ensure that managing and utilizing customer data is a shared responsibility across the entire organization, not just a task for a select few. We are working towards making data utilization widespread throughout the organization at all levels. We want development ideas to primarily come from those on the front lines, as service innovations often emerge from direct customer interactions. We also aim for improved customer service, supported by data, to become as routine as other aspects of customer service."
"Now that we have a Customer Engagement Engine at the core of our marketing, we can build new programs, develop entirely new functionalities, and pilot innovative ways of doing business together. Key to this is ongoing and open collaboration, allowing us to respond quickly and address various business needs through agile POC (Proof of Concept) models," says Valasvuo. "Since the initial phase, we have established permanent integrations with Autokeskus's DMS (Dealer Management Systems), enabling HubSpot to access up-to-date data on all vehicles. This allows us to easily manage updates to our current customers' information and marketing consents in our customer register. This robust foundation for the Customer Engagement Engine supports our efforts to build various automation programs in collaboration. Now, technology enables us to respond faster and leverage customer data as a competitive advantage."
“Next, we need to gain even more speed and extract even greater benefits. Now it’s time to push hard and go all out!” Pallasvirta exclaims.
Achieved Efficiency Benefits So Far
The Customer Machine has been integrated into existing marketing programs while also enabling the creation of new programs.
Through automation programs, new customer potentials and completed car purchases have been identified.
The results of different automation programs are monitored at the program level, from attracting customers to finalizing the sale
Reporting on new communication channels has helped in building better and more effective operational models for managing conversations conducted through these channels.
Products used by the customer
HubSpot Marketing Hub
Enterprise
HubSpot Sales Hub Professional
HubSpot Service Hub Starter
Roger CDM
Roger Mobile Messaging Connector for HubSpot
Roger Chat Add-on for Nettiauto
Roger Online Sales Add-on for HubSpot
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AutokeskusAUTOKESKUS OY is a full-service car dealership chain owned by Aro-Yhtymä, one of Finland's leading automotive companies. Its locations are in Helsinki (Konala), Vantaa (Airport), Espoo, Hämeenlinna, Hyvinkää, Tampere, Raisio, and Turku. |
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