By utilising a comprehensive suite of online surveying tools, predictive intelligence and analytics, and full closed-loop actioning capabilities of Qualtrics XM Platform, Volkswagen Group Australia continually strengthens the link between employee and customer experience in its operations.
Among the number of global brands that participated in the recently held Qualtrics Work Different 2021 — a digital event aimed at celebrating leaders who decide to work differently and take their organisations into a reimagined future of work — is Volkswagen Group Australia. The German automotive giant has revealed that Qualtrics had been useful for its business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With its network of 104 dealerships in Australia grinding to an operational halt due to the lockdowns imposed by COVID-19 restrictions, Volkswagen Group Australia’s Chief Marketing and Customer Officer Jason Bradshaw shared during the Work Different 2021 virtual event that the company shifted its strategies to focus on improving experience management tactics. To help ensure business continuity amid the fast-changing industry landscape, Bradshaw explained:
“Utilising our Qualtrics platform, we were able to very quickly put into the marketplace a survey to understand the evolving needs and desires of our customers. The very first thing that we did was understand that our customers were willing to purchase a new car online.”
To address the emerging consumer need that was discovered through a cloud-based surveying tool, Qualtrics helped Volkswagen establish an online sales platform in two weeks to deliver a full-service digital offering that allows customers to trade-in, buy, or arrange for a car to be serviced remotely. It has also been indicated that one vehicle model sold out within 12 hours of public release.
“It’s about enabling the business to make strategic decisions, informed by data. That’s really what the XM/OS gives us at Volkswagen,” Bradshaw added.
Bolstering Qualtrics XM Platform with the Introduction of XM/OS
Also introduced on the Work Different digital event is the new XM operating system (XM/OS) — a single, secure cloud-native platform that enables companies to gather, analyse and easily take action on all of their experience and operational data.
XM/OS, the operating system for experience management, includes the following three interconnected services to allow organisations to continuously improve customer and employee experiences and further drive loyalty and retention:
- XM Directory. This component centralises customer and employee feedback data and builds a unique profile that remembers each individual’s preferences and needs.
- iQ. This analytics suite leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) automatically analyses experience data within XM/OS and proactively comes up with opportunities for breakdowns, trends, or improvements in the employee or customer journey.
- xFlow. This low code/no-code workflow engine connects to the systems of record to enable companies to gather experience data and quickly take action on it. Additionally, this component has over 130 out-of-the-box connections with companies such as SAP, ServiceNow, Teams, Slack, Salesforce, and Zendesk.
Transforming Real-time Customer Experience for Volkswagen Group Australia
According to Bradshaw, XM/OS enables Volkswagen Group Australia to make strategic decisions informed by data. Expounding on the role of experience management to Volkswagen’s success, Bradshaw further shared:
“We’re able to make decisions in real-time, backed by customer data, brand and product data and employee data that really enables us to move quicker and more nimbly than competitors. It’s why, based on the data from our Product Experience research, we were able to increase our sales by 300{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd}, literally overnight.”
Figures have shown Volkswagen’s website traffic has had a record year in 2020, increasing by 18{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} year-on-year. According to Bradshaw, designing a platform formed on customer feedback then continuing to improve that platform based on a more timely response to customer feedback is key.
Moreover, Volkswagen’s commitment to an improved customer experience has helped increase its Net Promoter Score (NPS) by five times. With its customers named as most loyal in Australia in 2019, the German car giant also reclaimed the top spot for brand loyalty in the automotive industry. Aiming to deliver significant results back to the business, Volkswagen will continue to use Qualtrics XM Platform to take proactive action and prevent poor experiences from happening in its operations.
