Buying a car is one of the most important and exciting purchases for many customers. What makes a great buying experience? At the top of the list - trust and good advice.
For the salesperson, this means paying careful attention to customer needs, not an IT system. Future car owners want a dedicated contact throughout the process; they often do a lot of research before visiting the showroom. Plus, cars are increasingly complex. Automotive advances demand more and more technical expertise in the sales process.
What tools can we arm salespeople with to provide the sales experience of the future? That's the specific challenge we tackled with Mercedes-Benz. The result is a digital service platform that provides access to vital information so staff can spend less time on admin and research, and more time with customers. Think of it as a digital assistant that guides the sales process and can easily adapt to Mercedes-Benz's requirements as they evolve.
A global team spanning Germany, India, and China designed the new system, known as One Touch Retail. The German team developed the product for the local market, working closely with colleagues in the India Delivery Centre to speed up development time. In parallel, Thoughtworks China worked on a solution that was tailor-made for the Chinese market. The team consisted of cross-functional roles - designers, developers and domain experts- working together to build a solution that blends business and user needs.
Quicker access to information and improved sales tools means more customer satisfaction. The successful partnership was made possible by bringing together the best of Mercedes-Benz's deep sales acumen and Thoughtworks’ agile software development approach.
