BusinessBase implemented and manages a new group-wide CRM system and associated customer processes for Stern. It’s an important step in Stern’s transition into a single, strong retail brand.
BusinessBase implemented and manages a new group-wide CRM system and associated customer processes for Stern. It’s an important step in Stern’s transition into a single, strong retail brand.
With over 1,500 employees and an annual turnover in excess of €750 million, Stern Groep is one of the biggest automotive companies in the Netherlands. Stern represents 18 automotive brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Nissan, Ford, Volvo, Land Rover, Kia and Opel. In addition to annual sales of 32,500 new and used passenger and commercial vehicles, the group also provides automotive components, damage repair services, custom interiors for commercial vehicles and a range of financial services.
Stern was originally set up as a company with strong, autonomous dealer organizations. If an existing Stern customer was looking for a new car in a different brand, for example, he might end up dealing with a different Stern dealer organization, with its own approach, processes and dealer systems. From the company’s point of view there were two ‘different customers’. Because, as a company, Stern wants to distinguish itself with its personal and customer-oriented approach, there has been a concerted effort in recent years to transform into a single Stern brand with a consistent approach to customer interaction.
This is why BusinessBase was given the assignment of harmonizing the Stern customer processes within the entire company and turning them into a new Customer Engagement system based on Microsoft Dynamics. The solution now manages the so-called ‘golden record’ of each customer, which contains all the customer information and history. Using an Azure-based integration platform, BusinessBase has linked the system to a number of different business applications – including the different Dealer Management Systems – and manages the different customer processes like a spider in its web.
Bastiaan Geurts, Chief Customer Officer at Stern, waxes lyrically about the changes in the company’s 2020 annual report: “We have combined all the different customer information systems of our different businesses, which gives us a single, central profile of each customer. Based on this profile we can respond to customer requirements in the most optimal and personalized way, based on the data we already have and the information the customer gives us.”
Using Dynamics 365 CE we are gradually making ‘customer journeys’ more customer-focused, efficient and profitable. For example, Stern customers receive optimal support when they start looking for a new car, all the way through to their ultimate choice, purchase and delivery. And thanks to the comprehensive marketing automation options Stern can time its communications to customers regarding maintenance, new opportunities and products perfectly. The self-service options, for updating simple customer information or scheduling service appointments, for example, are also being increased.
The new environment also offers a lot more opportunities for customized services to business customers. For example, it’s now much easier to put together comprehensive quotes with a range of brands and vehicles, different financing options and the appropriate maintenance contracts.
