Digital technologies are playing an increasingly important role in Automotive, and not only as a driver support systems Instrument.
To meet expectations of today’s customers, some digital tools should also be used to innovate the buying experience and how customers can interact with dealers or car manufacturers. These processes should become fast and simple and, to this end, some InfoCert solutions can make a difference.
Digital experience becomes a priority when choosing a new car
According to the IBM study published about a year ago, “Automotive 2030: Racing toward a digital future“, in the choice of a new car the connected services have a greater and greater importance compared to the brand.
48% of consumers say the vehicle brand wouldn’t matter to them in an autonomous, mobility-as-a-service paradigm, but cost and convenience would. The executives surveyed believe that a car’s ability to recognize passengers, interact with their mobile devices and have a natural conversation with them are some of the main factors that will lead to increased brand relevance and consumer loyalty.
In summary, we will see a revolution in the concept of car that will make the digital experience on board a priority over the characteristics of the vehicle. Autonomous, electric and connected vehicles will become a standard, but cars will not be the only things that new generations of automotive customers expect innovation from.
Car buying processes, how customers’ habits and expectations change
Negotiating to buy a new car on a video call no longer seems as strange as it would have seemed just a few years ago. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated things, but the tendency to increasingly make online transactions was already present for a while.
Nowadays it is quite normal to expect to be able to contact a dealer, ask for assistance, and get support for the configuration of a vehicle and a quote relying only on a PC connected to the Internet. Such an approach is what new generations prefer and what they are most used to.
Usually, the purchase process started online would end at the dealer to make a test drive, discuss the quote and sign the contract, but more can be done. With the right solution you can digitally manage the entire process and sign the contract with a digital signature. That brings several benefits to both the customer and the dealer.
A digital process beyond customers’ expectations and the new role of dealer sales staff
To digitally manage 90% of the process and then, at the last step, print, make photocopies, hand sign and scan paper documents would cancel most of the benefits of digitization and would frustrate the investments already done.
A solution such as InfoCert TOP (Trusted Onboarding platform) allows you to digitize the entire process, from the engagement of the prospect client to the long-term archiving of the contract. With a single solution, the dealer can create a process in which:
- the customer enters his personal data and uploads the required identity documents
- start an identity verification session via webcam with an operator or recording a video
- the identity documents sent and shown on screen by the customer are verified and validated
- contracts and modules are visualized on screen by the customer and signed with a one-shot digital signature
- the signed documents can be delivered through infocert’s registered e-delivery solution, which certifies their sending and receipt, also ensuring the protection of the transmitted data against the risk of loss, theft, damage or any unauthorized alteration
- All the documentation is finally sent to a digital long-term archiving system, which ensures that the electronic document has the same legal value as the paper one, eliminates handling and storage costs, and allows documents to be found very simply and quickly.
The Deloitte “Global Automotive Consumer Survey 2018” underlined that excessive bureaucracy is one of the most despised elements by dealers’ customers in America and Europe. Therefore, making the customer experience more efficient by also providing the ability to sign documents remotely is of strategic importance.
In this new context, the role of the sales staff at the dealer is not diminished at all.
- Firstly, because TOP can also be used to conclude face-to-face sales using a tablet. This way, people not used to web-based approach don’t need to give up a face to face interaction and, by managing he process with the tablet, the dealer doesn’t give up all the benefits of a full digital process.
- Secondly, because the role of the dealer can (and will have to) adapt to the new scenario, for example by making available to more informed customers trained staff able to answer even very specific questions, both on the car and on related technologies.
