Tempe, AZ June 12, 2001 Swedish car manufacturer Saab will use customer relationship management (CRM) software from Siebel to share customer information with the company's sales, service and dealer organizations in a bid to increase customer loyalty and sales while reducing costs.
Saab's dealers have traditionally owned the relationship with each customer in every car market worldwide. But the emergence of the Internet as a research tool and purchase channel, continuing automotive industry consolidation and an increasingly sophisticated customer base prompted Saab to seek ways to improve collaboration with its dealers to achieve a more complete understanding of their customers.
Saab has adopted Siebel eAutomotive, a version of Siebel eBusiness Applications specifically tailored for the automotive industry. By implementing the CRM software globally, Saab is looking to create a single, comprehensive view of the customer. The objectives are to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving the customer ownership experience, to increase sales, to execute tailored marketing campaigns and to reduce technology costs.
With Siebel eAutomotive, Saab's customers will be able to communicate with the company through whichever channel is most convenient to them including the Internet, over the telephone or face-to-face with a dealer concerning a broad range of sales and service inquiries. By managing all aspects of the customer relationship, including vehicle information, vehicle configuration, dealer location, vehicle service and related merchandise information, Saab and its dealers hope to increase vehicle sales and service revenue, as well as vehicle merchandise sales, while reducing overall costs and increasing productivity.
Saab will communicate with its dealers through Siebel eDealer, a module of Siebel eAutomotive. The manufacturer can assign leads from marketing campaigns to the appropriate dealers and manage these leads to ensure closure.
Siebel eCustomer, an additional component of Siebel eAutomotive, will allow Saab customers to communicate with their local dealer through the Internet, for example, arranging a test-drive, scheduling service or inquiring about an existing order.
"To prosper, Saab must make it as easy as possible for each and every customer to do business with us and that means building closer relationships with customers and dealers," says Katja Widlund, CRM manager for Saab Automotive.
Saab Automobile AB designs, manufactures and markets passenger cars for distribution worldwide. The Swedish company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors, is active in more than 50 countries and sold more than 132,000 cars worldwide during 2000.
