"In a time where everyone is available online and on different channels, you need a tool like Acquire."
Expectations for the online shopping experience no longer end with a simple chatbot. Personalization, seamless omnichannel communication, and the ability to see and speak with an actual human are more crucial than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this shift in the automotive industry. With lockdowns in place, many dealerships were forced to go digital or go bust, leading to a rise in digital showrooms.
Level 4.0, an international marketing consulting service based in Germany with customers like Audi and Lexus, has seen this shift in automotive customer experience (CX) affect clients firsthand. Matthias Singer-Fischer, Founder and CEO of Level 4.0, and Phil Jöckel, Business Development at Level 4.0, share their insights on how the company has helped top brands overcome industry challenges and deliver experiences that close deals in the digital showroom with Acquire.
Bridging the digital and physical gap
With the move towards online buying came the need to digitize showrooms. In 2018, Audi, an automotive client, came to Level 4.0 needing help to do just that.
Audi wanted a solution that would bridge the gap between dealership websites and physical showrooms while ensuring the VIP service customers still expected. They wanted the ability to chat with their customers in real-time but also display the showroom without having to switch devices or software.
“With a bit of research and a bit of luck we came across Acquire. What we found was a hidden gem,” Singer-Fischer said. After flying to London to meet Acquire’s COO & Co-Founder, Amrit Dhangal, the beginning of a long-lasting partnership began. “Not only could Acquire deliver the functionality our client needed but the spirit of the company and the responsiveness of the organization as a whole — from sales to development to customer success — was out of this world,” Singer-Fischer went on.
“I've honestly never seen a company as responsive to market requirements as Acquire.”
-Matthias Singer-Fischer,
Founder and CEO of Level 4.0
Enter the digital showroom
With Audi specifically, the need was to differentiate service between individual dealer showrooms and the central brand website. Using Acquire, Level 4.0 has been able to direct customers on the main Audi site to specific dealers and help them connect with the right person, thanks to proactive platform triggers and chatbots. This in turn has meant agents get to skip a few of the lead qualifying steps in the sales process and have their first meetings within minutes.
This connected approach helps Audi efficiently manage the several thousand website visitors they see each day. They engage with four times as many customers, more leads and sales are generated, and customer satisfaction averages a score of 4.5 out of 5.
There has also been an opportunity to use Acquire as a digital showroom presentation tool. For example, Level 4.0 has helped Peugeot deploy Acquire to showcase their newly released vehicle models. Buyers have the chance to connect through video with one of their experts, tour the showroom, and see vehicle features in real-time.
Meeting shoppers where they’re at
“With a bit of research and a bit of luck, we came across Acquire. What we found was a hidden gem.”
-Matthias Singer-Fischer,
Founder and CEO of Level 4.0.
Customer service that revolves around human contact builds trust and confidence. A personalized approach and easy access to multiple communication avenues also give credibility to sales representatives and service agents.
This is precisely why Level 4.0 has helped build marketing strategies around this collaborative, conversational approach to CX. Using Acquire’s combination of text, video, audio, live chat, cobrowsing, and a whole lot of automation, the company has been able to mold its solutions to its clients’ evolving needs.
As most retailers know (or are finding out the hard way), when things become too complicated people will just go elsewhere. “If I as a customer experience your brand on different channels then I expect you to know my needs, grab me by my hand, and pull me to a specific product or whatever the case. Acquire gives you this perfect timeline of seeing where the customer is and showing specific touchpoints. It knows what they’ve done and can adapt,” Jöckel said.
“Acquire gives you this perfect timeline of seeing where the customer is and showing customer-specific touchpoints. It knows what they’ve done before and can adapt.”
-Philipp Jöckel,
Business Development at Level 4.0
A partnership built to last
While there is no question about the role of Singer-Fischer’s marketing expertise in his clients’ success, the partnership with Acquire has helped Level 4.0 take its consulting services to the next level. “For a lot of our clients Acquire is the technological backbone around which we build our marketing services. Acquire enables meaningful conversations between brands and consumers anytime, anywhere,” Singer-Fischer told us.
He went on to say, “We really are partners and not only clients. Acquire is always open for requests and the system is evolving with its customer — that’s what makes it so special. If you have a question, there is always someone responding. If it is urgent the whole team gets involved in making something possible. From my point of view, it is like a friendship as well. And that’s a really unique interaction that you cannot get anywhere else.”
It's really simple to implement Acquire. The system is really intuitive, there are so many possibilities.”
-Philipp Jöckel,
Business Development at Level 4.0
The future of automotive CX
As the automotive world continues to evolve and adapt, Level 4.0 plans to continue being the guiding light in CX for its customers. To do so, Matthias and his team have a close eye on emerging industry trends and challenges.
His predictions? The online showroom experience and direct-to-consumer selling will quickly become the norm along with proactive chatbots tailored to specific customer touchpoints.
“My clear advice: Look around you. Look how consumers behave. They live for the moment. Everything needs to happen immediately. No opening times. No waiting queues. Everything is mobile. Total price transparency. One click, one touch, one everything. Take these observations and think for yourself about how you can respond to that in your business. As a result, you will have the first building blocks for your digitalization strategy. And then just do it! Don’t wait for large organizations to deliver the whole lot. Build your own ecosystem.”
“Consumers forgive mistakes, they don’t forgive sluggishness.”
-Matthias Singer-Fischer,
Founder and CEO of Level 4.0
