1. Customer Focus For Fleet Operations
Accenture And Volvo Finland
Automotive Case Study
Recognizing The Need For
Corporate Fleet Solutions
As part of Ford's Premier Car Group, Volvo
is committed across all brands to a philos-
ophy of leadership in safety, security and
quality of service. Maintaining the highest
standards of customer service and care is
central to this philosophy and a key area
for continuous investment and develop-
ment for Volvo at all levels.
2. In shaping Volvo’s corporate
fleet solution, it became
clear that the Web would
play a major role in how it
was structured.
In 1998, Volvo Finland recognized the
need for — and potential competitive
advantage to be had from — develop-
ing a fully integrated, customer-oriented
package for companies with large cor-
porate vehicle fleets.
Increasingly, the challenge to this traditional model has come
The Business from new participants, such as finance houses, which have
been aggressively positioning themselves between the OEM
Challenge and the customer in an effort to gain market share. By offering
a broad range of professional services and customized pack-
As service becomes an increasingly ages, they have established themselves as the focal point for
important differentiator against com- the relationship with the end customer. Under this scenario
petitors’ offerings, the importance of the car companies themselves have run the risk of being side-
maintaining control over the customer lined and of becoming suppliers of hardware — rather than
relationship becomes ever more appar- full-service providers that offer a range of tailored products
ent. This is particularly true in the car and services geared to individual customer needs.
industry where traditional distribution
channels and relationships are being Increasing competitive pressures on the car companies have led
challenged by new players that are seek- to a need to focus on the cost and profitability of all aspects of
ing to position themselves between their operations and on the many facets of distribution in par-
the car company and its customers. ticular. The provision of cars to company fleets is an important
Traditionally, the customer relationship element of the business mix for Volvo. Developing a service
has been managed by the car company’s that is aimed at making the whole administration process sim-
appointed dealer network. This enabled pler for the fleet manager and more attractive and easy to use
OEMs to have direct access to their for the employee is central to the success of such a company
customers and to tailor the products car scheme.
and services on offer.
Case Study… Accenture And Volvo Finland 2
3. Volvo Finland has developed its own unique
approach with a Web-based, customer-
oriented service package for corporate fleets.
The easy-to-use system has been designed
for administrators of company car schemes The pilot scheme was run in phases.
The first stage was based around the
and end-use employees. relationship that Bilia, a major Volvo
dealer, had already established with
Nokia. At this stage Accenture became
Volvo Finland had been offering a service package to its cus- involved and began to work with Volvo
tomers, but despite encompassing a wide range of components, to help maintain and develop the client
it did not cover all of their customer requirements in an inte- relationship. A decision was made to
grated offer. In order to address this problem, Accenture was pilot the Nokia Intranet version of the
invited by Volvo (in the fall of 1998) to undertake a concept site, and thus Accenture spent the spring
design phase. The objectives were to review the concepts being period building, testing and refining
used by Volvo in other regions as well as assess competitors’ usability and managing the client rela-
offerings and client requirements. This was a strategic exercise tionship with Nokia. Technical develop-
that focused on the business concepts and took between six ment work on the global site commenced
and eight weeks to complete. during the summer.
Toward the end of 1998, Accenture was asked to take the find- By September 1, 1999, the first Web-
ings of the concept design phase and propose the shape of the based release was available, and at
offering most appropriate to take to Volvo’s largest customers that time, Accenture became the sec-
in Finland. It was at this stage in the process that the role of ond company to sign up to the pilot
electronic commerce (eCommerce) became more important, scheme in Finland. The second release
and it was clear that the Web would play a major role in the was introduced in January 2000 and
way in which such a service was structured. further enhanced in March 2000. There
will soon be 20 companies using the
Implementation of the proposed system commenced in Finland scheme and it is Volvo’s intention to
in the spring of 1999. At about this time, it was recognized that build the project internationally. The
the concept could be developed to become a service offering next phase will involve the roll-out of
for all of Volvo’s European sales operations. This business con- the system across Europe.
cept was to be funded by Volvo Market Area Europe from the
first phase, that of concept design, and piloted in Finland.
Nokia in Finland was
the first pilot customer.
Case Study… Accenture And Volvo Finland 3
4. Answering The Challenge
The solution that Accenture proposed, which was subsequently
adopted by Volvo, is aimed at the 50 largest customers for
the Volvo/Renault fleet in Finland. All of these companies
have personnel dedicated to maintaining and providing fleet
vehicles for their employees. Designing a system that met the
requirements of the administrators of these company car
schemes as well as satisfied the end-use employees was the
main challenge for Accenture. Car scheme administrators benefit from:
The system we developed enables the employee to quickly An easy-to-use service tailored to
•
calculate the monthly cost, tax implications and net salary their needs and based on company-
effect of any selected package. Customer benefits include the specific modularity. This includes a
choice of a wide variety of options, ranging from car specifi- full finance and insurance package,
cation to finance and insurance. In addition to the basic car policy consulting models, elec-
company car offerings, the user also benefits from replacement tronic reporting capability and car
car facilities, priority services in terms of repair, targeted offers rental options, all of which are avail-
through e-mail and a comprehensive after-sales service. able from Volvo/Renault in Finland.
User benefits include: The scheme has proved very successful
for Nokia. The number of employees
An easy-to-use system for choosing the car and its using the scheme has risen and Volvo’s
•
specification that is also capable of computing the market share within the Nokia fleet has
tax implications for the individual employee. also increased. Usability testing of the
The ability to select the car at a time that is most system has been one of the key factors
•
convenient for the employee. behind its success. Accenture spent
The ability to send an offer request to a car salesperson considerable time and effort with users
•
who can quickly respond and help progress the order. and administrators within Nokia to test
Maintenance of order process records . the logic of the system. Feedback was
•
Reservation of test drives, receipt of brochures and used to refine the applications and
•
information, and arrangements for any necessary continuously improve the process.
meeting with the salesperson.
The Web site has been
The ability to schedule cars for regular servicing.
•
A loyalty program on options and accessories.
•
specifically designed to be
Easy purchase comparison and compatibility with
•
the individual client company car scheme guidelines.
easy to use and has been
kept simple for both end
users and administrators.
Case Study… Accenture And Volvo Finland 4
5. New Processes
To Support
The User
The system developed by Accenture is
based on a process that allows the user
“In five years, the car industry will sell
to electronically progress his/her order
through the system starting with the
10% of its cars over the Internet, says
”
selection of the vehicle and working
through to the confirmation of the
Mika Seitovirta, managing director, Volvo
order as described below.
Auto. “And the winner in the end will be
Initial dealer resistance to the process
was overcome with Accenture demon-
the dealer that can keep its customers
strating how the system would help
reduce the time involved in the admin-
happy throughout the entire ownership
istration and processing of orders and
help keep the amount of work involved
of the car.”
for the dealer to a minimum. Under the
new scheme, dealers would continue to
be generously rewarded for arranging
test drives and providing the full after-
Nokia:
sales customer support but would not
Employees order their leased cars at their own time and expense, whenever
be burdened by unnecessary paperwork. most convenient for them. Nokia car administrators’ work is going to
A built-in safety net for quality control change from handling the routines toward overall process control.
was incorporated to ensure that sales
Refuses
enquiries were followed up and requests
for quotations were answered in a
timely manner. Accepts
Offer Offer Order Order to be Confirmed Confirmed Order
Provides additional requested information
•
Process includes guiding e-mails during different phases
•
of the process...
Volvo Dealer Salesperson:
The confirmed orders can be linked to other related systems in the
future (production system, salesperson workbench = AHMA).
Case Study… Accenture And Volvo Finland 5
