Leading Car Dealership Boosts Conversions With WhatsApp Business API Powered by edna
A major automotive holding in the CIS region with 30 brands in its portfolio sought to add WhatsApp Business to its existing communication channels to facilitate better interactions with customers, and also to ensure their identification and segmentation.
The Client
The client — AVILON Automobile Group — is a leading car dealership with $1.18 billion in revenues and 30 top brands in its portfolio. They are engaged in the sale, warranty and post-warrantee maintenance of cars, as well as the sale of original spare parts and accessories. The company specializes in the online sales of cars, which comprises a significant share of its overall sales.
Challenges
Lack of Visibility Into Customer Demographics
Until recently, most of the client’s online traffic came from text-based channels such as live chat on their website. As customers are not required to share any personal data such as their email, contact number, etc. over chat, the company could not map every lead inquiry with its contacts database in the CRM. This made it impossible for the dealership to reach out to these customers and target them with personalized offerings, resulting in lost sales.
Inability to Meet Customer’s on Their Preferred Platform
Another challenge was to be able to communicate with their target audiences on a platform the latter were already actively using. In the highly competitive auto market, where all players vie for their customer’s attention, offering services over a messaging channel that is already widely popular increases convenience for users, resulting in greater engagement. The client lacked this presence.
Lack of an Official Company Account on a Digital Channel
Third, as a large company with wide recognition in the market, it was important for AVILON to have an official company account to establish trust and confidence in customers so they could use that channel to communicate their needs to AVILON. The client lacked this.
Approach
To overcome its challenges, AVILON decided to add WhatsApp Business to its existing communication channels and selected edna as its official platform provider. The implementation process was smooth and completed in a few days. To start using the new channel, AVILON’S customers simply had to send a message saying ˝Hi˝ to the company’s WhatsApp number. Then, an automated message would pop up with menu options for the customer to choose how they would like to proceed. The WhatsApp Business API was integrated with AVILON’S CRM, which made it easy to identify existing customers who had opted in to communicate over WhatsApp. Interactions with existing as well as potential customers over WhatsApp enabled the client to segment their customers based on their history and interests, and run scripts in accordance with the customer’s profile. The client also applied successfully for a verified badge — the coveted “green tick” — via edna, which helped to significantly enhance its brand image.
The WhatsApp Business channel enabled a variety of use cases for the dealership, including:
- Handling requests for car reservation, confirming bookings, etc.
- Scheduling test drives for customers
- Sending service-related alerts such as upcoming servicing notifications
- Answering queries on availability of spare parts and accessories
- Selling cars online with real-time support throughout the customer’s journey
Results
Implementing WhatsApp proved to be highly beneficial for AVILON. Of all the available channels, most of the customers chose WhatsApp as their preferred medium of communication with the company. In just a few months of being introduced, up to 25 percent of customer requests regarding online sales began to come in through WhatsApp. The conversion to sales in the WhatsApp channel was two times higher compared to that from live web chat. The dealership was not only able to provide real-time customer support on the platform, but was also able to use the customer’s information shared via WhatsApp to segment customers into different groups and target / retarget them with relevant offerings accordingly. The WhatsApp Business channel achieved 100 percent conversion rate from request to lead, compared to only 30-40 percent for other channels.
By offering WhatsApp, the client was able to offer customers the satisfaction and convenience of using a platform already used by them. Customers could now reach the client 24×7 and get basic queries resolved online. Call volumes were significantly reduced and visits to service centers were minimized.
Results at a Glance
25%
Of inquiries started to come in from WhatsApp
100%
Of inquiries qualified into leads with full contact info, compared to 30-40% via other channels
>50%
Of conversions came from inquiries originated on WhatsApp
2
Times higher conversion rate compared to live chat on website
The client was delighted as WhatsApp quickly emerged as the preferred choice of customers, generating more conversions from requests compared to similar channels. What’s more, the cost per lead compared to the investment was among the lowest compared to other channels.