Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Renault UK Gains 120,000 New Leads from Upgraded Microsites and Integrated Database
Overview
Country or Region: United Kingdom
Industry: Automotive
Customer Profile
Renault UK offers an extensive range of passenger cars and light commercial vans and is aiming to become one of the top three motor manufacturers in the U.K. Renault UK also wants to be a leader in customer service and satisfaction.
Business Situation
Renault UK needed a cost effective and creative upgrade to its Microsites to engage in e-commerce initiatives for its customers and dealers without having to rely on third parties. The company also wanted to generate more sales leads from its Web activities.
Solution
Fortline recommended using Microsoft® SQL ServerTM 2000 as the database and Web services to channel sales leads from all Microsites. It replaced Linux Apache Web Server with Microsoft Windows ServerTM 2003.
Benefits
n Integrated database solution for Web-generated leads
n Low total cost of ownership
n Rapid updates to the Web site and Microsites
n 120,000 new sales leads a year
n Better collaboration with dealers
n Revolution in selling motor cars / "We’re now supplying 120,000 leads a year through non-traditional channels to our dealer network with many of them coming through new enhanced Microsites and Web applications."
Andy Holmes, E-Commerce Manager, Renault UK
Renault UK wanted to make better use of e-commerce in selling motor cars through its dealer network and to offer more services to its existing and prospective customers. After successfully implementing an online system for booking customer test drives, Renault UK worked with Microsoft® Certified Partner Fortline to upgrade its U.K. Microsites by adding an integrated database solution. Fortline chose Microsoft SQL ServerTM 2000 and used Web services making the existing Linux-based Web servers redundant. Renault UK now supplies its dealer network with 120,000 sales leads a year from non-traditional channels including new Microsites and Web applications. The dealers’ customer relationship management (CRM) activities integrate with SQL Server 2000 and are bringing about an important change in the way Renault cars are sold in the U.K. as well as delivering innovative services to customers.
Situation
Renault UK offers an extensive range of passenger cars and light commercial vans and is aiming to become one of the top three motor manufacturers in the U.K. The company also wants to remain a leader for innovative customer service and to maximise the benefits of its alliance with Nissan in Great Britain.
As a company that has the leading market share for cars and vans in Western Europe, Renault prides itself on innovation and creativity. Renault UK began marketing its vehicles and services on the Web in 2001, but required additional functionality to offer transactional services to potential customers or dealers.
Andy Holmes, E-Commerce Manager, Renault UK, says: “We felt it was important to get control of our Web site so as to drastically improve and increase the experience for existing and prospective customers. A more transactional Web site where customers could book a test drive online with a particular dealer in a model of their choice would be a great differentiator for us. Renault aims to be a leader in customer service and customer satisfaction.
“We also wanted to bolster the sales lead management aspects of the Web presence and build a reliable foundation on which future enhancements are made much more quickly than with the legacy system. Renault aims to offer its dealers profitable business opportunities through a long-term partnership with the marque.”
Solution
Fortline, a Microsoft® Certified Partner, initially became involved with Renault UK through a third party in 2004 with a Web application to help prospective customers book test drives through the Web. The company was founded in 1998 specialising in the use of Microsoft tools and technologies.
The success of the initial Web application led to Fortline producing a more complex Web service for Renault UK called the Data Repository and Forwarder to channel sales leads from the Web site to a single central database.
Graham Iles, Business Development Director, Fortline, says: “It is important to understand that when developing a Web application, it is just that—an application. It should not have an overly designed look: that is the job for Web sites, not Web applications. It should be responsive, and be intuitive for the users, especially if it is an Internet application.
“Web services now ensure that many different areas of the Renault UK Web site and Microsites link together. They also integrate information that is exported to or imported from the central system at head office in Paris.”
Other key elements of the solution include:
n Microsoft Windows® SharePoint® Services for cross-team collaboration.
n Microsoft ASP.NET and Visual C#® development tools for development and run time.
n Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 for database storage.
n Extensible mark up language (XML) for content definition files.
However, at the same time Fortline, as project managers, recommended that Renault UK migrate all UK Microsites from the Linux Apache Web Server to Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 operating system, part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software. Fortline considered this essential if Renault UK was to maximise the benefits of full integration between all of its Microsites and the dealer network while remaining in control of all the sales leads and commercially valuable data.
Iles says: “Using a full set of Microsoft tools and technologies was the key to Renault UK gaining full control over its Microsites, giving the company much better sales lead generation and greater analytical capacity with the stored data.”
Benefits
Integrated Solution Replaces Legacy Linux-Based System
Renault UK retained many of its local features and existing applications by deploying a database for sales leads using SQL Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003 instead of Linux.
Holmes says: “Users have the benefit of a user friendly Web-based front end and the reporting tools give us full visibility over customer responses to customer service opportunities such as test drives. For their back-office processes our dealers use Siebel, but we can now take data in and out of Siebel and this is a big win for our business.”
Development Tools Ensure Rapid Updates to All Microsites
By using ASP.NET and Visual C# for development and run time, Renault UK is no longer dependent on third parties to introduce enhancements to its Microsites. “The flexibility and easy-to-use Microsoft development tools are a huge bonus,” says Holmes. “We are adding new features quickly and, therefore, keeping ahead of our competitors. It is also saving us the expense of using third parties for development work.”
Although it is hard for Renault UK to quantify new sales from offering services such as online test drive booking, customer satisfaction and dealer morale has risen. Holmes says: “Prospective customers for our desirable, safe, and distinctive motor cars can specify online exactly what they want to test drive by way of model—even the colour. It makes it much easier for our dealers to satisfy our customers’ expectations.”
A Change in the Way Renault Does Business
By generating more sales leads for its dealers through interactive Microsites, Renault UK has radically changed the way its sales channels operate. “It is nothing short of a revolution,” says Holmes. “We are now supplying 120,000 leads a year through non-traditional channels to our dealer network, with many of them coming through the upgraded Microsites and Web applications.
“Thanks to the data exchange between Siebel CRM system and SQL Server 2000, we’re doing far more with our stored data. It is changing the whole way we work. Additionally, our dealers and customers can interact with us online, if they want to, without having to meet face to face.”
Joined-Up System with Low Total Cost of Ownership
Renault UK has added new functionality and flexibility to its sales strategy by pioneering new Web-based services for customers and dealers, while achieving a low total cost of ownership.
“We are no longer dependent on third parties if we want to add a new service to our Web site,” says Holmes. “Because our development costs are low thanks to Microsoft tools, we can now dip our toes in the water with new e-commerce initiatives without incurring huge additional expenditure.”
Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft Windows Server System is a comprehensive, integrated, and interoperable server infrastructure that helps reduce the complexity and costs of building, deploying, connecting, and operating agile business solutions. Windows Server System helps customers create new value for their business through the strategic use of their IT assets. With the Windows Server operating system as its foundation, Windows Server System delivers dependable infrastructure for data management and analysis; enterprise integration; customer, partner, and employee portals; business process automation; communications and collaboration; and core IT operations including security, deployment, and systems management.
For more information about
Windows Server System, go to:
www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem