Auto news on Youtube Oct 26 2017

Now we're going to where I work: the VCDC office.

Come with me!

My colleague Jennie. She's very busy.

These are my colleagues. They may have a hot discussion.

Hi, Ella!

The best part of my work is actually my colleagues.

They are all very experienced, including my manager.

I can learn a lot.

The others, Anton, Mark and Nana, wait for Cherie in downtown Shanghai.

I'm very happy to show them the city.

There are a lot of exciting things here, actually.

I'm so looking forward to it.

Four new employees of Volvo Cars were given a mission:

Together, they will explore our company from the inside.

Anton, Cherie, Mark and Nana have had a tight schedule exploring China.

First, they visited the plant in Daqing.

Then, the journey continued to the R&D Centre in Shanghai.

In Shanghai, they also got to see a charging station

And talk to Mr. Fang about the electric vehicle market in China.

Number one in the world.

In this episode they learn more about how Volvo Cars meets its customers.

But before they leave China, Mark and Nana get to meet Dorothy,

owner of a V60 Polestar, who explains why she has chosen a Volvo.

-How are you? -I'm fine.

-Overall, are you happy with the car? -Of course I am.

I really enjoy the speeding up.

When I was a child, I loved Formula 1 a lot.

So that's why I chose a performance car.

Do you like any other Volvo models?

-The V90 Cross Country. -Oh?

-Why do you like that car? -Because I love wagons.

-Great answer! -That's why I chose a V60 Polestar.

It's a car that's a wagon and also a sporty car.

She said she bought the Polestar because it was different.

Not many people, especially in the Asia Pacific market, have a car like that.

Volvo's a very unique brand, and the Polestar is an even more unique car.

So, what do you associate the Volvo brand with?

Two key words. The first one is safety, as we all know.

And the second one is innovation.

And the innovation includes design,

and the innovative technologies in all Volvo cars, I think. Yes.

She's fun! She's fond of performance cars.

She wants a car that has the speed and the sound.

I think she also likes that Volvos are very safe.

She said it's a unique brand that cares about its customers in a different way,

compared with many other large companies out here.

That was good to hear.

She can obviously buy a faster and more expensive car.

But it connected with her on a different level,

and that's what was special about us talking about

the reason for buying the car and her being a Volvo customer.

To find out more about how we can make our customers feel special,

the Explorers leave China for the US.

It's good to be back in the US. I'm excited to show them around.

A lot of people, but it also feels quite similar to Shanghai.

But much louder.

Perhaps it's because of the helicopter?

Mark told us that it is...like this!

Now I can take Manhattan off my bucket list. Great!

After a quick tour in New York,

they go to Volvo Car USA Headquarters in Rockleigh.

Hi there! Welcome to Rockleigh!

The explorers meet Bob Jacobs.

I know you're going to spend a couple of days learning about

the offline/online digital world

and how we sell cars to our consumers in that space.

People are spending 14 hours researching a car,

and only visit one or two dealers before they buy.

It's very important to present ourselves as a brand in the online space

to these consumers and win their affinity.

To see an example of how we approach our customers online,

Anton and Mark visit the customer care team in Rockleigh.

When you show an interest in a vehicle, one from our team will contact you.

They talk you through and give answers on the car,

and when it comes to the order, I'll be with you until your car is delivered.

We would build it together, work on your price, delivery

and any other questions you might have.

Maureen is calling a customer

who recently bought a car with help from the team.

Anton and Mark are invited to listen in.

I'll make the phone call. Here you go - just listen in.

We got to listen to a call with a loyal customer.

I think he'd had like 15 Volvo cars in the past.

He was so happy with his new car, and also enjoyed the relationship

and getting a call from Volvo, and that warms my heart.

It was almost like a friendship between Volvo and the customer.

And that's really good!

Thank you so much. Have a nice day. Safe flight! Bye-bye.

-What did you think? -That's great!

He was so happy with the Volvo!

Cherie and Nana's mission is to visit the Volvo Pride training event

in Connecticut.

Here our retailer staff learn how to elevate the customer experience.

Maybe we get to sell someone a car.

See how our conversational skills are..

Hi, welcome!

We're going to walk down and you will join a class that's already started.

In the class with you, you'll have sales consultants from the north east.

A mix of sales consultants, general managers, greeters...

Anyone who works at one of our stores dealing with customers on a daily basis.

We just had the training Volvo offers for the dealers.

You identify the different customers based on their personalities.

How they are - are they people who are more family oriented,

or people who just want their product and leave?

The dealer can adapt to how the person is and their personality.

So, if someone's very direct and want their car and go,

you don't chit-chat and delay them.

That way, you can serve them best - and then, we have happy customers.

Happy customers equals more products sold.

It's very helpful to identify different people with different personalities,

and tell them they must treat customers in the way they want to be treated.

The day continues with a class on the delivery of the car to the customer.

Before they leave Connecticut, they summarise the day with Mark Gaynor.

How did you feel about this training?

Cool! It's no longer a lot of paper work with checklists to go through.

Everyone of us got an iPad. It was very cool. I liked it.

The purpose of today was to bridge the online and offline,

bringing in retailers from across the country,

taking the concept of what the consumer experiences online,

and making it just the same in an offline fashion.

So, as the consumers enter our showrooms,

the brand experience is a cohesive, unified manner.

Back in Rockleigh, Anton and Mark get to watch

when Caitlin at the customer care team chats with website visitors.

We just had a customer who's signing off.

He was interested in ordering. Oh, another one!

I'm just going to start some conversation with him first.

We got to see a live chat with a person who had questions about the car.

He was considering an XC90 or a V90.

Oh, they're going to place an order. Looks like Maureen gets an order today.

Well done!

A few minutes from a couple of questions to "Now I'm going to order a new Volvo."

That's fantastic!

After a busy first day in the US with insights about our new customers,

the explorers gather to share their experiences.

It's very interesting to see both

how we treat customers in China and in the USA.

It's amazing that we have the solution for different kinds of customers

and that we treat people in the way they would like to be treated.

After visiting both China and the US,

it's clear that people don't only visit retailers today to buy cars.

It's also important to have an online presence, an offline presence,

and to take care of a customer after the purchase.

I've seen the hierarchies and levels at which we really serve the customers

and get them the cars they need

in a way that's going to make us a premium luxury brand.

For me, it's really nice to see that from a global perspective.

It's a taste of the little bits and pieces that we all work together to do.