Case Study: Development of an intelligent IT solution for optimized service in fleet management
Customer requests resolved faster with a voice bot, full CRM system integration, and real-time reporting
Customer's industry sector: Fleet Management, Vehicle Leasing
Bosch Service: Bosch Customer Experience Services, Bosch Service Design
Initial situation
Our client, a Spanish fleet management company, manages around 85,000 fleet vehicles for around 9,000 business customers. Their customers include public institutions such as the police, as well as private companies of all sizes and individuals. The company receives a monthly leasing fee per vehicle. This covers provision and use as well as various additional services. Customer service requirements are as varied as the customers themselves.
There are approximately 33,000 interactions per month between the company and drivers or fleet managers, more than 90 percent of which are by phone. The remaining requests are submitted to customer service via email and online form. In most cases the requests relate to roadside assistance, damage reports, appointments at a nearby workshop, and the procurement of replacement vehicles.
Takeover of omnichannel communication in less than three months
Design and implementation of an intelligent IT solution: Our customer is looking for a new partner who will take over communication by phone, email, and online form with both fleet managers and individual vehicle users. Customer service processes are to be completely optimized so that issues can be resolved more quickly and efficiently than before.
To achieve this, our client is prepared to review and revise their existing customer service processes. They expect a holistic IT solution using the latest technology. The time frame is tight, and the new solution needs to be developed and implemented in less than three months.
At the same time, the drivers and fleet managers of the various companies should not notice that a change of service provider and data management is taking place in the background. The overarching goal is to further optimize service quality and contribute to an improved customer experience.
The challenge
In the majority of cases up to now, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system has supported routing to a suitable contact person. Predefined menu items are time-consuming and sometimes frustrating for drivers and fleet managers because the static options often don't meet specific needs. The call must first be routed to the right contact person in customer service before the request can be handled.
Service staff need to be aware of specific customer categories and different services when communicating with individual customers. For example, premium customers are only referred to brand workshops and the scope for insurance or replacement vehicles varies depending on the package booked.
It is not possible for the new service partner to adopt the CRM system used by the previous provider. Valuable, historical user data is therefore not available. For Bosch Service Solutions, this means designing and implementing a completely new CRM system that must close the gap in knowledge as quickly as possible.
Facts and figures
Less than a week after going live, almost half of all requests are handled automatically by the voice bot
Interaction time with the voice bot halved compared to the previous IVR solution
Specified Net Promoter Score (NPS) achieved from the second month—in some cases exceeded by up to 10%
The solution
Bosch Service Solutions took a holistic service design approach. At the start of the project, our team analyzed the numerous service and customer requirements together with the client. We redesigned 125 individual processes and documented them step by step. We then used this as a basis to design and develop an intelligent IT solution. The project is divided into the following components, all of which pursue the overarching common vision of offering excellent customer service with a high degree of self-service.
Since more than 90 percent of requests are received by phone, we agreed with our client that this is where the greatest potential for improving customer service lies. It was decided that a technical Self Service solution should be used for the automated handling of simple cases.
We have developed a voice bot whose voice recognition is based on Natural Language Processing (NLP). For the person calling, there is the feeling of speaking to a human being, since the bot can interpret and understand not only the words but also their context.
As a basis for this digital assistance, we have developed a complex decision tree. While assisting the caller, the voice bot can independently initiate multiple requests in the linked CRM system to access the necessary information and then make decisions.
The bot also documents all information received from the customer in the CRM system. In concrete terms, this means that the voice bot first answers all calls and the callers describe the reason for contacting them in their own words.
Based on the integration with the CRM system, the bot checks which customers are involved and, for example, which services are covered by the associated contract. In practice, this procedure offers numerous levels of automated assistance up to final processing of the request by the voice bot.
Bosch Service Solutions had to implement a new CRM system from scratch. On the one hand, the tool needed to contain and manage all relevant details for services according to customer requirements. On the other hand, the system also had to remain "lean" enough to ensure easy everyday handling and to keep costs under control.
We have met these demands with a tailored CRM system. All relevant information for service provision is now available via a single, easy-to-use interface where it can be saved and managed.
To ensure that the customer history is as complete as possible, the details determined by the voice bot are also stored centrally in the CRM system. This technical integration ensures that—if necessary—customer service staff can take over seamlessly and that callers don't have to repeat themselves.
- Automatic confirmation: A driver needs information about the next available workshop while on the road. The voice bot then sends an automated SMS with a link to the location via Google Maps.
- Initiation of downstream processes: The digital assistant collects relevant information from the caller and transmits it to the CRM system. As a result, authorization for additional drivers or confirmation for the use of vehicles abroad are then created, for example.
- Forwarding to service experts: The bot recognizes cases that cannot be handled by means of Self Service. The bot categorizes the request and forwards the call to the service team trained to handle the respective issue. All information transmitted during the call is available to customer service. The preparatory work done by the bot ensures that the service staff always have an overview so that they can provide prompt and targeted assistance.
- Categorization of customers: The voice bot recognizes which customer category the caller belongs to. For example, VIP customers are always forwarded to a service expert for personal handling of their request.
The project is completed with dynamic reporting. Important key figures—such as the call volume, the proportion of requests handled automatically by the bot, and the average handling time—can be tracked in real time via the dashboard. The client thus receives transparent insights into service quality.
"Our client was aware of the complex, technical challenge and had concerns as to whether our team would be able to meet their demands in such a short time. But our tailored solution, automation elements, fast implementation, and reliable service quality have convinced them right down the line."
The outcome
In the short time since takeover of the service by Bosch and the associated integration of voice bot, new CRM system, and dynamic reporting, the results are already impressive.
- Almost half of all calls are automated: Less than a week after going live, the voice bot was able to handle the majority of the cases received by phone.
- Interaction time halved: The average duration of the interaction between the caller and the voice bot is only half of the time it took the previous solution to communicate with the IVR system.
- Efficient processes: Thanks to improved and standardized workflows in customer service, efficiency has increased by 35 percent in the project period to date.
- Improved user experience: For users, the new IT solution delivers greater convenience and a high level of satisfaction. This improvement is also reflected in the Net Promoter Score, which we met from the second month after going live and in some cases exceeded by up to 10 percent.
- Increased transparency: The most important key figures from customer service are available online at any time as reports. Our client can monitor the service quality we provide in real time.
For the service team, use of the Self Service solution delivers high added value. The majority of issues can be handled in this way and the remaining cases can be categorized. This allows customer service to focus on personal support and more value-adding tasks.
The fast handling of requests coupled with high service quality contribute to user satisfaction and strengthen trust in our customer's brand. In addition, our client can use our solution to underscore their positioning as an innovative, technology-oriented provider.
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