Industry overview
What is shaping automotive
The automotive market spans cars, two-wheelers, commercial vehicles and a fast-growing EV segment. Buyers research online but still decide at the dealership, and mechanics shape the aftermarket.
- EV adoption is moving from early adopters to the mainstream
- Online research shapes the shortlist before the showroom visit
- Independent mechanics drive aftermarket brand choices
Client background
A multi-brand automobile dealer group, working in Maharashtra. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A multi-brand automobile dealer group
- Sector
- Automotive
- Team engaged
- IT & Development
- Services
- CRM development, WhatsApp marketing, Lead generation
Client challenge
Enquiries arrived from walk-ins, calls, websites and social media, but many were never followed up. Managers had no visibility of the pipeline.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: a CRM to stop losing showroom enquiries.
- Design around the real needs of sales staff.
- Define requirements and success criteria the solution would be tested against.
- Deliver a reliable, secure solution the team can run and extend.
Target audience
The work focused on 120 sales staff.
- sales staff120
Audiences we typically reach in automotive
Car and two-wheeler buyersVehicle ownersDealers and sales staffMechanics and workshopsFleet operators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Maharashtra. Market: India. 9 showrooms covered.
- India
Research methodology
An iterative delivery approach: discovery, design, build and test in short cycles, with the client reviewing each step.
- 1Brief
- 2Lead process mapping
- 3CRM and WhatsApp integration
- 4Insight
We mapped the enquiry process and set up a CRM capturing leads from every source, with automatic assignment, follow-up reminders and WhatsApp templates for test drive confirmations.
CRM developmentWhatsApp marketingLead generation
Sampling strategy
- sales staff
- 120
- Users and stakeholders from every affected team took part in discovery workshops and acceptance testing.
Data collection
- Requirements were gathered through workshops, process walk-throughs and a review of existing systems and data.
Data quality & validation
- Peer code review on every change
- Automated and manual testing
- User-acceptance testing with the client
- Release checklist and rollback plan
Data analysis
- Usage and performance monitoring after launch
- Defect and support-ticket trends
- Process time before and after
Key findings
- Every enquiry now has an owner and a follow-up date, and managers review pipeline by showroom weekly.
Visibility of follow-ups changed behaviour more than training alone.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: visibility of follow-ups changed behaviour more than training alone.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: every enquiry now has an owner and a follow-up date, and managers review pipeline by showroom weekly.
Business impact
- Unattended leads became visible and fell sharply.
Deliverables & next steps
- Deployed solution with documentation and handover
- Support and maintenance plan
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do buyers build their shortlist?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.