Saar: The basic idea is to smoothen the sales and after-sales experience on a pan-India level.

In today’s time and age, delivering an old-school sales or after-sales experience doesn’t help in injecting the potential customers with confidence. And if you want to survive in a challenging and booming market like India, you need to keep reinventing yourself. That’s what the Indian arm of the German carmaker Volkswagen is trying to do. In a bid to smoothen the sales and after-sales experience, the Polo-maker has launched something called ‘Digital Workplace Experience’.

In a press release, Steffen Knapp, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said:

“People are at the centre of Volkswagen’s business and with the Digital Workplace initiative, we aim to enhance the sales and after-sales processes as well as digitalize the customer buying experience. As the country moves a step forward with the Digitalize India campaign, this is yet another enterprise to fully integrate our dealerships and provide a premium user experience. It is our endeavour to offer our customers, all of Volkswagen’s services at the comfort and convenience of their homes.”

So, what is it exactly? The automaker has equipped all of its 121 dealerships across 104 cities with tablet computers along with a pre-installed Digital Workplace application. How will the application help in improving the sales experience? Instead of only verbally explaining the product and comparing it with the competition, the sales representative can show a vehicle presentation with a 360-degree view of the interior and exterior and also play videos regarding the product in question. Additionally, the tablet computer can be used to put the product against the competition, explore financing options and also register test-drives. Customers will even get to customise their chosen vehicle with all the available options.

On the after-sales side of things, the same application allows technicians at the workshop to showcase and explain customers the repair or service work required for their vehicle. Moreover, customers will also receive timely updates via SMS right from the time the vehicle entered the workshop until it has gone through all the required repairs or service. The application will also allow customers to opt for vehicle drop-off service.

A few days ago, Volkswagen India issued a voluntary recall for three of its models – the Jetta 1.4 TSI and the 1.5-litre diesel MT versions of the Vento and Polo GT.