Speeding information to BMW dealers
Content management software is helping BMW Group Switzerland accelerate personalized, real-time information about products, services, prices and events to its dealers countrywide.
The solution from Obtree was chosen because BMW Group Switzerland knew that its prior system of weekly mailers, brochures and representative visits was ineffective and inefficient. The company wanted a sportier system that could speed the delivery of information to its network of 138 automobile and motorcycle dealerships.
With the Obtree software, the company's information assets are centralized with a dealer extranet that can be updated in real time and used by non-technical employees. The flexible platform ensures that dealerships receive information that corresponds directly with the cars and motorcycles on the showroom floor.
The solution allows dealers to specify what information can be seen by which employee—for example, delivering marketing materials solely to members of the sales department, and technical specifications and support documents only to mechanics. That enhanced personalization eliminates the chance that information will be sent to the wrong dealership or to the wrong individual, and ensures higher quality customer service, according to a recent press release from Obtree.
"With the help of Obtree's content management offerings, we're now able to provide instant access to the information needed by dealers, mechanics and sales associates to provide the quality service our customers expect," says Roland Kohler, who is in charge of e-commerce and the Internet at BMW Group Switzerland. "The extranet is available round-the-clock and informs each dealer only about the products and services they actually offer. In this way, we ensure that our partners aren't overwhelmed with irrelevant information while important information is passed over."
The solution also is said to enable non-technical authors to create pages using predefined layout templates, simplifying the Web publishing process. More than 500 people use the solution daily, and all authors are empowered to publish information without calling on IT specialists or the Webmasters, while maintaining the look and feel of the BMW brand. The streamlined communications process also saves money, according to the press release.