Audi of America wants to be known as the No. 1 luxury automaker in the U.S. and announced last month that it’s investing $5 billion in the next three years to expand and update its showrooms to help boost the brand’s presence in North America. What’s more, Audi of America has redefined its customer experience that has impacted employee and customer loyalty.
Jeri Ward, Director of Customer Experience for Audi of America, discussed her company’s commitment to customer experience on Tuesday during the Forrester Research Forum for Customer Experience Professionals East 2013 at the New York Marriott Marquis.
Customer experience has always been a core focus of the Audi brand and its employees and dealers live by the philosophy “Kundenbegeisterung,” which translated means “inspiring customer delight.” Ward said in the spring of 2010 that customer experience became an absolute priority for Audi of America because at the time the brand exhibited sales growth driven by new products, significant improvements in the dealer network and facilities, and increased demand.
It became important that customers felt that same experience as well, Ward said.
“We had to redefine the employee experience before we redefined our customer experience,” she said. “We had to win over the hearts and minds of our employees.”
Every employee had to feel like they were part of a shared mission of customer delight for the brand, Ward explained.
“We wanted to instill passion in them for what they do each and every day,” she said.
Audi’s motto became: “Creating Audi Fans.” As a result, Audi executives traveled around the U.S. and spoke to Audi employees passionately to inspire a sense of ownership in the brand that, in turn, would lead to personal connections with customers.
“We felt that it was important to keep going because our competition wasn’t sitting still, our employees aren’t waiting, and our customers aren’t waiting,” Ward said. “We brought everyone together in one place and we took this emotional first step. Creating Audi fans is our mission from this point forward.”
Ward offered some sparkling statistics to support the brand’s push toward employee and customer loyalty. From 2006-2012, Audi of America experienced a 26% increase in brand awareness; and loyalty increased from 40% in 2009 to 47.5% in the first quarter of 2013. What’s more, Audi has recorded 29 straight months of record sales.
The “Creating Audi Fans” program just launched last fall. After its U.S. tour, Audi also hosted Leadership Workshops -- seminars attended by nearly 300 representatives in leadership roles from 264 dealerships. These seminars focused on understanding the Audi customer and developing action plans for each dealership to become more customer-centric on enhancing Audi signature experiences and exceeding customer expectations.
Audi of America plans to host ongoing “Living the Experience” sessions for its dealership employees to maintain and instill the brand mission.