Alexa-based Voice Assistant for Automotive Sales Agents

Business challenge

Our client is a globally recognized automotive retail company offering replacement parts for vehicles and commercial truck services in 25 countries. With more than 1,000 service centers, the company provides regular service to millions of customers.

Our client’s existing workflow — interacting with a desktop-based CRM to acquire customer information, plan the daily workload, and enrich customer lists — was time-consuming and error-prone. To boost their sales processes, our client needed a tool to help sales agents comb through the customer database and engage with customers on the go. They opted for Alexa integration voice technology to establish rapid hands-free access to customer lists and optimize sales outreach.

With outstanding experience in both the automotive and retail industries accompanied by proven expertise in voice assistant applications, Intellias was selected to guide the technical implementation of this solution.

Solution delivered

To offer the most advantageous technical implementation, we started the project with a thorough analysis of our client’s vision and the daily activities of our client’s sales team. As the user experience was a major focus of the project, our primary objective was to develop a solution that would enable hands-free interaction with the corporate CRM for sales agents while commuting or reaching their next meeting. With the help of Amazon Alexa integration, we managed to implement a bespoke voice-controlled experience in the shortest time possible.

The Intellias team enriched the standard Alexa Skills Kit with custom commands, allowing sales agents to access the corporate CRM using a smart speaker or mobile application. The solution we offered assists with two main functions:

• Managing the customer database

To ensure data integrity and timely data actualization, sales agents can create new customer profiles or enrich existing profiles on the go. So as not to lose any information — even if it isn’t connected to a customer’s profile — we implemented an essential feature for taking voice notes.

• Planning sales activities

Our solution gives sales agents more agility in their daily activities. With functionality for creating and editing meetings while out of the office, the sales team is able to effectively adjust to customers’ schedules, promptly change their priorities for daily activities, and respond in a timely manner to the most important requests.

Business outcome

Using voice technology, we presented our client with a new channel to interact with their customers. Our innovation team performed a voice assistant app integration and released the MVP localized in three languages. Currently, the solution is undergoing field testing by sales teams in the UK and Germany and is showing promising results, increasing the efficiency of sales staff.

• By securing easy and effortless access by the sales team to CRM data, the solution ensures that sales agents no longer have to question the validity of their sales data.
• Anywhere access to the CRM reduces risks associated with delayed responses to changes in customers’ needs.
• Hands-free access to the CRM facilitates the entering of sales data and planning of daily activities, allowing more time for sales agents to work with customers.

With the aim of transforming sales processes to make them even more customer-oriented, the next project milestones will include developing advanced analytics and reporting features based on machine learning technology so sales agents can respond swiftly and appropriately to customers’ needs.