ASIAN PAINTS GAINING A 360-DEGREE VIEW OF THE CUSTOMER
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Asian Paints
Gaining a 360-Degree View of
the Customer
“We don’t paint walls, we style them.” That catchy slogan describes
a key business initiative launched several years ago by Asian Paints
Limited, India’s largest paint company. Instead of simply manufacturing
decorative coatings, the company is increasing customer satisfaction
and boosting sales by engaging with customers, dealers, and other
partners to provide complete home painting solutions. To achieve the
necessary 360-degree view of all stakeholders, Asian Paints chose
the SAP® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application
to integrate customer-facing processes.
SAP Business Transformation Study
Superior Customer Value
Content 3 Asian Paints 4 Key Challenges 5 Why SAP Was Selected 6 Implementation Process and Best Practices 7 Strong Governance and Project Management 8 Business Process Transformation and Value Realized 10 Future Road Map 11 Lessons Learned
Asian Paints
Gaining a 360-Degree View of
the Customer
Quick facts
Industry Key Challenges Why SAP Was Selected
Consumer products • Gain visibility of relevant customer data • Unified view of stakeholder information
• Increase opportunities for cross-selling • Enhanced user experience
Revenue and up-selling • Comprehensive functionality
US$1.1 billion • Reduce time needed to configure cus- • The company’s positive experience with
tomer relationship management (CRM) SAP® solutions and services
Employees functionality • Close support from SAP Ramp-Up
5,000 (worldwide) • Simplify user interfaces and workflows program
• Integrate call center processes
Headquarters
• Provide enhanced support to dealers
Mumbai, India
Web Site
Implementation Best Practices Low Total Cost of Ownership
www.asianpaints.com
• Ensured success with meticulous • Accelerated implementation via SAP
SAP® Solutions and Services planning Ramp-Up process
SAP® Customer Relationship Manage- • Used a phased implementation approach • Decreased training demands on IT staff
ment application (functionality for • Ran training programs for end users by 25%
marketing, interaction center, sales, • Worked closely with SAP Labs locations • Reduced time needed to roll out function-
service, and partner channel manage- in Singapore, India, and Germany ality by 20%
ment), SAP Ramp-Up program
Implementation Partners Financial and Strategic Benefits Operational Benefits
Mahindra IT Consulting Pvt. Ltd., a unit • Increased efficiency of sales, prospect- • Integrated telephony and IT systems
of Mahindra & Mahindra Group; SAP ing, and service processes • Improved lead gathering and
Consulting • Gained a comprehensive, 360-degree management
view of partner and customer information • Launched high-quality complaint
• Motivated and empowered call center management system
With offices in 19 countries and personnel • Boosted end-user productivity
27 manufacturing facilities world- • Created a framework for launching and • Reduced time needed to resolve customer
managing marketing initiatives complaints by 35% to 40% versus manual
wide, Asian Paints Limited • Improved customer and partner systems
satisfaction
serves consumers in more than • Increased the value of IT systems for the
65 countries. The company business community
deepens ties with end consum-
ers by providing complete paint-
ing services instead of just
selling paint. To enhance this
end-to-end service model,
the company chose the SAP®
Customer Relationship Manage-
ment application.
SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian Paints 3
Key Challenges
Building a Better Service Model
Asian Paints Limited is a highly successful manufacturer of decora- Reaching the Limit
tive and industrial paints. As the largest paint company in India – and One barrier that prevented Asian Paints
the third largest in Asia – it has achieved enviable growth by building from developing a more complete view
of the customer was the lack of integra-
a formidable presence in emerging markets. One of Asian Paints’ tion between the company’s telephony
most successful initiatives has been the development of a service system and its CRM application. The
goal: to give each agent immediate
brand – Asian Paints Home Solutions. access to all relevant customer informa
tion as soon as a call comes in to a ser
With this offering, the company re- Putting the Pieces Together vice center. “We want our agents to be
moves much of the anxiety and legwork two or three steps ahead of the cus-
from the home painting process, giving While this blended IT approach worked tomer so they can get a head start on
consumers access to hassle-free pro- well, Asian Paints recently concluded resolving a complaint or suggesting a
fessional services, style consultations, that the system needed to be upgraded product,” says Deepak Bhosale. “With
color recommendations, and even free in order to enhance the business pro- our old software, this was not possible.”
samples. The offering combines all the cesses supporting the Asian Paints
professional services that a customer Home Solutions offering. At that time, Asian Paints also wanted to reduce
might need in the course of painting a the company was launching a number the amount of time needed to configure
home. In addition to end consumers, of imaginative sales and marketing pro- CRM functionality such as complaint
major stakeholders in the Asian Paints grams. For example, after obtaining a resolution or loyalty program manage-
Home Solutions offering include interior digital photograph of a customer’s ment. In addition, because some end
decorators, contractors, and retailers. home, Asian Paints would provide three users found the screens and navigation
different pictures showing how the resi- tools somewhat hard to master, Deepak
Each of these stakeholders has differ- dence would look if painted according Bhosale and his team were spending
ent needs and different ways of con- to suggested color schemes. too much time training end users – at
necting and communicating with Asian the expense of more vital IT projects.
Paints. To manage this complex net- However, the sales leads and customer
work, the company had been using an data gathered from these and other in- Realizing a New Vision
early version of the SAP® Customer teractions arrived via many different
Relationship Management (SAP CRM) channels – Web, e-mail, telephone – To overcome these challenges – and to
application plus a custom-tailored and were stored in many different reduce IT-related costs – Asian Paints
composite solution built on the SAP places. “We needed CRM software concluded that it needed an enhanced
NetWeaver® technology platform. The that would allow us to manage multiple CRM platform. It wanted an application
custom-built solution supported deliv- engagements with customers and that was easier to use, easier to con
ery tasks associated with painting jobs – other stakeholders,” says Deepak figure, and capable of giving business
including appointment scheduling, Bhosale, chief manager of IT at Asian users the information they needed to
ordering, billing, and reporting. The Paints. “We were looking for an appli- improve marketing, sales, and service
prior release of SAP CRM supported cation that would help us consolidate efforts. To bring about this transfor
Asian Paints’ call center, enabling acti all the important information, bring it mation, Asian Paints selected a new
vity management, lead management, into one platform, and give us a release of the SAP Customer Relation-
and other customer-oriented processes. 360-degree view.” ship Management application.
4 SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian Paints
Why SAP Was Selected
Migrating to Robust, Scalable
CRM Software
As a long-time user of SAP software, Leveraging New Functionality communications hardware and makes it
Asian Paints was well aware of the ad- possible to integrate SAP CRM with te-
vantages of SAP applications and tech- Asian Paints also found that the new lephony systems. This gives sales and
nology. The company regards its highly release of SAP CRM included a num- service personnel access to computer-
capable IT organization as a competi- ber of features and functions that could based customer information as soon as
tive advantage and views SAP as the help the company become more agile a telephone call comes in.
solution provider of choice – consider- and efficient. Powered by the SAP
ing non-SAP software only under very NetWeaver technology platform, SAP Improving User Productivity
specific circumstances. In addition to a business applications like SAP CRM
prior version of SAP CRM, the compa- enable companies to take full advan- Finally, Asian Paints felt that the new
ny had been using the SAP ERP appli- tage of prebuilt enterprise services release of SAP CRM was considerably
cation to support financials, procure- when modifying or enhancing business easier for end users to learn and mas-
ment, supply chain management, and processes. “We can just pick up enter- ter. With role-oriented interfaces and
other key processes. Asian Paints also prise services and use them,” says improved screen layouts, the software
uses SAP NetWeaver to solve integra- Deepak Bhosale. “We don’t need to could help increase user productivity
tion issues and support custom devel- build them ourselves.” and reduce training duties for IT per-
opment – including the composite appli- sonnel. Equally important, Deepak
cation the company built to manage Asian Paints was also impressed by the Bhosale and his team concluded that
sales delivery processes for the Asian CRM software’s ability to support real- the newer SAP CRM application would
Paints Home Solutions service. time offer management, enabling sales be much easier to configure. “With the
new SAP CRM application, it takes us
With a strong preference for SAP soft- much less time to add or enhance func-
ware and the need for a more robust “We saw immediately that SAP CRM tionality and set it rolling,” says Deepak
and comprehensive CRM application, Bhosale. “This results in much lower
was capable of giving us a 360-degree
Asian Paints began evaluating the lat- IT costs.”
est version of SAP CRM long before view of our stakeholders. This came
the product was available for general
across very strongly.”
release. In a meeting with developers
at SAP Labs location in Bangalore, Deepak Bhosale, Chief Manager – IT,
India, Deepak Bhosale and his IT team Asian Paints Limited
previewed the improvements being
planned and concluded that the new
release would have the features and reps to suggest relevant products or
functionality their company needed. services based on specific customer
“We saw immediately that SAP CRM preferences or experiences. Another
was capable of giving us a 360-degree plus: tools for business communica-
view of our stakeholders,” says tions management. The Internet proto-
Deepak Bhosale. “This came across col–based functionality built into SAP
very strongly.” CRM eliminates the need for costly
SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian Paints 5
Implementation Process and
Best Practices
PUTTING THE PIECES IN PLACE
Asian Paints used a two-step, phased “Currently, we have approximately 25 locations running SAP CRM.
approach to implement the new release
of SAP CRM. First, it ported existing
We expect that number to grow by 15% every year for the foreseeable future.”
CRM functionality – including service, Deepak Bhosale, Chief Manager – IT, Asian Paints Limited
sales, and partner channel manage-
ment – to the new release over a three-
month time period. Then, after a short Providing First-User Advantage Setting the Stage for Success
pause for evaluation and stabilization,
the company configured the application As the first company in India to use the In addition to meticulous planning,
to support additional customer service new version of SAP CRM, Asian Paints strong leadership, and the SAP Ramp-
processes. This interval, too, lasted took full advantage of the SAP Ramp- Up program, Asian Paints leveraged a
approximately three months. Mahindra Up program, which provides direct links number of best practices to add value
IT Consulting Pvt. Ltd. and SAP Con- to the SAP development organization. to the implementation process. First,
sulting provided close support during With expedited treatment of error mes- end users were encouraged to stay in-
each phase of the implementation. sages, early training of key users, volved throughout the project, which
ramp-up coaching, and other services, helped mitigate change management
Leveraging the experience gained via the program helps early adopters re- issues. Second, Deepak Bhosale and
numerous implementations of SAP duce the cost, time, and risk of imple- his IT team used the SAP NetWeaver
software, the company assembled a mentation. “We had our share of chal- Master Data Management component
team of business and IT experts to help lenges,” says Deepak Bhosale, “but to cleanse and harmonize master data
ensure that the application met strate- the SAP support team gave us very before transferring it to the new envi-
gic and technical requirements. With high priority, and we got answers al- ronment. This initiative boosted overall
Deepak Bhosale as project manager, most overnight.” data quality significantly while also pav-
the six-person Asian Paints implemen- ing the way for more accurate report-
tation team also included two functional Aided by a direct pipeline to SAP Labs ing. Finally, the IT team conducted de-
consultants and three technical consul- in Mumbai, Singapore, and Germany, tailed integration testing, thoroughly
tants. Aided by up-front user training, Asian Paints was able to tap into a re- vetting the connections between the
a meticulous implementation plan, and sponsive network of development ex- new CRM application and Asian Paints’
close support from its implementation perts. If a glitch arose within the Asian other SAP and non-SAP software. As
partners, the company adhered to the Paints IT landscape, SAP developers a result, Asian Paints was able to suc-
project timeline without major delays. would test and resolve the problem us- cessfully implement SAP CRM using
ing similar implementations running at a “big bang” approach – with all pro-
their labs. “The SAP developers were cesses going live at the same time.
particularly proactive with our CRM
deployment,” says Deepak Bhosale.
“Experts from many different countries
worked around the clock to come up
with solutions.”
6 SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian PaintsStrong Governance and
Project Management
STAYING ON COURSE
To ensure a smooth implementation Training the Trainers “From an IT perspective, with SAP
and transition, Asian Paints assembled CRM we know that development
a steering committee to oversee the Training played a key role in Asian
migration to the newest release of SAP Paints’ project management efforts. cycles will be shorter, costs will be
CRM. The committee included repre- One unique approach for educating and lower, and the value of what we
sentatives from both business and IT motivating end users was a series of
organizations, all of whom had a promi- contests that created awareness and offer to the business will be higher.”
nent stake in the processes supported excitement about the new release. The Deepak Bhosale, Chief Manager – IT,
by the software. The steering commit- company also took pains to get super Asian Paints Limited
tee met every 45 days to assess prog- users involved early in the implementa-
ress, review new developments, and tion cycle. As a result, these tech-
help the hands-on project team make savvy leaders were well equipped to
key decisions. train members of their respective teams.
As part of its overall project manage-
ment approach, Asian Paints also circu- Architecture
lated a weekly progress report to all SAP® applications SAP CRM
stakeholders. This memo included an Number of users 200
account of progress made against Number of locations 25
plans, reasons – and corrective actions –
Number of SAP instances 1
for deviations, risk mitigation plans, and
Database Oracle
a review of quality issues.
Operating system Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Hardware HCL, Dell, HP laptops
Interactive tutorials, supplied by SAP,
also helped users get up to speed
quickly with the new screens and work-
flows. Finally, Asian Paints established
an evaluation process – not unlike a
proficiency exam – to ensure that all
users achieved a minimum level of
proficiency.
SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian Paints 7Business Process Transformation and
Value Realized
BUILDING STRONGER, DEEPER RELATIONSHIPS
WITH STAKEHOLDERS
With SAP CRM, Asian Paints now has Adding Functionality to Build Leveraging IT Resources
the tools it needs to improve the quality Stronger Ties
of all interactions between the compa- Asian Paints’ IT organization is also real-
ny and its many stakeholders. The soft- After porting existing functionality to izing substantial benefits with the new
ware serves as a powerful, scalable the new release of SAP CRM, Asian SAP CRM application. Working closely
platform that allows business users to Paints turned its focus to configuring with business leaders, the company’s IT
capture, consolidate, and present rele- the application to support improved experts now find it considerably easier to
vant information in a format that meets complaint management processes. map processes and modify workflows.
their unique needs. The goal: to track progress from the Previously, configuring CRM software
time of an initial complaint until the to support a complex business sce
Making Each Interaction Count problem has been resolved. As part of nario such as lead management – which
this effort, the company integrated the depends on an intricate matrix of steps
After implementing the latest release software with Asian Paints’ e-mail and and outcomes – might have taken up to
of SAP CRM, Asian Paints was able to mobile-phone text-messaging gate- four months. Now, that interval can be
make substantial improvements in sev- ways, boosting the overall responsive- reduced by as much as 20%, depending
eral key areas. Perhaps the most im- ness and efficiency of complaint- on the complexity of the initiative.
portant benefit was a new-found ability handling activities. In addition to
to improve the quality of customer- providing better visibility, the software IT personnel are also spending much
oriented activities. According to also helps Asian Paints take the steps less time training end users, due to the
Deepak Bhosale, the phrase “custom- needed to fix problems, routing excep- simplified interfaces and more intuitive
er relationship” has taken on a new tions to appropriate manufacturing, functionality of the new CRM release.
meaning. “We are now able to have a technology, or marketing teams. “Until recently, we had to call people
quality conversation with any given cus- “Asian Paints has very aggressive time- into our office for two days of training
tomer,” he says. “We don’t have to go lines for closing complaints,” says before letting them go back and inter-
into two or three different systems in or- Deepak Bhosale. “SAP CRM allows us act with customers,” says Deepak
der to fashion a response.” to route complaints efficiently until they Bhosale. “Now we handle this training in
get resolved.” a matter of hours.” Ease of use is also
Despite the fact that Asian Paints helping to increase productivity and re-
serves millions of customers, SAP CRM The software also helps Asian Paints duce training time for members of Asian
enables the company to maintain a per- manage service-level agreements Paints’ diverse partner universe. This
sonalized relationship with each of them. (SLAs) with the dealers who play such ecosystem includes a vast array of con-
Using the software, customer service an important role in the company’s suc- tractors, dealers, designers, and many
personnel know exactly why a customer cess. The company provides tinting other partners – few of whom are com-
is calling as soon as a call comes in to machines for approximately 12,000 of fortable with complex screens and
a service facility. If a complaint needs to these channel partners, maintaining the menus.
be handled, staffers can see what prog- equipment in accordance with service-
ress has been made toward resolution. level commitments. SAP CRM allows With less time spent on training and
The software also displays a list of past Asian Paints to capture complaints configuration projects, Deepak Bhosale
interactions, giving call center personnel related to the machines and route them and his IT team are able to focus on
an accurate picture of each customer’s up an escalation matrix. Even though promising activities that will yield sub-
habits, preferences, and history. “Having the equipment is highly complex – and stantial dividends for Asian Paints. “We
all the customer information in one must be serviced by multiple vendors – can now take on many more initiatives
place is very important,” says Deepak the CRM application helps Asian Paints that will increase the quality and value
Bhosale. “It makes our customers coordinate relevant stakeholders and of our overall contribution to the
aware that we value their business and ensure adherence to service guidelines. business.”
understand their issues.”
8 SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian PaintsProcess Area Challenges Results after SAP® Software KPI Impact
Customer complaint handling Inability to easily track com- Transparent view of complaint Faster complaint resolution
plaint status status for all stakeholders (by 35% to 50%) in compari-
son to manual systems
Limited scalability, hindering Scalable complaint-handling
efforts to roll out complaint- processes Ability to disseminate com-
handling processes regionally plaint status information to
stakeholders 3 times faster
Lack of built-in business intel-
ligence functionality Integrated analytics Greater process efficiency
Dealer complaint handling Inability to manage multiple Automatic routing of com- Improved complaint resolution
vendor relationships plaints to appropriate vendor
without manual intervention Increase in dealer loyalty and
satisfaction
No easy way to monitor Visible and accessible SLA
service-level agreements data Better adherence to SLA
(SLAs) guidelines
Ability to track asset inventory
Inability to manage dealer Better maintenance of dealer
asset inventory efficiently Support for all 10,000 dealers, equipment
due to scalable functionality
Software deployment Long turnaround times (up to 3 Less time spent on Shorter development cycles
to 4 months needed to config- configurations (by 20%)
ure functionality)
Faster deployments; easy inte- Reduced IT costs
Too much time needed to train gration with other applications
end users Increase in end-user productiv-
Simple, more intuitive user ity and motivation
interfaces
More time for IT personnel to
spend on added-value tasks
Customer experience Cumbersome sales and Visibility of customer data, Greater customer satisfaction
service processes, affecting improving interactions
customer satisfaction
Ability to resolve customer Improved response to up-sell
issues more rapidly, due to and cross-sell offerings
fast-loading user interfaces
Improved call center respon- Increase in call center produc-
siveness and efficiency tivity (by 20% to 30%) with
better user interface
SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian Paints 9Future Road Map
Managing All Customer
Interactions
Asian Paints views the latest release SAP CRM allows us to see them as a company intends to deploy an offer-
of SAP CRM as a platform that will ulti- single entity,” says Deepak Bhosale. management tool that makes recom-
mately support all customer activities “That helps us develop strategies mendations based on relevant cus-
and interactions, including those that that are personalized, targeted, and tomer information. The tool, which
successful.” uses optimization analytics, will sup-
port up-sell and cross-sell activities.
“Even when customers engage with As part of the drive to create innovative • Dealer Internet sales – To boost
us via multiple channels and request strategies using the SAP Customer sales for its 25,000 dealers, Asian
Relationship Management application, Paints is currently building a portal
multiple services, SAP CRM allows us Asian Paints is working on the following that will help these channel partners
to see them as a single entity. That initiatives: manage sales, marketing, ordering,
• Loyalty management – Asian Paints and fulfillment processes.
helps us develop strategies that are works closely with dealers, contrac-
personalized, targeted, and successful.” tors, painters, interior designers, and
architects to promote its services
Deepak Bhosale, Chief Manager – IT,
and offerings. Currently, the compa-
Asian Paints Limited
ny intends to use the new release
of SAP CRM to manage the diverse
are currently managed with the custom- loyalty programs that reward and
built solution. As it works toward this motivate these partners.
goal, the company is confident that • Real-time offer management – At
SAP CRM will help Asian Paints im- any given time, Asian Paints runs
prove operational efficiencies and a multitude of special offerings and
sharpen its strategic edge. “Even when promotions. To help agents and deal-
customers engage with us via multiple ers make informed decisions about
channels and request multiple services, which product or service to offer, the
10 SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian PaintsLessons Learned
Ensuring long-Term Growth
With the implementation of SAP CRM,
Create a clear customer relationship • Understanding project objectives and
Asian Paints has honed processes,
management vision and strategy tactics helps all team members work
strengthened ties with business part-
toward a common goal.
ners, and achieved new levels of
• A well-designed road map allows IT
customer satisfaction. Building on
and business personnel to model more
early successes, the company intends
effective processes.
to use the software as a platform for
extending its brand and ensuring long- Understand processes first, technology • Maintaining a focus on customer-facing
term growth. The following table sum- second processes, rather than software, keeps
marizes key lessons learned from this customers at the center of the equation.
project. • A process-driven approach helps team
members understand synergies and
interdependencies.
• A review of best practices–based func
tionality offered within the SAP Customer
Relationship Management application can
lead to optimized configuration.
Pay close attention to data migration issues • An analysis of data structures of both
the former and new release helps ensure
a smooth transition.
• A data migration strategy must be a
part of a company’s overall vision and
road map.
SAP Business Transformation Study – Asian Paints 11www.sap.com /contactsap 50 083 990 (09/12) ©2009 by SAP AG. All rights reserved. SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, SAP Business ByDesign, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries. Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and other Business Objects products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. in the United States and in other countries. Business Objects is an SAP company. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary. These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies (“SAP Group”) for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
You can also read
