ISSUE 01/2002
CONTENT
E-Class: Convincing
on all fronts
CRM: A new start
needs a new look
Inside
- New SL makes successful debut in
Switzerland
- MercedesCard introduced in France
- Vans and cars for mobility
- Working together to create a consistent
brand experience
- Decision on new CRM software
imminent
Outside News
Recommended
Reading
Glossary
Imprint
EVENT CALENDAR
The European Conference on
Customer Management
16 -17 April 2002, The Queen
Elizabeth II Centre, London
Topics:
• Customer Service Management
• CRM
• Contact Center Management
• Customer Support Management
• eCustomer Management
continued on page 2 & 3
E-CLASS: CONVINCING
ON ALL FRONTS
p. 1
With the new E-Class Mercedes-Benz is once again setting
standards in the automotive world. This not only applies in terms
p. 1 of car manufacturing, but also in Customer Relationship
p. 2/3 Management and integrated communications.
The current CRM campaign is part of an integrated communi-
cations concept and links for the E-Class strategic important
online and traditional off-line channels. Depending on the target Dr. Andreas Roggon
group the communication flow varies and covers the phases of
identification, invitation/offer and follow up. Due to the high level EDITORIAL
of customer loyalty in the E-Class segment, the focus is set on
existing customers. These are specifically targeted with mailshots The decision to buy a
and online information. Potential Mercedes-Benz vehicle is a
p. 4 buyers and competitive drivers very conscious one. In addi-
who respond online or to the off- tion to the product itself, the
line campaigns then receive special brand also plays a central
p. 4 mailings and invitations to dealer role in decision-making.
events and test drives. Due to the Customers' and potential
p. 4 high proportion of business buyers' perception of the
p. 4 customers, a special contact Mercedes-Benz brand is
package has been designed first determined by an array of
time for gatekeepers of large and factors.
medium-sized companies (decision-makers who control the distr- As always, the dealer still
ibution of information to and within purchasing teams). This plays a key role as the central
communication package covers telephone, mail and the Internet. link to the brand. But the
In December 2001, the MPCs received a first package of online customer also experiences
measures (Sales Release) and off-line tools such as mailings, invi- the Mercedes-Benz brand by
tations and brochures. The second online package (Sales Launch) means of the Internet, dialog-
will be released end of February. based programs or the CAC.
For all these channels, the
More info in intranet
crucial element is a
standardized and customized
approach. This ensures that all
CRM: A NEW START of the customer's experiences
can fit together like pieces of a
NEEDS A NEW LOOK puzzle. Our newsletter is also
part of this picture, supporting
New times need a new approach, and this also holds true for the this approach by providing
relaunch of the CRM at Mercedes-Benz. We have therefore given information about current
the old CRM look, the loop, a makeover. CRM projects from various
divisions and MPCs. Enjoy
Further information and your read!
download services regarding the
new look of CRM are available
on the Intranet at: intra-crm.daimlerchrysler.com. Here you can
also find a CRM presentation to download or read online which
offers basic information on all aspects of CRM at Mercedes-Benz.
More info in intranet: intra-crm.daimlerchrysler.com

CAC: READY FOR
THE FUTURE
The CAC’s Customer Service
department is taking steps to
enhance the quality of its
services and availability
(service level) for Mercedes-
Benz customers.
These steps have helped to
achieve the service level
agreements with the MPCs.
In the last six months of
2001, the Customer Service
staff handled 206,000
requests. Due to the
commitment of the staff, an
average service level of 84%
was achieved.
More info in intranet
EVENT CALENDAR
Call Center World 2002
“Fit for Profit – Fit for the
Future”
International Congress
Fair for Call Center and
Customer Management
26 February – 1 March
2002, Estrel Convention
Center, Berlin
Topics:
• Implementation of
strategic business
objectives such as
customer orientation,
customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty
• New concepts and tools
for financial controlling
• Professional call center
management
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INSIDE
NEW SL MAKES
SUCCESSFUL DEBUT IN SWITZERLAND
Keeping existing customers and gaining new ones for
the new SL roadster was the aim of a three-stage CRM
campaign from DaimlerChrysler Schweiz AG (DCCH).
The highlight of the campaign - the incredible new SL
itself. Adding to the excitement, DCCH chose watch
maker IWC and the fashion house of Oscar Rom as
marketing partners. These two high-end partners
enabled DCCH to broaden their reach and address
even more potential Mercedes-Benz customers.
The first stage of the campaign began in August when
customers received an introduction to the SL in the
mail. In stage two, selected customers and multipliers
from all three companies received invitations to exclu-
sive premier events throughout Switzerland. The
theme of these premier events was “Haute Couture
Meets High-Tech”. The various events, stage three of
MercedesCard INTRODUCED IN FRANCE
The key to a unique brand experience is being in-
troduced to the French market this month. The
MercedesCard will open doors for Mercedes-Benz
customers to a range of exclusive trips and exciting
Mercedes-Benz sponsored events. The MercedesCard
has no credit functionality, but offers card holders
access to exclusive activities and grants members
favorable package rates. This
card authorizes it’s holder to
take part in events such as:
a tour of the factory in
Bremen, where the all new
SL is produced, a golf
tournament in lovely Ireland,
a hot seat on the Formula1
track in Barcelona or a night
VANS AND CARS FOR MOBILITY
Having successfully completed its pilot projects, CRM
Vans has begun its European-wide acquisition
program. The DCVD is the first MPC to implement the
program, with the current plan being to bring in other
MPCs throughout the year.
The target groups for this DCVD acquisition program
are small companies with no more than ten em-
ployees from the construction, craft trades and
business sectors who have had no previous contact to
Mercedes-Benz. In this
campaign, the selected
companies will be targeted
simultaneously and
comprehensively for the
the campaign, took place between mid-October and
early November in Switzerland's eight most important
cities. At the events, the Oscar Rom fashion house
showed the spring collections of leading designers,
while the renowned watch manufacturer, IWC, showed
an attractive selection of watches. As expected,
though, the new SL was the biggest star at all the
events.
In total, some 5,000 guests attended the premier
events and the response from both the guests and the
press was very positive.
After the introduction of the SL by the Sales Director
of DCCH, many guests used the opportunity to talk
directly with representatives from the retail center and
DCCH – thus creating an individual dialog for all.
of music in the Semper Opera in Dresden; not to
mention exclusively organized events for Mercedes-
Benz customers. Twice a year, approximately 50,000
Mercedes-Benz customers will be informed about the
extensive range of exciting events.
The main objective of event management is to enrich
and expand the customer’s image of the Mercedes-
Benz brand and to create a VIP atmosphere for the
customer. This begins with the presentation of the
offered activities. To ensure that there is consistency
in presentation and that the affiliation with the
Mercedes-Benz brand is unmistakably conveyed, all
communications tools have a similar appearance.
More info in intranet
first time with regard to Mercedes-Benz cars and vans.
Potential buyers will be offered the option of requesting
further information on each of the two categories of
vehicle. This approach makes sense because the mobil-
ity requirements of small companies can vary greatly
depending on the type of business they do . Around
53,000 commercial addresses were targeted in an
initial mailshot in October 2001.
Around 140 retail businesses are participating in the
Germany-wide implementation of the campaign. The
second-stage mailshot took place in January 2002, with
the third planned for April 2002. Due to the positive
nature of the response so far, a further campaign is
planned for 2002, covering 100,000 addresses.
 EVENT CALENDAR
WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE A
The Customer
CONSISTENT BRAND EXPERIENCE Relationship Manager
Specialized, methodological
With the CRM Retail Strategy, Mercedes-Benz is important contact person for the customer and the and social competence for
responding to the increasing number of customer central link to the brand. If the retailer is not familiar professional practice
contact points and means of creating dialog. In addi- with the website or a mailing that a customer has
tion to personal contact with the dealer, the ways the seen, or if he designs his own marketing initiatives Seminar for prospective
customer comes into contact with the Mercedes- that are not in line with central CRM activities, the executives in the fields of
Benz brand include the following, to name but some: consistency of the brand experience is in danger. CRM, marketing and sales,
the Internet, CAC, the MercedesCard, and dialog- For this reason, the CRM Retail Strategy aims to customer service and CRM
based programs. Still, the retailer remains the most create a CRM partnership between the manufacturer project managers.
and the retail level. In the medium term, this strategy
Vision: creating a consistent brand experience for Mercedes-Benz
will be implemented using two sets of CRM Topics:
measures, obligatory and optional. Optional means • Fundamentals of CRM
HQ CAC
the retailers have a number of CRM activities which • Analytical and operative
Retail-Integration: The dealer they can chose from based on their specific market CRM
MPC Guidelines
Guidelines and
and  is informed about all CRM-Activities requirements. On the other hand, there are a number • Organization and people
Activities  is integrated (mandatory) in all
Activities
obligatory CRM-Activities
of obligatory measures which they must observe in • Financial controlling
 can execute individual and optional

CRM-Activities
order to ensure nation-wide consistency. This mid- • Project and change
Retail
Horizontal Process-
 has rights and duties
term strategy allows each level of the sales management
and Dataintegration
organization to act according to their respective core • Data protection and
Mandatory CRM-Activities
Optional CRM-Activities competencies. Thus everyone - customers, retailers competition law
Local Customer Contact at P.O.S.
Customer Vertical Dataexchange Retail/MPC, MPC/CAC and MPC as well as HQ - can benefit from the CRM
retail strategy. Dates:
26 – 28 February 2002,
Hamburg
DECISION ON NEW 12 – 14 March 2002,
Oberursel
CRM SOFTWARE IMMINENT 8 – 10 April 2002,
Munich
One of the elements for implementing successful
CRM is a comprehensive software solution which can Contact:
deal with all kinds of demands. At present, there are Management Circle AG
purchasing negotiations underway with those software Postfach 5629
providers who have emerged as the favorites during a 65731 Eschborn / Ts.
comprehensive selection process. Tel: +49 (0)6196/4722 – 0
A project team (known as CRM-Lab) comprised of Fax: +49 (0)6196/4722 – 999
CRM team staff, the MPCs and leading software
providers, worked from March to August 2001
developing the fundamentals for Developing Active
this software solution. In the Customer Loyalty with CRM
laboratory, the team defined and selected number of software providers. Course code: BBS 005
went through the CRM The many quotations received were then evaluated. In Dates: 25 April 2002 and
processes and tested the feasibi- assessing them, both content and strategic consider- 17 October 2002
ility of this in certain software ations were important. The purchasing negotiations
systems, thereby developing a should be concluded by the end of the first quarter of Topics:
functional prototype. The 2002 and the announcement of the new software • What is Customer Relation-
requirements of this system partner made shortly thereafter. A preliminary project ship Management (CRM)?
were then sent in the form of a is simultaneously underway, preparing to pilot the • The need for CRM
request for quotation to a software with the DCVD. • Excellence in service
provision
• The ability to work in a team

NEW TARGET AGREEMENTS BETWEEN

HEADQUARTER AND MPCs


More info in intranet

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GLOSSARY
CRM-Lab
CRM Laboratory
Test environment for process
and IT solutions
Gatekeeper
Decision-maker who controls
the distribution of information to
and within the purchase teams
KPI
Key Performance Indicator
Measurement category for
OUTSIDE NEWS
controlling target achievement
RfQ eCRM: TAKING THE POSSIBILITIES
Request for Quotation
Competitive bidding process ONE STEP FURTHER
in which a selected group of
(software) providers are The Internet is becoming an increasingly important
requested to fill in a medium for achieving a direct line to customers. In
questionnaire or request form the quest for efficient, innovative solutions in this area
it is worth examining the approaches being taken in
More info in intranet other industries. Thus Mercedes-Benz carried out a
benchmark study on eCRM at the end of last year,
critically evaluating not only the websites of
competitors, but also those of providers of e-
commerce and financial services and information
portals. The central findings of the study show a trend towards
The items analysed in the study were: the eCRM activ- both the individualization of content and services and
ities of BMW, VW, Renault and Audi; the websites of a personalized approach to offers and products - all
IMPRINT e-commerce providers Amazon and Dell; the web supported by clear, intuitive user interfaces. These
portals of Yahoo and Excite and the internet site of findings have been helpful in optimizing the current
CRM inside.news is an infor- the online broker, Consors. Particular importance was eCRM strategy at Mercedes-Benz.
mation platform for CRM, of placed on the customer orientation of and services
GFP/V, at DaimlerChrysler. provided by these Internet sites. More info in intranet
More detailed information is
available in the intranet*:
intra-crm.daimlerchrysler.com

Editor: RECOMMENDED READING

DaimlerChrysler AG
Dr. Andreas Roggon What is CRM, and most of all, what is it not? This A second focus of
Customer Relationship is the line of questioning with which Dick Lee the book is the
Management begins his book, “The Customer Relationship development and
Epplestraße 225 Management Survival Guide”. implementation of a
70546 Stuttgart CRM strategy.
After taking an informative look at the historical
Contact persons: development, methods used in and possibilities Overall, this is a book
Christine Beck-Huhndorf of CRM, Lee then explores in depth some mis- which can serve as a
E-Mail: taken views of Customer Relationship Manage- guideline for both
christine.beck-huhndorf@ ment which frequently arise, for instance “CRM = beginners and
daimlerchrysler.com software” or “CRM = too hard, too risky, too professionals in the battle for survival in the CRM
expensive”. Under headings such as these, then, jungle. Unfortunately, the book is not yet avail-
Traci Hiebert the author does a thorough job of clearing up able in German.
E-Mail: some misunderstandings and overcoming prej-
traci.hiebert@ udices, so that the perspectives and possibilities Dick Lee: The Customer Relationship
daimlerchrysler.com of customer-oriented business structures can be Management Survival Guide, 222 pages, HYM
seen from an uncluttered viewpoint. Press, 34.82 €.

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