CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM includes three sections – Marketing, sales, and customer service. Every firm uses CRM to reduce costs, and get customer concerns and customer demands. This article discusses ‘How does Tesla’s CRM strategy work?’.
How does Tesla’s CRM strategy work?
Tesla has digitized CRM. As we know, Tesla is well known for its electric cars. CRM software is integrated into the cars and phones of its customers. The aim is to keep engaged constantly with its customers. Tesla has people connecting to their customers for feedback, concerns, complaints, and new offers. Tesla cars are connected to the internet and Tesla can monitor car situation, maintenance schedule, maintenance history, etc.
Steps Tesla follows:
- Connecting to customers at regular intervals (Phone calls, emails, texts, etc.)
- Listen to complaints, concerns, etc.
- Remote/cloud monitoring of car condition.
- Suggestions to customers based on car condition.
- Conveyance of new offers to customers.
Data collection through social media
However, not only customer service, Tesla also excels in marketing and sales as both are parts of CRM. Data is gathered not only from existing customers, but also future customers-to-be. Tesla has a team dedicated to social media monitoring. This team monitors conversations on social media related to Tesla cars, records opinions of users and non-users, analyzes gathered data and gives input to sales department.
Data gathered through social media and customer support becomes an elixir for Tesla as it governs improvement in product. Manufacturing changes, cost cutting, better maintenance, distribution of finance etc. ss done through this data input.
Cars for each section of society
Tesla has aimed three different sections of society – Eco-friendly, tech-savvy and luxury. Eco-friendly section is offered an electric car at base price without much luxurious and technically advanced features. Eco-friendly category is developed considering higher mileage. Tech-savvy, as name suggests, craves for advanced technological features and Tesla satisfies that hunger. Luxury section is offered high-end, high-performance and technically advance cars. Luxury section does not bother about price as much as eco-friendly section.
Friendly and fearless work environment
Another driving factor for Tesla is its CEO Elon Musk himself. He has made rules in the firm, which encourages innovation and research. He has successfully created positive research friendly environment. He applied a rule to encourage and reward those who come with an innovative idea. However, penalty on failure is much less. This positive attitude make people try and implement new thing without fear of penalty or punishment.
Elon Musk – The Brand himself
When talking about internal environment and brand, one must not foget that Elon Musk is a brand in himself. In recent times, Elon Musk has influenced more young brains than any other entrepreneur. This also drives people purchase Tesla products. Infact, studies have revealed that a fraction of Tesla buyers are actually Elon Musk fans.
Marketing Strategy
It’s quite interesting to know that Tesla spends literally ZERO dollars on advertising. Its marketing and communication tools involve blogs, internet, media and newsworthy. Tesla believes in not making the news but becoming the news. In other words, Tesla tries to make something phenomenally different that is worthy to come in the news. This strategy has worked brilliantly so far. Whether its about making a colony on mars or sending a car in earth’s outer orbit or making world’s first vertical landing rocket.
Advertisement through stores
In 2014, in an interview, Tesla PR head said, “Right now, our stores are our advertisement centers. We are confident that in 2014, we will be able to sell more than 20000 cars worldwide.” And guess what? He stood vindicated.
Since Tesla’s primary advertisement is through stores, they invest in locations. Tesla make sure to gain maximum location advantage possible for each store. A strange but successful strategy is not to stand alone. Tesla stores are not situated at some highways, but near the stores of other big brands. Customers that come to Tesla stores are mostly those who were at the nearest stores of other brands and came for just a look around. This is a great example of showmanship because you need to attract those who did not think to be your customer.
Social Media Hashtags for advertisement
Without spending millions of dollars, the Tesla team uses social media to advertise through blogs and social media hashtags. Hashtags are trended through various social media platforms to inform people of new arrivals, and offers and make them visit nearby stores. This strategy is called AIDA – Awareness, Inspire, Desire, and Action.
Push and Pull Strategy
Push strategy makes customers tell their stories. Pull strategy has many paths/routes but one innovation is ‘Build your own vehicle’. As the name suggests, a customer at a Tesla store can choose different features he wants to include in his car. He can choose different attachments to make a customized car. This has liberated people from the stringent system of choosing from certain models provided by the OEM. The customer also needs to pay only for the facilities or features he needs.
Conclusion
This unique CRM strategy has made Tesla a unicorn. It has enabled Tesla to take its place in the highly competitive and ever-evolving automotive market.
