Customer Experience in the Digital Age

Today, customers are no longer buying products and services; they are buying experiences that products and services provide. In OnTrack Volume 4, we discuss keeping up in the digital age, our buyers abroad, and how we can positively influence their experience with us.

Customer Experience in 2019

It's hard to believe 2019 is coming to a close. It’s been a busy year for us, with IAA completing its spin from KAR at the end of June. We’ve also continued our never-ending mission of providing the best experience for our customers. We’ve launched several new tools that help our buyers get a better look at our vehicles, and even launched a new auction platform, with IAA AuctionNow™ completing it's nationwide rollout last November. This is truly the time of the digital age, and we’re doing everything we can to make our services accessible for anyone in any location.

In all of our 2019 OnTrack newsletters to date, we’ve looked at the different ways that IAA and our industry can affect the customer experience. In our last edition of the year, we’ve focused on our buyers abroad, and how we can positively influence their experience with us.

As always, thank you for your readership and support.

John Kett
Chief Executive Officer and President

Keeping Our Edge in the Digital Age

The digital experience for our customers has been a major emphasis in 2019. The world is no longer going “digital,” it’s already there, and if we want to keep up with our competitors, we had better have an excellent and seamless digital experience while justifying the investment.

Data & technology are at the forefront of IAA decision making

Insurance Companies are Modernizing

The insurance industry isn’t necessarily known as trend-setting when it comes to digitization. But just like every other industry, if modernization isn’t given priority, customers will find it elsewhere. We all know that upgrading to digital platforms or enhancing outdated ones involves resources, time, and of course capital. Business cases and ROI need to be developed to prove they are investment worthy, no matter how critical the upgrades appear to the end user.

And modernization isn’t just about the bells and whistles that come along with new digital products. Customers have begun to expect it in terms of what they need to have a positive experience. If the platforms and technologies offered to customers are dated, the experience they have is tarnished from the get-go. Honestly, they can go elsewhere and get better service – because everything is focused and customized in this data-centric, digital world we all live in. The experience is truly more important than the product or service itself. When creating or updating a digital platform, product or service, consideration of customer touchpoints within the process should be at the forefront.

Don’t forget – digital also needs to be simple! If you need manuals, training and people dedicated to fixing glitches, you may have missed the mark on providing a customer-focused product or service in this highly self-serving digital space.

"Today, customers are no longer buying products and services; they are buying experiences that products and services provide."

Innovating with Purpose

At IAA we’ve embraced the move toward a digital landscape, particularly in terms of our platforms, products and services. In 2019 we’ve made huge strides in the modernization space, creating and implementing our own, proprietary auction platform in IAA AuctionNow™, and continuing to enhance what we offer to our buyers via the platform. Our buyers are all over the world and need the digital platform to work for them 24/7 to feel connected to us, so we accepted the challenge to create true customer touch-points in this modern world.

We pride ourselves on listening to customers and acting on their feedback. We don’t create products and services in a silo. Consider our IAA 360 View technology. While we are extremely proud of what we are providing, and how far we’ve brought the customer experience as it relates to imagery, 360 View is a result of listening to our buyers and responding with a goal in mind.

Digital is the New Normal

IAA knows that modernization and customer experience are becoming one and the same in today’s climate. We’ve embraced it – and are having some fun with it too! Just as insurance companies do, we need to establish business cases and ROI as we continue down this “new normal” path of digitization. If we keep our focus on innovating with our customers in mind, and developing technology with purpose, the investment will continue to be worth it – and our customers will continue to receive best-in-class products and services.

IAA and the Global Buyer

IAA has customers all over the world - 130 countries and growing. These buyers all have several different needs and their countries all have different rules and regulations for transporting vehicles to their locations. It’s a lot to keep up with. So how does IAA manage all of their global customers to keep everyone happy and provide a great customer experience? Read on.

IAA's Dan Oscarson, VP of Global Market Development, shares a moment with IAA buyers from Iraq

Education and Knowledge are Key

IAA has a dedicated team focused on the development of our international buyers. This team goes on several trips a year to host seminars to educate buyers on IAA, their latest tools and how to be successful in the auto auction business. On their trip to the Middle East this year, they had over 200 buyers attend the seminar in Amman, Jordan. One buyer from Kurdistan drove over 20 hours and covered 800 miles to attend!

IAA Customer Support Team

While our market development team focuses on nurturing new and existing buyers, our IAA customer support team is there to handle all business operational issues. As we noted earlier, global buyers face many different rules and regulations than the U.S. buyer, and our team has to be prepared to help them work through all of these different rules. Knowing the rules is one thing, but being able to communicate effectively is another – that’s why our customer support team speaks 8 languages fluently – English, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Polish and Chinese! The ability to communicate with all of our global buyers is key to successful customer experience.