Nissan India multiplies its lead conversion by 3X using Google’s Business Messages
Nissan was founded in 1911 by Masujiro Hashimoto under the name Motor Car Works. It wasn’t until 1934 that Nissan Motor Company became its official title, establishing its presence in the automotive industry. Today, Nissan is a leader in the automaker field, selling more than 3.8 million vehicles in the 2021 fiscal year.
Nissan India
https://www.nissan.in/
3x
growth in lead conversions through chat channels compared to Nissan’s website/app/social
33%
increase in session-to-lead ratio
42%
of leads scheduled a test drive through message assets
172
locations where Nissan India has implemented Business Messages
“We believe that if the customer is not coming to the dealership, it’s important to take the dealership to the customer.”
Kautuk Malviya, Head of Customer Experience Transformation at Nissan India Management
Customers chat with Nissan dealership
through Google Maps
The summary
Nissan India has seen a substantial increase in online inquiries during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the brand’s mobile platforms weren’t optimized for this uptick in digital service requests. Customers didn’t have an easy way to find information quickly, and trying to communicate with the brand’s associates was difficult as the increased volume of people visiting Nissan India’s mobile platforms created long waits, often forcing them to end sessions with their questions unanswered.
To establish a new line of communication that would address customer needs in an efficient manner, Nissan India partnered with SingleInterface, an SaaS platform for hyperlocal marketing and commerce, to implement Google’s Business Messages across all 172 of its locations in the region. After adding Business Messages to its Google Professional Portfolio in 2021, Nissan India increased its session-to-lead ratio by 33% and tripled its lead conversions through chat, demonstrating a successful consumer experience for customers interested in purchasing online.
The challenge
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a significant uptick in online shopping, with many people now exclusively browsing and buying from the comfort of their homes throughout the day. This was a major shift for Nissan India—prior to the pandemic, most of its customers preferred shopping in person and during business hours.
The marketplace shift made it difficult for the brand to meet consumer demand with its existing customer service infrastructure. More online inquiries were coming in around the clock and in greater numbers than before, overwhelming Nissan India’s digital platform and slowing it down. Because of this, customers often endured long waits before getting the service or information they needed. In some cases, consumers canceled sessions because their help request wasn’t addressed. Nissan India needed to identify a more effective way to interact with customers online and provide a more holistic digital experience that could meet both consumer needs as well as Nissan’s own standard for customer service.
3x growth in lead conversions
The approach
Nissan India wanted to provide an easy way for customers to get information when, where, and how they needed it by creating a seamless communication channel between customers and help desk associates. Not only would this make it easier for customers to get the answers they needed, but it would also help establish Nissan India’s online platform in an increasingly virtual environment.
Working with SingleInterface, a solutions provider for multi- location enterprises to build their digital presence, Nissan India began integrating Business Messages with its Google Professional Portfolio. The two companies worked together to streamline the brand’s customer support infrastructure and ensure the new chat experience was consistent across all devices and operating systems and for each retail location in India.
SingleInterface created several custom APIs for Nissan India, providing everything the brand needed to efficiently manage its new interface. This included dashboards for management oversight and agent-to-customer interactions, features for viewing metrics such as first response time or average session time, and the ability to display vehicle information straight to the Business Messages chat window. The new platform also established greater transparency by providing customers with expected wait times when connecting them to a live agent.
The results
By the end of 2021, SingleInterface and Nissan India successfully implemented Google’s Business Messages across all 172 of Nissan’s locations in the region. Adding Business Messages to the brand’s communication ecosystem allowed it to effortlessly engage with its customers, increasing its session-to-lead ratio by 33%.
Lastly, more of Nissan India’s customers were intent on making purchases, tripling the brand’s lead conversions since before implementing Business Messages.
With Google’s Business Messages, Nissan India streamlined communication between customers and help desk associates, creating an efficient way for customers to get information. The new chat option allows customers to conveniently access product catalogs and ask questions about price and availability, regardless of when they’re shopping. Nissan India now provides fast, real-time engagement to better capitalize on potential leads while strengthening its relationship with customers.
From a customer service perspective, Google’s Business Messages answers customer questions effectively and efficiently, earning the channel one of Home Depot’s top customer satisfaction scores.
The chat feature also enabled the live agent team to increase the volume of queries handled and resolved each day. After initial delivery, Google’s Business Messages numbers have jumped 57% with the average response time sitting around just two minutes.
Although increased sales wasn’t a primary goal for the implementation of this support solution, Google’s Business Messages undeniably resulted in conversions.