Consumer data analytics: The Ford miracle
Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2024 9:58 am
When buying a new car, there are multiple combinations of extras and preferences that consumers order. This makes inventory management a challenge. Dealers need to know what end buyers will want to buy so they can order it from the manufacturer.
In Ford's case, for example, in its Transit Connect model alone , consumers have more than 27 quadrillion combinations to choose from. These combinations range from the exterior color to the style of the doors.
The way the market has traditionally worked is through the intuition of the dealers. They order what they think will be in demand. However, intuition cannot always be trusted.
Between 2007 and 2008, with the crisis at its peak, Ford's CEO decided to change the way things were done a little. In the words of Jonh Ginder -Manager of Systems Analytics- and Allan Mullaly -CEO of Ford-:
“…he brought a way of thinking to the company that means we no longer operate on anecdotal evidence.”
In other words, Ford's shift has been to start operating on real data. But how do you find out what consumers want?
When I talk about figuring out what consumers want, I'm not talking about consumers as an amorphous mass of people. No, I'm talking about segmented consumers . What will Mustang spam database buyers in London want in 2015? Will they want their car in bright red with leather seats? What percentage of those who want their car in red will want wheels of a certain alloy?
Difficult questions to answer that mean faster sales, loyal customers and fewer inventory problems for Ford and its dealers . But I return to the previous question: how to find out all these details about customer preferences? The answer is none other than the analysis of millions and millions of data. To do this, Ford has built its “Analytics Centers of Excellence” in which nearly 200 professionals work, interpreting marketing and credit data and doing product research with said data.
Of course, the Internet is one of the key points for obtaining consumer data. In fact, Ford mixes historical regional sales data with data obtained on the web through its application to customize and design your own vehicle, as well as social networks.
ford
By understanding consumer preferences through analysis of data they leave on the web, along with historical data by geographic region of the company, Ford has been able to generate savings of 100 million each year just by solving the problem of dealer inventories. But this is only a small example of the usefulness of data. The company went from losses of more than four billion dollars in 2007 to generating profits in 2009. The key is to interpret the information of its consumers.
What can we learn from Ford?How to get to know your consumers better
Of course, we need to capture data on our consumers' behaviour and exploit it. At what time do they call us? From what devices do they visit us? What is the exact profile of the buyer most likely to close? How many minutes on average do calls that convert last?
There are millions of pieces of data that can help us understand how our customers behave and how we can adjust our processes and products to their behavior, in order to sell more and make the customer happier.
For me personally, it is very important to understand the journey that the consumer makes from the moment they visit us until they decide to buy from us, because that is where our business is. In fact, analytics are a fundamental part of Lead Management . Delio includes a complete module so that we can understand our leads in a holistic way, understanding who buys from us and how they buy from us. Remember that this is the first step to knowing what to sell them.
In Ford's case, for example, in its Transit Connect model alone , consumers have more than 27 quadrillion combinations to choose from. These combinations range from the exterior color to the style of the doors.
The way the market has traditionally worked is through the intuition of the dealers. They order what they think will be in demand. However, intuition cannot always be trusted.
Between 2007 and 2008, with the crisis at its peak, Ford's CEO decided to change the way things were done a little. In the words of Jonh Ginder -Manager of Systems Analytics- and Allan Mullaly -CEO of Ford-:
“…he brought a way of thinking to the company that means we no longer operate on anecdotal evidence.”
In other words, Ford's shift has been to start operating on real data. But how do you find out what consumers want?
When I talk about figuring out what consumers want, I'm not talking about consumers as an amorphous mass of people. No, I'm talking about segmented consumers . What will Mustang spam database buyers in London want in 2015? Will they want their car in bright red with leather seats? What percentage of those who want their car in red will want wheels of a certain alloy?
Difficult questions to answer that mean faster sales, loyal customers and fewer inventory problems for Ford and its dealers . But I return to the previous question: how to find out all these details about customer preferences? The answer is none other than the analysis of millions and millions of data. To do this, Ford has built its “Analytics Centers of Excellence” in which nearly 200 professionals work, interpreting marketing and credit data and doing product research with said data.
Of course, the Internet is one of the key points for obtaining consumer data. In fact, Ford mixes historical regional sales data with data obtained on the web through its application to customize and design your own vehicle, as well as social networks.
ford
By understanding consumer preferences through analysis of data they leave on the web, along with historical data by geographic region of the company, Ford has been able to generate savings of 100 million each year just by solving the problem of dealer inventories. But this is only a small example of the usefulness of data. The company went from losses of more than four billion dollars in 2007 to generating profits in 2009. The key is to interpret the information of its consumers.
What can we learn from Ford?How to get to know your consumers better
Of course, we need to capture data on our consumers' behaviour and exploit it. At what time do they call us? From what devices do they visit us? What is the exact profile of the buyer most likely to close? How many minutes on average do calls that convert last?
There are millions of pieces of data that can help us understand how our customers behave and how we can adjust our processes and products to their behavior, in order to sell more and make the customer happier.
For me personally, it is very important to understand the journey that the consumer makes from the moment they visit us until they decide to buy from us, because that is where our business is. In fact, analytics are a fundamental part of Lead Management . Delio includes a complete module so that we can understand our leads in a holistic way, understanding who buys from us and how they buy from us. Remember that this is the first step to knowing what to sell them.