Asian Paints harnesses data + AI to personalise home décor experiences

Asian Paints is India’s leading decorative paints company. For over 75 years, the brand has been known for its strong customer focus and innovative spirit.

Now, in collaboration with customers, Asian Paints is expanding its focus beyond wall paints towards all aspects of home décor – be it bath fittings, modular kitchens, lights, furniture, or furnishings.

“Our endeavour is to help consumers create beautiful spaces, and bring joy to their lives,” says Deepak Bhosale, Associate Vice-President - IT, Asian Paints. “Through our Beautiful Homes brand, we’re doing just that – partnering with consumers to help visualise and execute their dream homes.”

Supporting customers throughout their Beautiful Homes journey

Asian Paints has always been at the forefront of technology adoption. For decades, they’ve pioneered the use of cutting-edge software to improve both internal processes and customer experiences. So, naturally, they adopted a digital-first approach to launch the Beautiful Homes business too.

“We didn’t want to start with manual processes, and then overlay technology,” says Krishnan Subramanian, Associate General Manager - IT, Asian Paints. “Digital had to be at the core of our business to create joyful experiences for our customers.”

These customers range from dealers and contractors to architects, interior designers, painters, and end consumers.

“Over the years, we’ve amassed a wealth of customer data,” says Bhosale. “Now, with technologies like Salesforce, we’re able to go deep into that data, and draw out rich insights that can help us hyper-personalise customer experiences, while also strengthening trust and transparency.”

A unified CRM platform enriches customer interactions and experiences

Asian Paints wanted to build a single customer view across different business lines. Using Salesforce, they’ve connected all their services businesses like Beautiful Homes Services, Painting Services, Kitchen Services, Bath Services, and trusted contractor services on one platform with the customer at the centre.

Multiple disparate systems built over decades are now being integrated into one platform. “Salesforce gives our teams a unified customer view that helps them deliver unified experiences, while also cross-selling and upselling better,” says Subramanian.

All online and offline customer engagement channels are also being integrated to offer customers a smooth phygital experience.

With a strong digital foundation, Asian Paints is fast emerging as a leading home décor brand. Watch this video (2.54) to learn how the company delights customers with seamless and personalised experiences, while also strengthening dealer relationships.

With Agentforce Service, Asian Paints has streamlined and automated its entire lead and opportunity management cycle. Leads are swiftly consolidated, qualified, and assigned to the right teams for follow-ups.

Within minutes, a lead that has filled in a form on the website gets a call-back from Asian Paints teams to schedule an appointment for a home visit. Quote generation and customer onboarding processes have also become faster.

Any customer complaints that arise are routed via Salesforce to the servicing team. Using automated workflows, the team is able to accelerate complaint resolution.

Earlier, territory sales executives (TSEs) engaging with dealers had to make multiple calls a day to track dealer orders, inventory, outstanding payments, credit notes, and other relevant information.

Now, all dealer information is available at the click of a button on the ‘TSE’s App 4 Productivity (TAP)’, built on Agentforce Consumer Goods. This helps TSEs save up to 45 minutes a day.

“With the functionalities delivered through Agentforce Consumer Goods, TSEs are able to cut down on non-value adding activities, and spend that time helping dealers grow their business,” says Subramanian.

Going forward, Asian Paints won’t have to guess which products or services the consumer will like. Using Salesforce’s AI capabilities, teams will be able to analyse customer data at scale, and draw out accurate insights on how consumer preferences are evolving, how they differ across regions, etc. These insights can then be used to build hyper-personalised and relevant offerings for each customer.

Décor tastes vary greatly from one consumer to the next, but with AI-powered insights, Asian Paints can offer each consumer the perfect home decor solutions for their needs. Designers will also be able to use AI insights to build more innovative products that customers love.

“Using data and predictive AI, Asian Paints will be in a position to proactively update customers about the status of their projects, thus solidifying trust,” says Subramanian.

“By personalising our offerings, we expect exponential improvements in customer satisfaction and referrals,” says Bhosale.

To get the most out of the Salesforce platform, Asian Paints has partnered with the Salesforce Signature Success team. Together, they’ve established a strong foundation of resilience and stability that keeps Asian Paints’ business up and running.

The Success team runs empathy studies to provide an outside-in perspective of what customers, partners, and employees need.

With their help, Asian Paints has been able to identify the right partners from AppExchange, learn best practices from other customer implementations, and understand how Salesforce products are evolving.

“The Signature Success group acts as our extended team and trusted partner,” says Subramanian. “Their always-on support and proactive guidance have been key to the success of our Salesforce implementation.”

Consumers have a wide and varied range of home décor tastes. With CRM + AI + data, Asian Paints will be better-positioned to personalise its offerings at a granular level, while also cementing customer trust with delightful phygital experiences. In the process, the Beautiful Homes business is poised to rapidly grow and scale up to encompass every facet of interior design – from wall-to-wall to the spaces in between.