River Mobility uses customer data for personalised and transparent engagements

With an emphasis on design and technology, River Mobility builds two-wheelers that make a positive impact on the everyday lives of people. The company’s first product, the Indie, is called the SUV of scooters. Indie is a bold statement, combining two different offerings — utility and lifestyle.

Need for a highly integrable CRM to enable smooth, transparent customer relationships

From the outset, River’s key value has been transparency in all its customer interactions. When the first set of customers placed their orders for the Indie, they received regular updates right up until delivery. They were also invited to the factory to witness Indie’s first rollout and production, so they saw firsthand the EV maker’s focus on integrity and customer needs. 

Hence, when tasked with overseeing the company’s digital transformation, Business Operations Manager Binesh Nair prioritised enhancing customer experience. This meant implementing a CRM solution that would ensure transparency in customer experiences even as the company scaled exponentially. The solution would have to integrate easily with the website, any ERP the company chose, and also future deployments in River’s digital ecosystem.

“We evaluated 17 CRMs,” says Nair. Salesforce stood out for the personalisation it offered and the open APIs we needed. 

“The long-term value outweighs the initial investment we had to make, and this secured leadership buy-in.”

An intuitive UI and robust customer 360 enable smarter, customer-focused conversations in-store

Even before River’s first showroom opened, the company deployed Salesforce Automotive Cloud, capturing every order from the first scooter they sold. All interactions — from order and payment status, to service requests and communication history — are consolidated into a rich Account and Customer 360.

Automotive Cloud is accessible on every in-store employee’s device. Managers have an instant view of lead-to-conversion ratios, and this helps them optimise their sales strategy in-store. Granular capture of data and real time insights allow employees to improve customer interactions. The friendly UI provides the team with details at a glance - including customer preferences indicated during online enquiries, and product details and specifications. With this information available in a single view, in-store reps can engage with customers in a smart manner, giving them the information they need. 

According to Nair, the intuitive UI has helped boost speedy adoption and efficiency even among new recruits.

Automotive Cloud has also simplified business operations. The platform automatically generates invoices and receipts and auto-dispatches them to the customer, ensuring transparency and efficiency. 

“On other platforms, this is a time-bound, multi-level process that slows down the team and keeps customers waiting,” observes Nair. “Here, it is instant.”

Customers reach out to River via the website, calls, email, and social media. Access to the entire customer history while engaging in any channel enables agents to resolve concerns rapidly. Ticketing and case prioritisation are fully automated, with job cards and service invoices generated within 24 hours. Hence, no query is missed, and no resolution is delayed.

River is clear that the relationship truly begins when the customer takes the scooter home. Using customer data to tailor after-sales service packages, again available on the solution, teams can help customers pick the right package and engage appropriately with them along their lifecycle. 

Partner Cloud Odyssey has implemented Automotive Cloud. “Cloud Odyssey has demonstrated that it is up to speed on cutting-edge developments, cementing a long-term relationship with us,” declares Nair.

Marketing automation improves the effectiveness of digital engagement

As it scales, River is building its digital marketing strategy and Marketing Cloud will play an important role. The solution is already integrated with the company’s social media platforms, and the marketing team can now launch finely targeted communications and campaigns for better conversions and retention. 

“We also choose new affiliates and programme partners based on their integrability with Marketing Cloud,” says Nair, emphasising the centrality of the solution to their evolving strategy.

Marketing Cloud’s Journey Builder helps to create customised journeys to further improve the delivery of personalised experiences. Seamless data flow between Marketing and Automotive Clouds ensures that the customer 360 is enriched with information (such as preferences, requirements, and location) collected during marketing activities. This empowers sales and service teams to deliver frictionless, presonalised engagement as customers move along the lifecycle. 

The company executed the task at the high-powered pace fast-growing River Mobility  required, and Nair is very satisfied with the outcomes.

Data-based insights boost product innovation and agility

River today has a rich overview of customer preferences and the marketing and sales funnels. 

This comprehensive picture has lent crucial agility to the young company’s product development and demand planning. For instance, when ‌data flagged low demand for certain accessories, this led to a quick production halt, saving costs.

In another example, captured customer conversations showed a demand for charging facilities at customers’ residences. So River is now exploring offering this as a new service.

Next: A comprehensive DMS will empower the dealer ecosystem

By 2025, River will have a physical presence in 100 Indian cities, and by 2026, the company will launch a new product. Dealers are crucial to the success of this plan, and will soon be empowered by a comprehensive dealer management system (DMS) built on Salesforce.  

“The DMS will help us build a thriving partnership ecosystem for our dealers countrywide, and this will be a solid foundation for our rapid expansion and long-term market leadership,” says Nair.

River is not resting on the Indie’s success. The company aims to grow into a utility lifestyle brand that offers transparent and superior customer and dealer experiences. Automation and access to rich customer data on Salesforce are instrumental to building and nurturing these trusted connections.