Audi's unwired booth babes boost sales leads

Its AU$265,000 R8 supercar and newly launched S5 may be getting most of the attention at the Melbourne Motor Show this week, but Audi executives have their eyes firmly locked on a new data entry system that's helped staff collect 50 percent more viable sales leads this year, than last.

Audi's AU$1.1 million stand includes ten Samsung Q1 ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), the bigger-than-PDA-smaller-than-notebook devices that Microsoft and partners launched with much hoopla a year ago. The full-featured Windows XP devices, which have a 7-inch touch sensitive screen, are used by Audi sales girls to collect contact details of visitors who may be interested in scheduling a test drive or receiving more information about Audi's cars.

The system -- which was developed using Microsoft's .NET 3.0 and Windows Presentation Foundation environments by UMPC and mobile applications specialist Tegatech Australia -- grew out of a need to improve the accuracy of data entry at the show, where illegible and inaccurate data on paper forms meant a large portion of collected leads were simply unusable.

Armed with the portable devices, Audi's floor girls dutifully provide visitors with product brochures and record potential buyers' details using the Q1s' Audi-branded, Web browser-based form and onscreen keyboard. Details are relayed from the floor to a server on the stand floor, then instantly sent to Audi's customer fulfilment outsourcer, Mondial Assistance Australia, for follow-up and dispatching of relevant literature within 24 hours.

Such quick turnaround is essential for making the most of such an event, said Noel Ryan, CRM and dealer marketing executive with Audi Australia. "When people are at the show, you want to keep the 'wow' experience going, but it can cool off after four or five days," he explained. "Having a shorter lead time is critical for us, so we are always looking for innovative ways to do lead management."

Audi's floor girls had collected more than 600 sales leads during the first four days of the show -- nearly equal with the 700 leads collected during the whole 2006 event -- and that was even before Tuesday's top-secret global launch of Audi's new S5 performance sedan.

The system would more than pay for itself if, for example, it helped the company secure even one order for the exclusive R8; Ryan expects this week's show to generate five or six solid prospects for that car, which could translate into one or two million dollars worth of sales.

Given the company's heavy investment in the Melbourne Motor Show and the show's prominence on the world car show circuit, the decision to try out the UMPCs was a significant one, said Ryan. Audi trialled a PDA-based replacement for the systems at last month's Brisbane Motor Show, but found them too small and slow for practical use. By contrast, Ryan said, the "light, portable, user-friendly and reliable" UMPCs have proved to be the perfect solution.

"The accuracy on the Q1s is consistent, since we can make sure the girls don't accidentally forget information such as a phone number," he said. "With day-by-day reporting on collected leads, we can evaluate return on investment and adapt [our strategy] before the show is over. And they allow the girls to do their jobs much easier; we've had more concerns over the shoes they're wearing than with the UMPCs."

Success with the devices at this show may pave the way for more innovative applications in the future. For example, Webcasts of key product launches, or demonstration videos, could be run on the sales floor with a tap on the screen. Two of the UMPCs in Melbourne are also set up to run Audi's car configurator application, which allows customers to price various options and look at available colours for particular models.

That system has had low utilisation, admits Ryan, who explains why, with a shrug and a gesture at the throng gawking at the sleek, supercharged R8. While handheld multimedia systems may be useful sales tools in some situations, he says with a laugh, at motor shows "people come to see the cars themselves."