Revving Up Customer Engagement: Santander’s Turbocharged Vehicle Financing Transformation
Collaborating to revolutionize the vehicle financing customer experience with the introduction of a self-service portal, a groundbreaking direct-to-consumer app, and an enhanced corporate website.
The Need to Innovate
Santander, a leading provider of automotive loans for Canadians, sought to revolutionize its customer experience in the automotive financing sector. Their vision was clear: they aimed to enhance interactions with customers while ensuring consistency, efficiency, and overall satisfaction. To achieve this ambitious goal, Santander needed innovative ideas and a deeper understanding of how technology could empower their customers through self-service solutions.
A Dynamic Journey
Santander teamed up with Lantern for an Ideation Workshop, a dynamic and efficient process that combined creativity and technical expertise. This workshop enabled users and stakeholders to explore ideas and discover optimal solutions. We led Santander through this transformative process through a series of phases:
- Mission and Success Criteria: The journey began by defining the mission, constraints, user pain points, success criteria, and workshop participants. The overarching question that guided the workshops was, “How can we enhance our customer’s experience?” The concept of Digital Transformation was at the core of this mission.
- Inspiration Sessions: During these sessions, participants engaged in divergent thinking, brainstorming innovative ideas to address the mission question. Various techniques were employed to stimulate creative thinking, resulting in a wealth of ideas. Inspired Teams were formed to encourage collaboration and engagement, sparking creativity.
- Prototyping Sessions: In the prototyping phase, Lantern’s User Experience (UX) specialists guided participants through “paper prototyping.” Each participant sketched mock-ups on paper, and the most promising elements were consolidated into a more tangible prototype. This phase embodies the concept of Innovation Velocity, where rapid prototyping and refinement drive the innovation process.
- Design Review and Iterative Improvement: This phase allowed participants to interact with the prototype, simulating real-world usage. Subject matter experts provided feedback, identifying obstacles and refining business requirements swiftly and accurately. This iterative approach aligns with the concept of continuous improvement, a key aspect of Digital Leadership.
A Roadmap to Transformation
The ideation process offered Santander a multi-faceted approach to enhancing their customer’s online experience that included:
Self-Service Portal: Originally conceived to improve the online customer journey, the self-service portal idea was refined and shaped through ideation, embodying the principles of Innovation Velocity.
Direct to Consumer App: A groundbreaking concept born from ideation, the direct-to-consumer app represented true industry innovation, showcasing Santander’s commitment to Digital Leadership.
Corporate Site: Ideation confirmed the need for an update to the Santander corporate website, providing a clear direction for this essential component, aligning with the broader strategy of Digital Transformation.
As a result of this transformative ideation process, Santander gained confidence in their strategic direction. Armed with well-defined roadmaps and project plans, they re-engaged with Lantern to execute the implementation phase of this project, ready to revolutionize their customer experience. This execution phase would further emphasize the concept of Digital Leadership and harness the power of technology to deliver a competitive advantage.