Volvo Cars drives modern service through Adobe Acrobat Sign
Automobiles were once symbols of personal freedom, independence, and mobility. Now, however, the world has changed dramatically. Consumers want cars that are sustainable. They want to cut costs by sharing vehicles with others. And they expect it all to come with the latest technologies, from mobile connectivity to auto-driving cars.
“At Volvo Cars, we have made it our mission to get people back to that feeling of freedom by offering new ways for consumers to find their freedom, no matter what kind of mobility they need in their lives”
Viveca Thornton, product owner at Volvo Cars.
Volvo Cars recently announced a new option for modern car ownership: Care by Volvo. One monthly subscription fee covers car lease, maintenance, insurance, roadside assistance, and more. Unlike a typical lease, Care by Volvo recognizes that life sometimes changes fast, so people can swap to a different model or even cancel their subscriptions as needed.
“We want it to be as easy for people to sign up for a car subscription as they might sign up for a streaming service,” says Thornton.
Of course, a car subscription will always be more complex than signing up for a typical online service. Volvo Cars must make sure that its service adheres to all industry and government regulations, while providing the convenient, modern service that Care by Volvo customers look for. With Adobe Acrobat Sign, Volvo Cars supports its goals by digitizing paperwork and allowing customers to manage their subscriptions in minutes from their couches.
“We could never switch back to paper”
The decision to use Acrobat Sign started from a desire to provide better experiences for Care by Volvo customers. “It’s not just about the digital signature,” says Mattias Dreyer, solution expert, e-signatures, Volvo Cars. “We wanted to rethink the whole subscription process. Since people are signing up online, what other parts of the process can we make digital?”
For more than five years, Volvo Cars has used Acrobat Sign throughout its business, either when signing agreements with vendors or getting approvals on internal paperwork. Volvo Cars administrators appreciated how Acrobat Sign made managing digital document workflows so simple. Teams can send documents for signature with just a few clicks. Acrobat Sign shows document status, so administrators always know whether documents have been viewed, signed, or returned. The digital workflow also keeps documents more secure throughout the process by transmitting files directly to and from signers’ email inboxes.
The Care by Volvo delivery document was the first time that Volvo used Acrobat Sign to get signatures directly from customers. “The signing experience is a much higher priority when dealing directly with our consumers,” says Dreyer. “Consumers can open a document on any device and sign with just a few clicks.”
In Norway, the car delivery document consists of four dense pages with many areas where signers need to fill in forms and check boxes. Volvo invested several hours setting up the form and testing it to make sure that the document was highly intuitive and easy for signers to navigate.
“Once we had finished setting up the digital delivery form, we realized that we could never switch back to paper,” says Dreyer. “Seeing the physical papers made the delivery document seem overwhelming and complicated. It was much easier for subscribers to absorb in digital form.”
How to find success with e-signatures
Volvo attributes its success with Acrobat Sign to three areas: centralized knowledge, optimized processes, and Salesforce integration.
- Centralize the knowledge-base
Having worked with Acrobat Sign for five years, Volvo understands the benefits of having a center of excellence for the solution. Thornton, Dreyer, and the rest of their team oversee all Acrobat Sign deployments across the company. The team uses its years of knowledge to easily and expertly support departments across Volvo, whether it’s by setting up templates, adding integrations, or suggesting best practices that help departments get the most from Acrobat Sign.
“We don’t want to take all of the decisions away from individual departments or their administrators, since they know what works best for them,” says Dreyer. “But we want to help them realize any ideas that come to mind.”
- Optimize your processes
Both Thornton and Dreyer emphasize that simply adding Acrobat Sign isn’t enough to create digital workflows. Teams need to start with secure digital documents, such as fillable forms and encrypted contracts created with Adobe Acrobat. Built-in integrations with Salesforce, Microsoft, and other enterprise applications can streamline workflows. But the Volvo team also believes it’s important to rethink the processes themselves.
“Creating digital workflows is about having an open mind and creating a shift in perspective,” says Thornton. “We need to look at every step in something like a delivery document. What information is truly needed? How can we make reading through this document a smoother experience for customers? We met with legal, finance, and Adobe Professional Services teams to brainstorm what we could do to optimize processes.”
- Integrate with Salesforce
All information about a subscriber, from initial order to vehicle delivery, is pulled from Salesforce. Volvo Cars worked with Adobe Professional Services to set up templates and create vital integrations. Without leaving Salesforce, the sales team can quickly see whether documents have been delivered, opened, or signed by customers. If the sales team notices that a customer has opened a document but not signed it, that might mean that the customer is rethinking their decision or doesn’t understand part of the document. The sales professional can reach out and offer to resolve any questions.
“Adobe Professional Services always listened to us,” says Dreyer. “They were a big part of our success. We couldn’t use an out-of-the-box integration since some private information, such as financial details, couldn’t be passed through Salesforce. Adobe Professional Services made sure that we still got the same visibility and all-in-one interface that makes Adobe Acrobat Sign so easy to work with.”
For the Care by Volvo program, Volvo Cars will start to see the benefits of Acrobat Sign as the company starts delivering new subscription vehicles over the next year. Volvo also hopes to add e-signatures to more documents, from payment forms to trading in a vehicle.
“Nothing is impossible with Adobe Acrobat Sign,” says Thornton. “The key, we found, is to start small and build on the success. Bring in more fields, more documents, and more integrations. It doesn’t need to be perfect when you start. Take it one step at a time and don’t be afraid to let your Adobe Acrobat Sign usage mature.”