Business story

Customer Success #1 Priority

2020-04-30

At Volvo Trucks, we are committed to our customers’ success. We aspire to be the preferred partner in the industry. In this issue of Wheels, we speak to some of the long serving employees in the organization to who employee-customer relationship is their passion. Let us understand, why these individuals are committed the brand Volvo.

“Driver Training is key to improving the operational profitability of the customer.”
HARI BABU, MANAGER, CUSTOMER TRAINING

“A Mechanical Engineer with Automobile as specialization, I joined Volvo as a Training instructor in 1998. I was short listed and trained by Swedish Trainer Mr. Peter Romberg. We started training the first batch of drivers at DTC, with an aim to train the drivers even before the first batch of trucks rolled out and we achieved it”.

“At Volvo we realized that there was a lack of good commercial drivers in the industry. There was a gap on road safety and driving skills to make them better drivers. We knew that even if we could change a fraction of drivers it will help the community”.

“Volvo is the pioneer of Driver Training in the CV industry. In 2001, we started training the first batch of Volvo Bus Drivers another landmark in my career. I feel that educating customers and the drivers of the ‘Best Driving Practices’ will not only help drivers to be safe and productive, but will also help the customers improve operational efficiency and the bottom line. “In the year 2002 I won the IRTE, Prince Michael Award (India Road Traffic Education Award) for my contributions to road safety.”

“In 2005 I was assigned to technical training and was also instrumental in setting up of CDC. We started technical courses and as an assessor, my job was to check and develop the competence of technicians. During this period, I was also the VISTA market leader and had the opportunity to take the India VISTA winners to finals at Sweden.

“Competition was catching up on driver training, and the concept of Regional Onsite trainers was introduced. It started from the East Region, today we have around 14 trainers working from all our Hub workshops and 4 driver trainers at DTC. In 2018, we crossed the landmark of 100,000 trained Drivers.”

“As a part of driver engagement activity, we introduced a unique “Best Driver’’ competition in the year 2007 at some select Key customer sites, later it was merged with the global competition called FUELWATCH and it became an open event to all our customers and India started to participate in the global finals. It was fulfilling to see the Indian driver perform well and at times winning the international event. This competition brought forth more demand for driver training as customers began to understand the difference in fuel efficiency between a trained driver and an untrained one.”

“Volvo as a brand is highly respected in the automotive sector, the organization’s Values of Quality, Safety and Environmental care are so human values. We at Volvo are managed by a good management team and we are doing a good job.’’

“When the Customer becomes your friend, you know you have cracked the code to Customer Satisfaction”.
RAJEEV MENON, DEPUTY MANAGER – ADMIN AND PROCUREMENT

Rajeev Menon joined Volvo Trucks as a Regional Sales Co-ordinator in New Delhi in 1997.

“In those days Volvo was one of the few multi nationals in the country and I used to feel really proud when people looked at me in admiration, every time I said I work for Volvo”.

“My role as a Regional Sales Co-ordinator in Delhi, gave me an opportunity to work closely with the customers and the Sales team. In the many years that I spent in Delhi, I developed such good relationship with the customers and had the freedom to interact with them directly.”

“Many people joined and left the organization, but I continued as I loved my job; the customers were more like friends. When my Regional Head used to say, customers will give an appointment if Rajeev speaks to them, was when I understood the true meaning of building a relationship with the customers. The Volvo Way is prevalent everywhere in the organization. Passion and Respect to the Individuals, these are the values that makes working for Volvo very satisfying.”

“My boss encouraged me to step out of the comfort zones and asked me to take on bigger role in Bangalore, so I moved from Delhi to assist the Business Head and Sales Team on all sales activities. From there I moved to Aftermarket and this shifted my role towards Dealer Development. It was exciting as it was a different set of people that I had to work with. The job entailed setting of systems and processes to help Area Service Teams. Aftermarket Support is critical when it comes to sustaining customer relationships and I enjoyed this role so much so that I was rewarded with a “Best Performer Award” for the year 2016-17.

“In Volvo, the opportunities are many, if you are open to learning and willing to take on new roles. After a year and a half, I moved over to my current role of Admin and Purchase – NAP (Non-Automotive Purchase). The art of dealing with people moved from customers to vendors.”

“Volvo’s vision of creating value for customers, which in turn creates value for shareholders, is truly the motivating factor for me. Anything I do, in the organization I am constantly reminded to think if I am creating value. I am also grateful to my family who have stood by me throughout this journey.”

“Uptime is critical and availability of parts is an important factor that contributes to it.”
SENTHILKUMAR S, DEPUTY MANAGER – AFTERMARKET

“MY JOURNEY with Volvo began in 1998, as a Warehouse Assistant in Volvo Trucks. Volvo had just started its journey in India and there was no exclusive central warehouse. We operated from a dealer building store in Hosakote. Subsequently two dealerships were set up in Bhiwandi and Gurgaon and my job was to support these two dealerships by ordering parts from Sweden.”

“By 2001, our customer base grew. Ordering and supplying parts in the minimal time was becoming a challenge. There was a time lag when it came to getting the parts from Sweden; separating them manually and dispatching it to Bhiwandi and Gurgaon. Customers were bearing the brunt of logistics time and it was then decided to build a new warehouse at Hosakote to store the parts.”

“My job got interesting when I was entrusted with the job of setting up the new warehouse. It was the beginning of the digitizing the warehouse. I was involved in the setup of the AS400 system, where we could order parts online from Sweden. The entire system was set up in a matter of 10 days.”

“This has made the accessibility to parts so easy across our nationwide network. As soon as the customer places a request, the parts are sourced from the nearest available location and shipped to minimize the downtime.”

“The Volvo Group in 2004 set up the Volvo Aftermarket Parts Renovation System (VAPR). It took us 6 months to build the system and almost 2 years to make it work error free. This is a beautiful system where parts are refurbished and reused. This is a cost-effective and environment friendly solution by Volvo. It also discourages the use of spurious parts, which affects the performance of a Volvo. ”

“I like the Volvo work culture. The work happens among equals in a team and not as a boss and subordinate. I have the freedom to explore, grow and contribute to the organization. We have an opportunity to share our ideas and it even gets implemented, when the value is perceived. Twenty two years of my working life, I am happy I am with Volvo.”