Ducati is one of the many Italian companies hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Italian automotive industry has come to standstill for almost 63 days and today, the 4th of May, about four million Italians, which an estimated 72 per cent of them men will return to their construction sites and factories as the economically and emotionally shattered country tries to get back to work.
PRESS RELEASE: Ducati looks ahead by launching the “Ducati Cares” program, which allows Ducati Dealers to welcome their Customers and Fans again. The program is mainly focused on Safety, but will also answer to the desire to resume everyday life and being able to experience the emotions and freedom that riding a motorcycle offers.
The “Ducati Cares” program has been created for the worldwide Ducati Dealer network, providing guidelines to be adopted so that the Ducatisti can feel at ease when returning to their local Dealership.
The core of the Cares program consists of a series of actions and precautions that every Ducati Dealer will implement in order to ensure the safety of visitors to the Dealerships. Several measures such as indications on safe distances, disinfectants, masks and other precautions will be implemented and communicated to all Ducatisti both at the Dealership itself and via online channels.
Ducati has exploited the experience gained recently by the company’s internal Task Force, which was set up after the first signs of what would soon become a global pandemic. Through the Task Force Ducati aims at guaranteeing the safety of its employees at the Borgo Panigale Headquarters a well as its subsidiaries around the world. In the past weeks all internal processes were redefined where necessary, such as designated time slots at the Company restaurant, a revised layout of the working environments and at the production lines, defining sanitization procedures, enable smartworking and other precautions to protect all employees. The “Ducati Cares” Program is based on the experience gathered by the Task Force. It will ensure safety and peace of mind for both Customers as well as Dealership employees, representing the Company all over the world.
“It is now clear to everyone that the virus won’t disappear from our lives any time soon, we will have to learn to deal with it, putting in place all possible actions to protect ourselves, allowing us to return to live our lives again”, said Francesco Milicia, VP Global Sales and After Sales. “It is in this context that, by capitalizing on the experiences gathered by our internal Task Force as well as some of our Asian Dealers, we have developed the Ducati Cares program to support our Dealer network all over the world. It will allow our Dealers to welcome our Customers in the safest and most practical way.”
Ducati has always played a pioneering and forward-looking role in digitalization in order to create new opportunities for relationships with its fan base. Just think of back in 2001, when it was the first motorcycle manufacturer to sell a motorcycle exclusively online (the MH900), which cleared the way for new communication activities with live online streaming events such as the Ducati World Première, when a preview of the new model range is presented online.
Thanks to the investments made in recent years as well as important partnerships with for instance Salesforce – the world leader in digital platforms supporting Sales & Marketing activities – Ducati is ready to offer its fans innovative services that can be used remotely. It is possible to interact with the Dealer via chat or video call, book a test ride, configure a new motorcycle (also available via a QR Code in the price quotation) and the possibility to purchase Ebikes, apparel, sportswear and merchandising via the online store on shop.ducati.com.
The Customer can also register through MyDucati: the dedicated online section on Ducati.com, in order to retrieve previously saved motorcycle configurations to share them with friends and Customers will also soon also be able to manage Dealership appointments directly from the portal.
Digitalization is implemented to support the Dealer network.
For both the Sales and After-Sales areas, Ducati provides online training through a specific App with a highly effective and interactive approach. Every week micro contents will be provided, aimed at keeping the sales teams up to date on all the aspects of Customer relationship management and the related processes.
Ducati is also creating an important archive of contents and information which will allow the majority of Dealer training to be carried out online or through webcasts, in particular for the Service activities. For this important area of excellence for Ducati a paperless digital predictive maintenance program has been developed. An industry benchmark, which allows a certified digital overview of the assistance history of the vehicle but also a digital agenda and maintenance guidelines to be carried out.
Ducati is ready after this lockdown. Dealers are provided with adequate online tools and are enabled to welcome Customers safely, as soon as this will be possible again in various countries around the world.
