Let us understand the goals that motivated Ford to implement Data Cloud:

• Creation of a single source of truth for customer data: Ford lacked a single source of truth for customer data and had customer data in disparate systems. Different dealers using different systems were a challenge. They wanted to create a single source of truth for customer data.
• Unique customer profiles: Ford lacked unique customer profiles as customers used different channels to interact with the brand. Inability to uniquely identify customers led to unwanted marketing communications or wrong messaging.
• Simplify the customer journey: Ford wanted to streamline the customer journey to increase retention and loyalty.
• Measure customer satisfaction, customer engagement, and campaign effectiveness: Ford wanted dashboards that can help the management team understand customer satisfaction, customer engagement, and campaign effectiveness.
• Faster time to market: They wanted a solution that could be deployed in months rather than years. They wanted to go to market quickly with the new solution.

Impact of implementing Salesforce Data Cloud

The adoption of Salesforce Data Cloud resolved many of the challenges faced by Ford. With Data Cloud, Ford created trusted relationships with personalized customer experiences. It achieved the following as a result of adopting Salesforce solutions:

• Unified customer data, activated it across channels, and matched customers to engagement behaviors.
• Proactively updated customers about their vehicle delivery status with personalized emails and SMS messaging.
• Provided dealers with leads and intelligent insights into customer behavior that helped drive brand loyalty.
• Measured customer service quality, customer engagement, and campaign effectiveness with intuitive dashboards.
• Accelerated time to value with strategic guidance and personalized technical expertise.

Outcomes

The following business outcomes were observed as a result of Data Cloud implementation:

• 99% reduction in email templates.
• 55% simplification of the customer journey.
• The initial rollout took 4 months. So for the implementation to add value to the business, it took just 4 months—a significant achievement for the implementation team.

What we can learn from Ford’s experience

After understanding Ford’s experience with Data Cloud implementation, we can learn the following:

• It is possible to show value to the business within 6 months. Ford did it in 4 months.
• We can simplify the customer journey significantly, thereby reducing friction in the process and increasing customer satisfaction levels.
• Having unique customer profiles helps us engage customers on a personal level, which is not possible without the use of Data Cloud.