DSB – The enabler or disabler A qualitative study of the transforming of the relationship between Volvo CE and their dealers

Abstract

It is relatively easy to control how a company’s brand is being used within the company, but it becomes more complicated with external business partners that are promoting and selling products that are connected to the brand. Companies use different course of actions regarding how they approach this dilemma. The purpose with this master thesis is to analyze how the implementation of a new information channel (the Dealer Site Builder application) have effect on the relationship between Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE) and their local dealers, and how the Dealer Site Builder (DSB) application can be used to develop the relationship in the future. To examine the dealers’ perception of the DSB there is a focus on web design aspects. To study the transformation of the relationship the focus lies on two different aspects of the relationship, branding and trust, and how these aspects are affected. In addition to this, interviews with employees at VCE and Volvo Information Technology (VIT) have been performed in order to gather background information regarding the purpose of the DSB application and how the DSB can develop the relationship in the future. The result showed that all of the interviewed dealers were of the opinion that the DSB offered a clean design that gave a professional impression. This study has shown that all dealers were very satisfied with the product information that concerns VCE’s products. When discussing negative aspects, all of the interviewed dealers expressed a disappointment regarding the possibility to promote non-competitive products. A majority of the dealers requested a more distinct local connection on the DSB. The trust that a majority of the interviewed dealers have in VIT and VCE is high. The high level of trust offers a foundation that VCE can proceed from when informing about the possibilities with the DSB. The implementation of the DSB is still at an early stage, and the level of trust is high, but it is important that VCE acts in a way that maintains and creates future trust. When discussing branding, all of the interviewed dealers stated that they thought that the Volvo brand was strong and that they could derive advantages from being associated with it. Finally, it is important to underline that we think that the DSB will be successful if it continues to develop in a direction that fulfills both the dealers’ and VCE’s needs. It is important to make the dealers understand the possibilities with the Volvo-provided dealer site; otherwise they may not see the actual value of it. The awareness will be decisive for the success of the DSB since there is a large possibility that the whole project will fail if the dealers do not use the DSB. The DSB needs to be improved continuously in order to develop according to the dealers´ needs and thereby becoming a tool that is being used in the dealers’ everyday work.