Paradigma works with a broad network of specialist partners in customer service. This network obtains information about the products, their installation, maintenance and troubleshooting via Paradigma's service hotline. Peak times on the hotline and the desire for a high degree of digitalization led Paradigma to introduce a digital assistant called Sunny together with msg.
Customer
Paradigma is a brand of Ritter Energie- und Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG and is one of the leading system providers for regenerative heating technology. Headquartered in Dettenhausen near Tübingen, the company develops, produces and supplies high-quality ecological heating systems for new builds and modernization in detached and semi-detached houses. Paradigma works with over 600 trade partners in Germany in order to always be able to offer its customers a local contact.
Initial situation
Paradigma is primarily a manufacturer of regenerative heating systems. The company relies on specialist partners to provide services for customers, such as installing and maintaining the systems or rectifying faults. The tradesperson on site contacts Paradigma Service to clarify questions and obtain recommendations for action. However, many of the experts have retired in recent years and the shortage of skilled workers is also making itself felt on the part of the service companies. As a result, new specialists have a greater need for information than existing ones. In response to the shortage of skilled workers, it was necessary to make customer service more efficient.
Challenge
Paradigma was therefore keen to simplify the service process and thereby generate a decisive advantage for its customers. The aim was to offer local specialist retail partners a digital solution that provides targeted information and instructions on the specific situation on a tablet or smartphone. The choice fell on the Neo Enterprise Assistant Platform (NEAP), a digital assistant from msg. “msg understood our needs right from the start and, with its wealth of experience, presented us with a mature solution that works exactly as we had hoped,” says Jochen Stein, Head of Services at Paradigma. From September 2022 to March 2023, the companies worked together to realize the implementation project.
Solution
Following a kick-off, in which responsibilities, procedures and objectives were defined, Paradigma employees received initial training on how to use the SaaS solution. In the next step, the realization and implementation of NEAP in Paradigma's systems began. The aim was to provide the platform in such a way that tradespeople can use it to make targeted and intuitive enquiries about values and data.
The digital assistant supports the queries with quick replies and AI-based intent recognition. This enables it to solve the question in the shortest possible time and provide a targeted answer. It was important to create the interfaces to the existing databases, in particular from the existing SAP ERP system and Excel tables, and to maintain these centrally and up-to-date in just one place.
The chatbot Sunny can then obtain information on specific questions from the data on topics such as maintenance, contact details, diagnostic information or exhaust gas values and answer them in writing. The msg team then provided the channel for transmitting the information.
NEAP is an omnichannel solution that can be used across all channels. Paradigma initially opted for a chat interface on the website and WhatsApp for Business as the channel. With one of the most popular and well-known messenger formats, Paradigma deliberately focused on the user experience, but also on accessibility from both tablet and smartphone.
Benefits
The introduction of NEAP has already had positive effects at Paradigma after just a few weeks. The digital assistant is already being used by many trade partners and supports them in their day-to-day work.
They receive the information relevant to them faster and more efficiently around the clock, without having to wait in the service queues for a long time. The service hotline staff are relieved and can now concentrate on cases that require particular explanation or are unusual. And end customers benefit from a faster service and from the fact that faults can usually be rectified directly on the first visit by a tradesperson. “Both the NEAP product and the collaboration with msg are characterized by a very high degree of flexibility. This has enabled us to adapt the solution optimally to our individual requirements and thus offer our partners great added value in terms of service,” explains Hanna Disch, Digitalization Officer at Paradigma.
Outlook
The msg and Paradigma teams are currently carrying out ongoing monitoring and controlling in order to record the number of inquiries and success rates and at the same time to find out where the bot can still be improved. The plan is to add further functions in the medium term and to further expand the platform at Paradigma. For example, there are plans for the chatbot Sunny to issue specific operating instructions.
It is also conceivable that the omnichannel potential of the solution will be utilized and additional channels connected. In addition to WhatsApp for Business and the chat interface on the website, the digital assistant could transmit information via social media or even by telephone - all of this would be possible almost at the touch of a button.
What's more, in future, answers and solutions could be sent to tradespeople not only in text and voice form, but also with images or videos, for example.