LG Chem : introduces ‘Integrated Digital Sales’ for the First Time in the Petrochemical Industry

LG Chem introduces 'Integrated Digital Sales' for the First Time in the Petrochemical Industry

■ From product browsing to technical collaboration, collected on a digital CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform to:

- Integrate related but distributed tasks with DX (Digital Transformation)

- Check specialized information, real-time samples, and consult without a sales associate

- Investigate pain points for over 500 clients and solve them preemptively

■ Initial opening of non-face-to-face technological collaboration with ABS clients; will offer order and delivery services in the future

- Plans to expand the scope of service to all petrochemical products over time

- Will expand collaborations with domestic auto parts and home appliance manufacturers and clients in the United States and Europe

Associate A at an auto parts company came across LG Chem's sales website while struggling with the complicated material purchasing process. With just a few clicks, A was able to compare specialized information without going through a salesperson like before. As A requested technological collaboration from LG Chem Tech Center online, the real-time chat provided the sample arrival schedule.

LG Chem is launching integrated digital sales for the first time in the petrochemical industry.

Starting with a platform that enables contactless technical collaborations with clients, online ordering and delivery services will be available for all petrochemical products in the future.

On June 1, LG Chem announced that LG Chem On, a digital CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for its ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene*) clients, opened on May 26.

This strategy seeks to break away from the existing sales methods in the petrochemical industry that heavily rely on face-to-face business transactions.

The new approach will allow clients to find LG Chem products online easily and quickly.

*ABS: a high-performance plastic with excellent heat resistance and impact resistance

Until now, clients that produce home appliances or automobile parts had to use separate channels for each step to order ABS materials from petrochemical companies.

For example, they would register as a client by e-mail, conduct business for technical collaboration in person, and call the associate in charge to check their delivery status.

Due to the operation of different business channels, clients struggled through slow decision-making processes and the lack of access to information.

LG Chem analyzed pain points collected from over 500 clients and created LG Chem On, focusing on ① quick product browsing ② real-time/contactless service and ③ easier access to specialized information.

For building the system, LG Chem collaborated with Salesforce, a CRM solution company.

LG Chem is the first global petrochemical company to provide customer touchpoint services through a platform.

Supporting customer's quick decision-making by browsing customized information

LG Chem On helps customers make decisions quickly with customized product recommendations.

Suppose you want to make automobile parts using LG Chem's ABS, access LG Chem On and look up the detailed pages for the relevant field.

At a glance, you can view recommended products for each part and check out the current status of automotive OEM materials that can be used in each region.

Through the single Digital CRM channel, clients can organically communicate with over 150 associates at LG Chem, including the staff at the research center, eight sales teams, and two technical teams in the ABS division.

If you have a desired color for the ABS material, you can also search for the product with an image.

For instance, once you upload a photo of a silver-colored refrigerator on the website, LG Chem's color library will extract its colors and recommend similar colored materials. It is the first petrochemical company to provide a service that searches for products based on the color in images.

Addressing customer inconvenience through real-time consultation, delivery tracking, and contactless service

Through LG Chem On, all services are provided in real-time and contactless ways. LG Chem has also set up notifications to inform clients of their progress, such as when samples are sent, and installed a live chat customer service system. Since petrochemical clients have found it most inconvenient that they cannot check the status of samples, they are responding positively to this update.

Company B, a home appliance manufacturer that has used the LG Chem On system, said, "There were a lot of inquiries within our company about when samples would arrive, and we had to make separate phone calls to find out. By checking our status and inquiries online, we were able to save a lot of time. "

Providing the insights clients want through better access to specialized information

The website was upgraded so that it's easy to look up specialized information that had to be inquired to sales associates.

On the pages that introduce ABS division's 103 top products, visitors can browse through the detailed characteristics of materials with photos and graphs.

It has significantly improved access to information, allowing the search of numerical values such as heat resistance, impact strength, and fluidity and enabling the comparison of physical properties between selected products. LG Chem aims to become a strategic partner that creates the desired values of customers by proactively resolving their pain points.

By supporting English and Chinese, LG Chem On is expected to accelerate the attraction of new clients and strengthen relationships with existing clients in the US, China, and Europe.

The service will be expanded to ordering and delivery by the end of this year and incorporate all divisions of the Petrochemical Company, including NCC, PO, PVC/plasticizers, acrylics/SAP, HPM, and CNT.

"In the past, it was an 'inside-out' method that considered how to sell the products and technologies we have, but now we need an 'outside-in' mindset that thinks from the clients' point of view," said Department Leader WEONJOO MOON of the Digital Transformation Department at LG Chem's Petrochemical Company. "We will create customer value in various ways in this era of digital transformation," he added.