LSH Auto: Assuring compliance without the headache

LSH Auto Australia is one of the largest auto dealerships in the country. A subsidiary of the multinational LSH Auto International – a world leading premium automobile dealer group – the Australian arm was seeking a compliance-ready solution to its previously manual payments processes.

Having been exposed to Till by one of its own customers, Scott McMurray, Head of Finance, Insurance and Aftermarket at LSH Auto, immediately saw an opportunity to modernise the business’ payments processes, while improving efficiency and optimising its customer experience at the same time.

The results were priceless, with Scott achieving a PCI compliant payments workflow that reduced time taken to process payments by 23-fold, all the while improving Cx for remote payments.

A luxury heritage and premium service

Part of the world’s largest Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicle dealer group, LSH Auto has been in Australia for 6 years and now has 10 automotive retail outlets across three eastern seaboard capitals, employing over 500 staff.

Being a part of a luxury heritage, LSH Auto prides itself in its high benchmarks for excellence, particularly when it comes to its customers’ experience. Naturally, the business takes every opportunity to improve its client service outcomes and, with state-wide lockdowns affecting customers’ access to its retail stores, LSH Auto was faced with the challenge of how to offer remote payment options, while maintaining its high standards of service.

Uncovering a compliant solution to a modern challenge

A few years ago, Scott was tasked with auditing the organisation’s remote payments workflow for PCI compliance. While compliance was certainly achieved, the requirements created a convoluted, labour-intensive workflow, which relied on paper credit card authority forms and manual processes that could fall victim to human error.

Age-old manual processes also presented roadblocks for LSH Auto’s sales teams who were experiencing difficulties in converting leads into sales because of the siloed payments journey. Despite the fact that modernising its remote payments flow had been high on the priority list for LSH Auto for some time, the options presented to the business were limited, until Till.

An absolute no-brainer

After having been referred to Till by one of its customers in Brisbane, Scott was immediately intrigued by Till’s expertise as a payments solution provider for the automotive industry.

“At that stage, I couldn’t identify any other solutions that could meet our needs for remote payments – one that was secure and simple to use, for both the business and our customers. We’ve always been a compliance and customer-first business and for the nominal costs, Till’s intuitive, PCI compliant offering was an absolute no-brainer for us.” Scott McMurray said.

Purchasing to implementation was a rapid process. Scott and the team at LSH Auto had a clear-cut need for a payments solution that would optimise the business’ remote payments process and Till’s PayByLink was the answer.

A compliant solution with flow-on benefits for efficiency and CX

In nine months, the business has seen exponential gains in productivity and a massive reduction in admin time since implementing Payment Links. The time taken for processing remote payments has gone down to a minute and a half from 35 minutes and customer experience outcomes have been improved.

“In addition to the demonstrable benefits we’ve seen to the business, Till’s solution has enabled us to enhance our customers’ experience. We’re able to offer our customers the convenience of purchasing a car or organising a car servicing from the comfort of their own home, all the while giving them the assurance that their data is held securely within a PCI compliant workflow.”

As a result of lockdown measures, PayByLink also enabled LSH Auto to pivot quickly, maintaining its operations in Sydney and Melbourne, where business managers were able to pivot and work with the Brisbane arm of the business within 36 hours. In locked down states, the business saw a 300-400% increase in the number of payments processed through PayByLink.

As its in-store operations safely return to business-as-usual, LSH Auto has now remotely enabled aftersales service requests, including refunds and servicing, with PayByLink, allowing customers to experience a seamless and simple process from wherever they might be.

For its sales team, PayByLink’s instantaneous capability continues to enhance the car purchasing journey, helping to maintain the emotional attachment that customers experience when going through the process and, in turn, improving the business’ sales conversion rates.

Interested in seeing how a compliant payments solution can enhance your business? Get in touch with a member of our team here.