Deutsche Leasing AG and MHP – a long-standing and trusting partnership
Deutsche Leasing AG is a leading non-manufacturer-affiliated asset finance partner to German SMEs. For more than 60 years, the company – part of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (Sparkassen Finance Group) – has been offering customized capital procurement solutions for nearly all of the products and services that corporate customers require for their business.
In the mobility field, the company operates with Deutsche Leasing Mobility as an experienced partner to commercial customers of all sizes. Deutsche Leasing Mobility is one of the largest leasing companies of its kind.
To achieve long-term success in this competitive market, the company set the course for its transformation back in 2018 and brought MHP on board as a trusted advisor and sparring partner. After successfully developing a modern sales strategy and realigning its operational and organizational structures, it launched its latest joint project in 2022. The development of the S-Mobility Portal is enabling MHP and Deutsche Leasing to implement a non-manufacturer-affiliated vehicle configurator and calculator that is perfectly tailored to the needs of small fleet customers.
Portal into the future: a new touchpoint for vehicle leasing is created
How is the offer of a state-of-the-art leasing service focused on the needs of small commercial fleet customers created? This is achieved by enabling digital, self-determined and needs-based access. The idea for the S-Mobility Portal is born – in a team comprising Deutsche Leasing AG, its partners, and MHP; a team that had already worked together successfully over the challenging years of the pandemic.
Strategic preparations
Competitor analysis, Organizational structure and Operating processes
Successful projects start with a clear strategy. By working closely with employees and outside partners – including Sparkassen (German savings banks) and software vendors – our consultants developed a vision for the future.
Competitor analyses, interviews and process workshops provided valuable insights into requirements and potential opportunities. With the addition of a technology assessment, an architectural picture emerged that combines existing solutions with innovative extensions. The result is a future-proof IT infrastructure that meets current requirements and strengthens the Mobility business unit for the long term.
"MHP assisted us through the entire project, from idea generation to market launch, with a digitally savvy, highly competent and always motivated team. Thanks to their in-depth industry knowledge and technical expertise, our colleagues at MHP were able to break down complex structures, fulfill requirements with customer-focused solutions, and manage the many parties involved in line with objectives. We are grateful to MHP for the valuable stimulus they provided, the successful collaboration and their strong commitment."
Frank Hägele
Member of the management of Deutsche Leasing AG business unit Mobility
Building the platform: from IT architecture to AI content
A future-proof, scalable system solution was created in cooperation with our MHP experts on the basis of Deutsche Leasing AG’s existing ERP system. MHP directed the process of implementing the microservice platform and setting up the container environment and, together with the team at Deutsche Leasing AG, developed a scalable architecture that will enable growth and further development in the years to come. The MVP [minimum viable product] was developed in the cloud – efficient and secure.
Together with the financial services provider and the competent agencies, we adopted innovative approaches, even in our content development for the platform. Deutsche Leasing AG dispensed with the traditional photo and video shoots in favor of AI-based content creation using tools such as Midjourney and Synthesia. The results are used today in marketing campaigns and employee training courses relating to the platform. A pleasing additional benefit was that the use of modern AI tools made it possible to achieve the desired results considerably faster and more cost-effectively.
Iterative development: the prototype enters the testing phase
The MHP team began engaging in constructive feedback rounds with all relevant stakeholders and selected pilot savings banks as early as the development phase. This provided valuable tips for customer-oriented adjustments in order to quickly make the product ready for market. The pilot savings banks tested the S-Mobility Portal in practice, in a joint test phase, before the project team rolled it out. The MHP experts actively assisted in this phase as well, which made for a smooth start.
Professional self-service and a greater variety of offers to choose from
The Mobility business unit has now been operating the S-Mobility Platform independently. Here, end customers can configure vehicles through a self-service system and learn about more attractive offers than ever before.
The AI-based content for end customers, introduced for the first time in this project, will be used in the future in other Deutsche Leasing AG sales and marketing projects and in employee training. For example, our MHP team used AI-generated training videos to make more in-depth information efficiently and readily available at all times to process managers in sales & marketing and employees of the savings banks.
"Between 2022 and 2024 we played a key role in developing the S-Mobility Portal, putting it into operation and successfully rolling it out. We are especially proud of the high level of market acceptance the portal now enjoys. This project represents something very special for our team as we supported it from the very beginning and at all levels – and can now see the visible results of our work in the day-to-day operations of the German savings banks."
Steve Reichert
Senior Manager, MHP - A Porsche Company
Early successes of the S-Mobility Portal
- Significant increase in sales to small commercial fleet customers
- Significant reduction in unit and process costs
- Widespread connection of savings banks to the portal
- Continuous further development of the digital services since the portal went live
The S-Mobility Portal allows the savings banks and Deutsche Leasing to offer their small commercial fleet customers more than just a non-manufacturer-affiliated vehicle configurator. The portal also serves as a digital marketing platform for all German savings banks, creating the basis for sustainable growth in the commercial customer segment.
Want to make your marketing operations fit for the future? MHP can help with its many years of transformation experience and comprehensive digital expertise. Contact us for an individual consultation.
