Scott’s Office: A Marketing Plan Driven by the Internet
Scott’s Office Equipment
Client Profile
October 2004
A Marketing Plan Driven By the Internet
In 1995, after many years as an office equipment service professional, Giles Scott left the corporate world to found Scott's Office Equipment (SOE) from his garage. Nearly ten years later and Giles business has grown from a one-man shop to 19 employees operating from a 4,800 square foot space in Rohnert Park, California. Scott's Office Equipment is a full-line dealership servicing Napa, Sonoma, Marin, plus Solano County cities Vallejo and Benicia. The company provides sales and service for Savin, Ricoh, Gestetner, Lanier, Hewlett Packard and Okidata products.
Years of work in the service and sales departments of the office products industry imbued Giles with a deep appreciation for the needs of the end-user and their equipment. “Office copiers, printers and fax machines are the last things business people want to deal with when they malfunction—they should work and if anything goes wrong, a technician should be available promptly and able to fix the machine without major disruption to the office.”
When SOE, the North Bay Biz Magazine's Reader Poll winner "2004 Best Office Equipment Dealer,” decided to revamp its marketing program, owner Giles knew he wanted to drive more of his business through his Web site and the Internet. He had several objectives in mind:
"So many of our customers are online these days that it just made sense to build-out and enhance the value of our site..."
- Make his Web site at the center of all marketing and provide as much information online as possible
- Maximize this Internet presence by integrating Web-based marketing tools for tasks such as eMarketing
- Find solutions that would save time, cut costs and be as customer friendly as possible
- Work with a like-minded service-oriented technology partner
Building An Online Store Front
“So many of our customers are online these days that it just made sense to build-out and enhance the value of our site. I wanted as much information as possible to be presented to help customers. Let them see product and warranty information, service expectations and pricing.”
Working with Net-Flow in Napa, California, Giles outlined a new online storefront from the scratch. The teams set design objectives, mapped-out required content and determined optimal navigation. The framework put in place took into consideration planned upgrades and future needs, plus added functionality for a growing business. Seeking to make his new Web site more than just a static advertorial, Giles added Net-Flow NOW, a hosted modular platform that extends the functionality of a Web site and all operations touched by the Web.
The Content-NOW module allows me to update site content in just a few clicks via a special HTML browser...
Giles also added Contacts-NOW as the underlying database to power his customer relations and interaction activities, plus Communication-NOW for eMarketing and eNewsletter initiatives. The Contacts-NOW modules ensures that customer data is a captured and logged in a secure master company database.
Benefits NOW
The NOW suite is comprised of 4C modules – Content-NOW (Web site update/administration), Commerce-NOW (eCommerce and shopping cart operations), Contacts-NOW (customer relations/contact management) and Communication-NOW (eMarketing/eNewsletters). Combined, the NOW suite puts the immediacy and power of everyday marketing and maintenance into the hands of non-techie users at small and mid-sized businesses.
Giles uses Content-NOW on an ad-hoc basis to make site updates including posting news releases, new product information, awards and a monthly ‘tips and tricks’ newsletter. Having his site current has greatly helped traffic and customer inquiries – especially when inquiries are routed through Giles’ call center operation.
Real time help has greatly pleased our customers and gives them the power o make more informed and timely decisions.
“We recently updated our customer service and call center operations, so when a customer contacts us we’re able to confidently and immediately direct him or her to the information desired on our site -- whether it’s information on a service call request, order placement or product inquiry. NOW essentially lets us to provide real time help which has greatly pleased our customers and gives them the power o make more informed and timely decisions.”
Using the Contacts-NOW database and Communicate-NOW modules, Giles is planning to initiate a new customer relations outreach program. “We’re laying the groundwork for this outreach right now. I’m looking forward to communicating with my customers in helpful ways – reminding them to re-stock toner, proving information on equipment meter readings, even letting them know about specials and promotions we’re running.”
For Scott’s Office Equipment, continuing to offer the best in customer service was key to any new marketing plan and certainly the introduction of any new technology tools. The Net-Flow NOW platform allows SOE to gain a 360-degree view of his customer, capturing important interaction details and customer data.
Net-Flow NOW modules may be integrated with existing or in-house-designed Web sites so there is no need to invest in a new site.
The NOW suite puts the immediacy and power of everyday marketing and site maintenance into the hands of non-techie users at small and mid-sized businesses. Affordable and easy-to-ease, Content-NOW empowers non-Web designers to quickly and easily manage and update site content via a Web-based HTML editor. Communication-NOW helps users implement, manage and track eMarketing and eNewsletter programs. Commerce-NOW gives the power of eCommerce and shopping cart operations. Contacts-NOW lies at the base of the NOW platform, storing all customer relations/contact management.
Scott’s Office Equipment, Inc,
100 Professional Center Drive
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
phone: (707) 584-3995
www.scottsoffice.com
