Founder John Nappi, Sr. didn’t have to be told twice. In response to his wife, he developed a commercial shoe brush machine—today, it’s that very same shoe brush machine that gave rise to Liberty Industries. Known globally as the “contamination expert company,” Liberty Industries has since launched products for any industry requiring a clean environment. Liberty’s client list includes a range of businesses from nuclear power plants to bakeries. Tacky Mat®, an ultra-sticky sheet that catches dirt on the bottom of shoes, is just one of over 2,000 products that the company’s 23 employees manufacture and distribute to enterprises worldwide.
Challenge: Tapping into new markets and industries that they never knew existed
Liberty Industries has long appreciated that success hinges upon buyer behavior. “Our prospects aren’t waiting for us to come to their door,” says Bob Kaiser, President. “They need to be able to find us on their terms when they’re ready for our products.”
Anticipating prospective buyers’ needs and their approach to locating contamination control products is Liberty Industries’ primary challenge. The company markets itself as a one-stop-shop for OEMs, maintenance professionals and distributors: over 30 percent of its business is as an OEM supplier to customers like NASA, who depend on Liberty’s laminar flow benches. Tacky Mats® sales account for another 25 percent of business. The resale of typical items used in contamination control, such as gloves, garments and cleaning solutions, is achieved through Liberty’s network of 25 distributors.
“We rely on repeat customers,” Mr. Kaiser adds. “We may design a clean room once, but we’ll service our customers’ monthly supply needs on an ongoing basis.” Liberty Industries formerly pursued new business prospects by producing a large printed catalog, and through print advertising, direct mail and listings in The Thomas Register of American Manufacturers.
Yet, just as its own products have evolved to meet the requirements of its customers, so too has its sales and marketing approaches. Indeed, Liberty Industries was ahead of the curve in the 1990’s when, with the help of ThomasNet, it transformed its traditional print catalog by migrating it online. Today Liberty Industries’ customers expect more than an online product showcase, but look for an interactive tool that mimics the sales process that once took place on the telephone or in person. “There’s no doubt that our prospects and clients want to be online,” said Cathy Albano, Director of Channel Development for Liberty Industries. “The internet is the first place they turn to research their requirements. And if they find what they’re looking for there, odds are they’ll make the purchase online too.”
Solution: A Website Designed to Surface New Business Opportunities and Replicate the Traditional Offline Sales Process ThomasNet’s Web Solutions serve as the foundation for Liberty Industries’ integrated, online sales strategy. Teams from each organization worked hand-in-hand to transfer Liberty’s printed information into an online catalog, targeting Liberty’s client base with sharp language and accessible information. By building on ThomasNet’s Navigator Platform technology, Liberty Industries is able to continuously enhance its website. Using back end tools, Liberty can seamlessly add products, pricing and technical specs in real time.
“We know most buyers want to be anonymous when searching online and we let them,” says Mr. Kaiser. “Our rich, searchable content allows them to find us, but we don’t try and get in their way with registration forms or requiring contact information. We just give them the information they need at the time they need it.”
Liberty Industries has also developed a prominent presence on ThomasNet.com, the destination website for industrial buyers and sellers, including those interested in contamination control products. Sharing company news at ThomasNet News, a resource for buyers of industrial products and services, further attracts clients.
“The ability to communicate to the market all the great news about Liberty helps position us as a company that is constantly changing to meet our clients’ needs,” Ms. Albano said. “When ThomasNet picks up our news release we often field responses within a day, some of which turn into orders, others begin a new relationship with a customer we may never have been able to find otherwise.”
Once the prospect visits the online catalog, it is easy to navigate and lead him to the products that best meet his needs. For example, a prospective customer can search from among 15 product categories or, for some products like air showers and pass throughs, conduct an advanced search based on a number of variables like size and weight. The online catalog allows prospects to compare similar products on one screen, and view detailed specs and images to help them make better decisions. If a prospect requires more information he can submit “Requests for Information” with a simple click of the mouse.
Within the last year Liberty Industries added several new features to its website to better service customers. A new e-commerce feature with a shopping cart and express ordering makes the
purchasing process even easier, as well as introducing a “Click to Call” feature to help address technical questions in real time through live web chats.
Results: Web is “Best Salesperson and Largest Single Sales Channel”Since moving their catalog online and enhancing the purchasing processes, Liberty Industries has steadily built a robust pipeline of new business. “Our website has become a powerful player; it now represents 40 percent of our annual sales. It’s our best salesperson and largest sales channel,” Ms. Albano says.
Some of the new and unexpected business she attributes solely to the new web presence with ThomasNet includes:
• Ford Motor Company purchased a half dozen custom air showers for its automotive paint process to remove particles from windshields in order to minimize contamination as the new cars come off the production line.
• A major defense contractor submitted an RFQ through the online catalog for five laminar flow benches.
• A regional bakery that they’d never before considered, purchased one of Liberty’s Bulldog Shoe Cleaners, a heavy duty brush to decontaminate shoes, after finding it online and even visited Liberty’s offices the next day to pick it up personally.
The new business the company is attracting from the deep content on its new website isn’t limited by geography and is coming from overseas as well – from Costa Rica to Singapore. An automotive manufacturer in Mexico found Liberty Industries online and purchased $60,000 of its custom air showers. The entire process was executed online, without any person-to-person conversation. This new customer continues to purchase other products and accessories from Liberty.
Since going online, Liberty Industries has seen a record number of Requests for Quotes (RFQs). They have 80 to 100 open RFQs every month from customers searching online for products. Plus, the RFQs come from qualified leads, as over 40 percent of them convert to orders, including many repeat orders. “That is a phenomenal return on investment,” Ms. Albano adds.
The requests are also helping Liberty’s distributors. On a recent Sunday night, the company set up a new distributor to take orders through its website. The next day, the new distributor was already getting questions about the product. “He actually called me and said, ‘What did you do to your Web site because I’ve already gotten two calls and an order on your product and no one even knew that I was carrying your product yet!’” Ms. Albano recounts.
As Liberty Industries works to meet the evolving needs of customers and prospects, they use ThomasNet Web Traxs® analytics to monitor website visitor interests and behaviors. Such back-end tools have shown Liberty how and what their prospects are seeking on the site—with this information in mind, the company has expanded its product line to include infection control and fire retardant products.
“ThomasNet shares our philosophy that success depends on listening to and meeting the needs of customers. Working with ThomasNet has been the number-one driver of new business for our firm. We couldn’t have done it without them,” says Mr. Kaiser.
If you are interested in learning about the successes of other ThomasNet clients, go to
www.promoteyourbusiness.thomasnet.com or call (800) 879-6757.
March 30, 2010
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