While selling worldwide through distributors in the U.S. and Canada and directly to customers overseas, Micromold’s highly skilled engineers maintain a personal connection with their customers and are equipped to solve tough problems with creative, specialized solutions. For custom clients, it’s not uncommon to find these engineers sketching an idea on the back of a napkin, creating a solution with the most modern design and analysis tools, and then manufacturing it in their own facility. Micromold’s design and custom capabilities, coupled with their line of specialty services for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) makes them easy to do business with.
Challenges: Placeholder Website Leads to Missed Business Opportunities
Art Lukach, President of Micromold Products, never expected the Web to have such a profound impact on the industrial marketplace, let alone his business. Historically, customers and prospects learned more about them through industry directories like the former Thomas Register of American Manufacturers, and print catalog mailings. This outreach led prospects to pick up the phone, ask questions, and make a purchase. Now, everyone turned to the Internet to perform these functions, and Micromold knew they had to be part of this online world.
The Internet, in fact, had become a strategic priority: Micromold had set a goal of increasing penetration of the process industries – both nationally and internationally – and needed to leverage the reach of the Internet to make it happen.
“The Web offered a way to present Micromold in a different light – something that we could never do on paper,” said Mr. Lukach. “It provided a niche company, like us – one that could not afford large advertising and sales programs – the opportunity to get our information out there.”
And, if they were able to achieve high search engine rankings and continuously manage their own website content, they believed they could make an impact.
However, utilizing the Web was no small task for Micromold. When the Web was introduced, they had established a “placeholder” website because “we really didn’t know what to do,” said Mr. Lukach. But there were problems with this site: Because of the unstructured content, it didn’t show up easily through Web searches. And the product information “undersold” the company’s capabilities, and was likely turning some qualified prospects away.
Micromold didn’t know how all the product information they had on paper could make its way to a new website, and if it could be done with a limited marketing budget. The company – with only a small inside customer service/salesforce – was eager find a way to translate print materials into content on their site that was easy to navigate, readable, cohesive, and most importantly, appealing to their prospects and customers, and helpful to their distributors. Mr. Lukach realized their site could be an invaluable resource, and he was determined to make it an effective sales channel.
Solution: More Structured and Relevant Website Content Having worked with the former Thomas Register of American Manufacturers since the company’s inception, it seemed natural to contact ThomasNet’s consultants to help Micromold vet its current website and all of their documents, and organize important information in a compelling, attractive manner. Mr. Lukach was amazed at how actively and closely they worked with them to identify a solution. “They were really a dumping ground for all the pieces of paper that we could produce and give to them, and they sorted it all out,” he said. “They blew my mind.”
Together, ThomasNet’s Web Solutions team of engineers and industrial sales experts set out to make the site more than a simple transfer of information. Since ThomasNet’s engineers have “been there, done that,” they understand that today’s manufacturing environment requires websites to act as industrial suppliers’ 24/7 salesforce – helping them to reach qualified customers and prospects, assure them that they have the products and services they need, and engage them to place an order. For Micromold, it was also essential that distributors and end users could easily navigate the site and find the products they need. With that in mind, ThomasNet added an online catalog to the site, which better structured Micromold’s product-oriented content. And to support the company’s goal of increasing international business, ThomasNet made the new site multilingual.
With the site’s homepage and general information – available in English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese – plus detailed content in English, Micromold’s inside salesforce and customer service team were able to facilitate more productive “online conversations” with current and prospective customers, especially overseas. From the homepage to the catalog, distributors and end users were able to find what they were looking for by either clicking an image or performing a very specific search on some of Micromold’s most popular plastic fluid handling products such as strainers, pipes, tubes and fittings, valves and tanks, which attracted major corporations and smaller corporations for these niche products. From there, they were able to delve into higher levels of detail on the products of their choice (pipe sizes, ring types, bolt-hole diameters and other characteristics of multiple types of gaskets, spacers, and flanges, for example).
The highly specific site content also made it easier for qualified prospects to find Micromold’s site through ThomasNet.com and more general search engines. For example, a medical equipment manufacturer found Micromold’s strainers strictly through the Web. “I can’t believe they would have heard of us or that product. That would not have happened without ThomasNet – no question,” added Mr. Lukach.
To make sure the site continued to provide new and accurate information for sales, ThomasNet added their Navigator content management system to Micromold’s website. Mr. Lukach was able to manage and update all their content, which is something he “never thought was possible or would be easy and efficient to maintain.”
Results: Site Helps Boost Distributor Sales by 12 Percent a YearSince launching ThomasNet’s online catalog in early 2007, Micromold has expanded at a phenomenal rate. They’re averaging two to three inquires from the website each day, and about $1,000 per order. “A custom order from a major U.S. manufacturer for $250,000 was a direct result of the new website,” commented Mr. Lukach. “This opportunity would not have come to us in any shape or form if it wasn’t for the Web.”
In the past, the company’s typical growth rate for sales through distributors was about five to six percent. Now, sales of Micromold’s distributor products are increasing at a rate of about 12 percent a year. “We attribute this increase to ThomasNet,” Mr. Lukach said.
The new website and content have exceeded Micromold’s expectations and propelled the company “into the big leagues.” ThomasNet has “launched” them into the export business, and they have received orders from countries such as Japan, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Hungary, Dubai, South Africa, Singapore, Australia, Peru, Ireland and the U.K. Jodi Rivera, Office Manager at Micromold, notes, “We have a lot of export business due to our new website. We’ve never done international business prior to ThomasNet, so now we’re gearing up for more export business next year.”
With the rebuild, new doors continue to open for Micromold. They have received numerous calls from prospective buyers and distributors from aerospace to medical products saying they never would have known Micromold made strainers, or that a certain product line existed, if it weren’t for their new website. Customers and distributors even call to tell them “they love” the website. Plus, their marketing and sales efforts have been much simpler since they can now interact with new customers using the website, instead of having to resort to faxing literature or sending it out in the mail. “It certainly makes things easier, and speeds up and refines the process of selling,” said Mr. Lukach.
“Our company’s reputation in the industry – to both end users and distributors – has been dramatically enhanced because of ThomasNet,” Mr. Lukach added. “This close-knit industry has told us how impressed they are with the catalog. We’re the whole package now.”
