In 1967, Joe Albert and Henry F. Hines, Jr. bought the business. Mr. Hines' son, Hank Hines, joined the company straight out of college and today is president of the company. Even in that executive position, Mr. Hines continues relationships with customers that he's personally serviced for decades. A self described "Jack-of-All-Trades," he still takes orders directly, garners direct feedback on products and answers customer questions whenever he can.
In fact everyone on Orr and Orr's 14-person-staff has a role in the sales process, from prospecting at trade shows to making cold calls to showcasing new stock to existing customers. They work from an 18,000 square foot warehouse in Chicago to service a widely diverse customer base – from the likes of Lockheed Martin to much smaller enterprises. And the customers' technology savvy is no different, from those who are at the cutting edge, to those who still keep receipts in shoeboxes.
Challenges: How to Keep Relevant with Existing Customers and Develop New Business with Prospects
Orr & Orr's growth goals are measured, according to Mr. Hines. "Even though we don't need to be the biggest guy we always want to grow, no doubt about it. My goals are to maintain a good customer base and to keep everybody employed. But you don't grow where you can't service your existing customers. I want to grow with those customers, and bring new customers in too."
Historically, Orr & Orr relied on a printed catalog to generate business. The 180-page catalog of cargo restraint equipment, gas springs, seats, fans, vents and more is a significant line item in the company's budget, costing about $70,000 to produce 20,000 at a time. Yet, by the nature of an annual print catalog, one or more products were inevitably outdated as soon as it was published.
Furthermore, Orr & Orr's customers were migrating online, seeking a better, faster and more modern experience when seeking niche hardware and supplies. Mr. Hines felt he was missing out on ways to offer more, or alternative, items to existing customers. If Orr & Orr could be a better resource for clients by answering customer questions online, by providing technical statistics or pricing information, it might open an avenue to both cross-sell and up-sell.
Thirdly, he wanted to use the website to attract prospects that had never heard of Orr & Orr. Perhaps, the company was missing out on new sales opportunities because it wasn't showing up on standard Google or Yahoo! searches.
Solution: "Opening a Window" to the Business, Engaging Existing and New Customers in Real-time
Hank Hines and his team already trusted the Thomas name as "the industrial tool everyone used" from years of advertising in Thomas Register, or as he called it, the "green books." They carried that trust to ThomasNet, the new generation of Thomas Register. His team was confident that the cutting edge online technology offered by ThomasNet would catapult the Orr & Orr website into the future, replicating the customer experience by working as a 24/7 online sales channel.
Mr. Hines worked hand-in-hand with his sales representative and the web solutions group at ThomasNet to build a new online catalog based on his 180 page printed version. With thousands of items from brake controls to roof sealants to hinges, mirrors and plumbing equipment in his inventory, all sourced from hundreds of manufacturers, the online version of Orr & Orr's catalog provides the most up-to-date offerings of the specific niche products customers need. Mr. Hines himself worked closely with ThomasNet to post photos and information of thousands of items in his inventory. Now, as that inventory evolves, the online catalog keeps up with the changes in real-time.
The new online catalog also gives more control to the customer. The customer can "drill down" in the website to search for items based on keyword or item number. One of the most popular features since moving online is the compare function, allowing buyers to evaluate five items at a time, according to certain variables. This ends the frustration that Mr. Hines and his customers faced previously, having to toggle between pages to compare specifications. "It's a wonderful thing," Hank Hines said. "If somebody calls and needs a widget, I get online with them, and we find it together."
Orr & Orr also deployed a new e-commerce technology through ThomasNet – giving customers the chance to place a Request for Information/Quote, and to order products directly from the site. This function is especially helpful for customers buying in bulk who can negotiate a volume price discount in real-time. For a distributor like Orr & Orr, these features, plus express ordering and an automated shipping calculator are services both existing and prospective customers expect, that they now provide.
Thanks to in-depth content and a technology that allows Orr & Orr's products and services to be found easily by search engines, Hines is showing up on all of the major search engines, attracting new customers from around the world.
Results: An Explosion in Online Orders and a Pipeline of New Customers
Right away Orr & Orr's new online catalog delivered even more than Mr. Hines expected, with a marked increase of activity on the company website. What Mr. Hines describes as an "explosion" of visibility that Orr & Orr received since updating the online catalog has led to increased market share across his entire product catalog.
• An 81 percent increase in website user sessions in the first five months
after adding the online catalog resulting in more orders.
• In just five months the company realized a 72 percent increase in referrals to
the website coming through search engines.
• A five-fold increase in new online orders in the first five months, versus
before creating the online catalog.
• Cost savings of $70,000 from not printing a new catalog annually.
• Demonstrable savings in time by staff who can point customers to the website
for answers.
Mr. Hines considers the new website akin to having a salesman working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year around the world. As a small business owner with $4 million in revenue, this is no small feat. Indeed, he says the company's cost of sales are lowest when selling through the website.
"The online catalog levels the playing field for a small company like ours," said Mr. Hines. "The customer on the ‘other end' of the internet doesn't know how big we are – just the products that we have to offer. We can now attract them to our business and let our expertise take over."
