Building Passion on the Web

July 31, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Customer Service on August 2006 You can’t miss a MINI when you’re out on the road. The car, which got huge play in the film “The Italian Job,” stands out for its compact
proportions in a sea of SUVs. And MINI owners are part of a community along the lines of those who ride Harley Davidson motorcycles.

They’re passionate about the cars, and feel a sense of belonging that’s largely driven and facilitated by the Web site for MINI’s U.S. operation, miniusa.com, a site that serves as an object lesson on how the Web can link a product to a brick-and-mortar retail location and get
consumers excited about the goods they buy.

“We aren’t a car for everyone,” said Kate Alini,
customer experience manager for MINI USA.”We sell 38,000 cars a year, versus, say, Volkswagen, which could be at least 100,000. We’re looking for the MINI mindset.”

What’s the mindset? Modern, free-spirited, active and individualistic, and miniusa.com caters to all those characteristics.

Alini is responsible for all Internet and customer relationship management at MINI USA, and the Web has been a great vehicle for branding the company as the car for hip people who want to tailor a vehicle to their specifications.

“Our Web site has been critical from a prospecting perspective and getting people engaged with the brand and bringing them on through a sale,” said. “You can do that through direct mail, but it’s very costly.”



A System for Reaching Out

The Web also enables MINI USA to automatically reach out to potential and existing customers visiting miniusa.com.

“We have trigger streams we deploy to people who are interested in the product, but not yet ready to buy,” Alini said. “They’re based on what people do or don’t do on the Web site.”

Say a consumer visits MINI USA’s Web site, and wants to receive information about the MINI. They’d receive an e-mail about customer activities in their area, and an invitation to visit miniusa.com’s configuration page, where they can customize a MINI to their specifications, which include an array of color combinations and accents—you want the Union Jack on your MINI’s roof, you’ve got it—and typical add-on features such as CD players and interior options. Consumers can then send their personalized vehicle specifications to their nearest MINI dealer—with that reference also via the Web site.

“One in three people who configure a MINI and send it to a dealer buy a car,” Alini said. “We’re supplying those independent dealers with a qualified lead. If someone configures a car and hasn’t sent it to a dealer by a certain point, we follow up—we try to move them along to a purchase based on what they do or don’t do on the Web site.”

Following Up, Building Repeats

A year after consumers take delivery on their MINI, they get a “happy anniversary” e-mail, and information on MINI activities in their area, as well as an invitation to visit the “Owners Lounge” on the Web site.

“First of all, we want to ensure they’re happy with the purchase,” Alini said. “Second, we want to keep them engaged.”

The Owners Lounge serves as a forum for MINI owners to share experiences and organize for group activities. MINI USA also sponsors events such as a scavenger hunt, where owners compete for prizes. Last year’s first-prize winner received a trip to Italy for the MINI United event (picture the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.); the second-place contestant won a trip to the company’s production facility in Oxford, England.

With MINI USA five years into operation, some vehicle owners are ready for a new car, or might want to add another, and miniusa.com is a key to supplying that repeat business for its dealers. One of the Web site’s messages in that respect: “Tell your friends.”

“We’re trying to get people who own MINIs to be our brand advocates and talk to people they know about buying a MINI,” Alini said. “We have programs set up to get current owners to buy again or spread the word.”



The Lesson for Furniture

Could furniture retailers benefit from a MINI-like approach to Web-based communities and communication? As a furniture shopper herself, Alini’s answer is a definite “Yes.”

“I just bought a piece of furniture from Restoration Hardware, and because of the quick-ship program got it in two weeks,” she said. “When I bought a couch (at retail), it took a lot longer than expected. If the retailer had sent me some sort of communication during that time—an image of a swatch or wood finish—I’d have felt a lot better. I was holding off on painting our home until the piece arrived, and having that information in hand would have been helpful.”

Alini’s also a good example of the way Internet-savvy consumers use the Web for furniture shopping. She got as far as she could online, but wanted to see her prospective purchase in person to check on details such as the wood finish and dovetailed drawers.

“I spent three or four weeks looking for the piece,” she said of the dresser she ended up buying from Restoration Hardware. “I got it down to two pieces I was interested in, but was not about to buy it without seeing it myself. I called a Restoration Hardware store to make sure they had the pieces I was interested in, and my husband and I went to look at them. We went home, slept on it and made a decision.”

Alini did end up ordering from the store on the Web. The reason? Convenience.

“I bought online simply because I didn’t want to have to go back to the store,” she said. HFB