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CASE STUDY:  
J.J. KANE AUCTIONEERS

In this case study, you’ll discover how I led the organization in developing and implementing an innovative vision including custom software and advanced marketing systems that significantly expanded the customer base, streamlined operations, and drove 100% growth.

Background

I was hired by Altec, Inc. who had recently acquired J.J. Kane Auctioneers, a large utility, construction, and fleet vehicle auctions company. I was brought in to help modernize the organization with a focus on marketing and auction operations.

At the time I was hired, the operation was run primarily using Access and Excel spreadsheets. Most processes were manual and cumbersome and it was difficult to gather info for auction items coming up for sale. By the time information was available to customers, there were typically only a few days remaining before a sale took place. Very little buzz was being generated and buyer and revenue growth were both flat.

From an operations standpoint, customers had to wait in long lines before and after a sale. Cumbersome procedures made it difficult and time-consuming to buy something 
which damaged overall customer satisfaction. People would comment that they were happy that they bought something but hated what they had to go through to get it.

There were external pressures as well. Competitors were increasing both in number and size. Sellers were requesting things that the business could not deliver and they were beginning to lose market share.

They needed to modernize the entire operation to expand their customer base and they needed to do it fast. With several years of experience building custom systems for businesses from the ground up and a track record of success, I was hired and asked to lead the effort.

I was responsible for developing a transformational vision, strategy, and roadmap to modernize the organization and to manage the complete implementation and support for that strategy.
  • Strategy Sample
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These images are from a presentation that I gave within the first 60 days of my tenure outlining our vision

Business Platform Innovation and Modernization

Define the Platform Vision, Strategy, and Roadmap

My first task was to define the company’s vision and strategy. At the highest level, our primary objective was to expand our customer base and improve the customer experience.

I have broken out some of our initial priorities below.

Operations - Developed plans for building a central data store for storing auction and item information including apps to capture that information from 15 different locations across the US. Made plans to improve company-wide communication and provide customers with a portal that would allow them to review current and past marketing and sales activities.

Marketing - Designed a custom website to automatically display item information captured in the field based on certain criteria. Developed a comprehensive strategy to 
transition to digital advertising channels. Developed new strategies to capture leads along with automated workflows to assign them to the sales team. Developed a strategy for analytics and selected relevant KPIs for tracking our progress. Developed criteria for selecting CRM and Marketing Automation software to support the strategy.

Sales - We designed workflows for assigning new leads to team members. We developed plans to track opportunities, issues, and the history of all customer interactions with the business. And, we set criteria for sales pipeline and a way to track incentives for sales staff.

Our feeling at the time was that if we implement these changes effectively, that we could double the size of the company within 5 years and propel the business to be the #2 player in the utility equipment and fleet auction industry in the same timeframe.
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These images are samples from a presentation that I gave 1 year later further outline our approach.

Create Digital Marketing Infrastructure

Once our vision was clear, we began executing our plan and putting the necessary infrastructure in place.

I led the effort in selecting, implementing, customizing, and supporting Salesforce as our CRM platform to provide valuable tools to the sales team, streamline all customer touchpoints, and drive new business.

We also used it as a central data store to house information about the auctions, including auction-level data and item-level information. We installed a media server to deliver
images, videos, etc.

In conjunction with Salesforce, we integrated HubSpot to track customer interactions and make all customer touchpoints readily available to all levels of the organization.

And to complete this phase, we developed an internal mobile app to allow field personnel to take pictures and enter data for each of the items that were coming up for sale and store the information on our central servers.
  • Mobile App
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Images include samples from our mobile app, Salesforce, and HubSpot

Develop Marketing Solutions

Once the infrastructure was in place, we developed a custom website that would automatically market the information to customers based on preset criteria including a sales approval process.

Previously, we had only been able to market items for sale a few days leading up to an auction. Suddenly, we were able to mark up items six months in advance.

We designed the site to look and behave like an e-commerce site but without a way for the user to immediately buy the item. The site was optimized with the 


same approach and included a custom search component as well.

We also started producing file feeds for aggregator websites and broadcasting the information out to those sites. This allowed us to take our reach way beyond what we could do in the past.

Once these items were in place we began to transition away from print advertising over to digital advertising channels. And, we implemented our new lead capture campaigns with automated assignments and workflows for the sales staff.
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Sample images from our website, SEO planning, and a sample lead magnet

Improve the Customer Experience

Once we had a marketing system in place, we focused on operational efficiency and improving the customer experience.

The bulk of this phase involved building a custom Java-based web system that would quickly process large utility and construction equipment, passenger vehicle, and small item sales for 15 different states. This included all of the necessary, forms, tax processing, and reporting. You name it, and we sold it. And we sold and processed up to 700 vehicles per sale. Try that at a dealership!

Once our backend data was online, we created a customer
portal that enabled users to interact with the business by making account information and routine data collection available online rather than only in-person.

These efforts along with other process improvements allowed us to shorten our lines and reduce wait time for our customers. Rather than customers waiting in line for hours, we were able to reduce or eliminate most lines altogether.

This significantly improved customer satisfaction, drove additional buyers to the auction, improved our average hammer price per item, and made our sellers very happy.
  • Customer Portal
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Sample images from our customer portal and custom vehicle sale processing system.

The Results

The strategy was a complete success. Our efforts set the foundation for 100% growth during my tenure taking the company from $105 Million to $202 Million in gross sales.

We had huge increases year over year in many areas including but not limited to:

✔️ Bidder Counts
✔️ Bidder Revenue
✔️ New Contacts
✔️ New Contact Spend
✔️ New Contact Spend Percentage
✔️ Website Visits
✔️ Average Time on Site
✔️ Pages per Visit
Overall, I learned a lot from this project. I was able to put into practice many of the things I had learned over the years working with different businesses and industries. I was able to apply all my experience in a real-world project and help transform an organization. This was a great experience for me and I would definitely do it again.

I would say the main takeaway is that innovation, proper planning, and careful program execution can drive remarkable growth, even in a company that has been traditionally resistant to change.

I also learned that when you take the time to learn and understand the needs of the business and validate the vision on a regular basis, you can build a lasting brand and accomplish amazing things.
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GaryCouvillion

As a seasoned tech and marketing expert with three decades of experience, I enjoy taking on tough challenges and would love to work with you. Let's talk!
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