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Go Mini’s Goes Mobile

3/1/2009

There is nothing more frustrating to a consumer on the run than getting the runaround when trying to reach a retailer. After feeling their pain first-hand, Go Mini’s strived to make this process as easy as possible.

As Go Mini’s planned to upgrade its corporate Web site to make it easier for consumers to navigate its vast dealership base, the company uncovered an opportunity to streamline its telephone-based store locator. A hosted interactive voice-response solution now helps Go Mini’s speed up connections between consumers and its retailers via phone or the Web.

During the housing boom at the turn of this century, Jacksonville, Fla.-based portable-storage rental supplier Go Mini’s built its reputation by providing moving and packing supplies from portable-storage units and boxes to tape, tie-downs and locks. As the company grew to a network of 85 dealers that operate in 46 states, Canada and Mexico, Go Mini’s tried to make it as easy as possible for consumers to contact local stores.

Consumers visiting the corporate Web site could use a pull-down menu to choose a specific state and browse through a list of locations. After choosing the closest location, the site posted an address and phone number for the consumer to call.

Go Mini’s tried streamlining this three-step process by adding an “866” number that “could route calls directly to dealers based on the area code the caller was placing the call from,” said Dom Annunziata, director of sales and research, Go Mini’s. “The problem was that many were calling from cell phones that had different area codes than where they live.”

To make matters worse, Go Mini’s telecommunications provider supporting the service often could not coordinate the call with a local store and kicked back calls to corporate. Besides corporate complaining it was inundated with local calls, “local stores often received the wrong incoming calls,” he said.

In November, Annunziata began looking for alternatives. At the top of the list, Go Mini’s “wanted to use our toll-free number to support more streamlined store-locator functionality,” he reported.

IfByPhone, Skokie, Ill., helped the company achieve its goals. Go Mini’s added IfByPhone’s hosted application that allows callers to contact the closest store simply by inputting a ZIP code.

The project emerged just as Go Mini’s was redesigning its Web site to create a sense of uniformity across the company. As a result, the company was able to merge both projects.

In mid-February, the company re-launched www.GoMinis.com , which allows shoppers to drill down to individual sites for local storage. All locations feature the same corporate branding and marketing messages.

Simultaneously, the company launched its 866-Go-Minis toll-free number and integrated store locator.

Go Mini’s compiled all of the ZIP codes served within the 220 territories that the company covers and coordinated them with all dealer locations adopting the new Web site. All ZIP-code data is saved into IfByPhone’s database.

As callers dial 866-Go-Minis, they input a ZIP code and are directed to the closest dealer. IfByPhone’s call-tracking solution allows Go Mini’s to analyze routing of incoming calls.

The new Go Mini’s Web site, 866-Go-Minis line and store locator have been live less than one month, so it is still too early to report results. The company expects all new solutions to increase sales by approximately 20% initially, according to Annunziata.

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