Sitecore Part 2: Personalizing and Editing Your Experience
Imagine your own automatically-setup, personalized, secure web portal that delivers your relevant, localized web content… sounds ideal, right? Well through Sitecore’s Personalization Editor and Responsive Design feature, this is the reality of our customer experience.
In our last blog, we filled you in on the Sitecore content management system we’ve adopted and our mission to achieve full customer relationship management (CRM) through its three main types of integration. But if you’re still wondering what exactly that means for you, as the customer, then we thought you might be interested in learning a bit more about the personalization and responsive design features this web platform software offers.
In addition to a smoother interaction, ease of use for uploading drawings and obtaining quotes, the entire customer experience has been redefined. Essentially, a digital fingerprint for each visitor is created, taking into account the demographics, past searches, even how the visitor arrived at the site. This information gathered allows for a customized and reactive website experience that displays relevant and targeted content.
No matter where or how you are accessing our website, we are able to adjust content based on your location and the device you are using. For example, if you are using a smartphone and in another state or province looking for our nearest distributor, we are able to use personalization to adjust distributors displayed based on your current location and responsive design to adjust how our website functions and displays for easier use. Nothing is more annoying than having to zoom in and out to be able to read web content and find what you need.
We’re excited that not only is our customers’ valuable time not wasted, but we’re also able to personalize our interactions. Our response times are quicker, more accurate, and more relevant to the needs of every individual customer. With the help of Sitecore, we hope to continue providing top notch, quality customer service, in addition to our quality products!
Check out an example of the Personalization Editor at work:
Sitecore Part 1: Achieving CRM Integration
You may have caught mention of our Sitecore web content management system previously on this blog, and lately, we’ve been busily exploring the features the software offers. Now that we’ve been delving deeper, we’re really excited to share some specifics and insights into how this really can change web marketing and how it benefits our customers!
Sitecore
First of all, some of our readers may be wondering just what a content management system, or CMS, is and what it does. A CMS is a set of solutions which enable the management and delivery of targeted content, offers, and products across digital touchpoints. The goal of using a web-based CMS is to achieve full customer relationship management integration, or CRM integration for short.
There are three types of CRM integration. The first is security management. With the use of Sitecore, our sales reps can quickly set up private, secure web access portals for our customers with just a few clicks of the mouse. The customer can then check his or her portal for quotes, drawings, or any other technical information that they require. The second type of CRM integration is content delivery management. What this means is that we can optimize the content displayed to our customers when they visit our website. For example, if you found our website by searching for heavy duty hinges, we could tailor our web content to better suit your search and display more information about the capabilities of our heavy gauge hinges. This type of ground-breaking technology will lead to a much more optimized web experience for all visitors. The third kind of integration is content and data sharing, which allows us to respond quickly to customer inquiries through automatic distribution and assignment of web leads and RFQs to our sales reps and a more advanced tracking system.
Stay tuned for more about Sitecore and how it revolutionizes the customer experience!
Catch our TV feature this month!
After 90+ years in the hinge business, investing greatly in our people, processes, and technology along the way, we’re always excited when we get to see how our reputation has grown with us. As you might already know, we’re widely known as “the hinge people®” across industries, but recently we sort of earned a new title… as one of the “world’s greatest”…. Well, we were not only called this, but we were chosen as a featured company for the “World’s Greatest!…” television show! Now in its 6th season, the How 2 Media-produced show has traveled around the world interviewing and showcasing a range of companies that have excelled and innovated in their respective fields.
Delving into the inner workings of one-of-a-kind companies – like a world-famous baked goods chain, Cinnabon to the leader in personal, green transportation, Segway – “World’s Greatest!…” provides an entertaining and educational experience for viewers. As fans of this show, we’re thrilled and honored to have had the opportunity to share our niche expertise, and to be included among this great list of industry leaders. And, we hope you will all tune in when our episode airs this month (see the dates and times below)! You’ll get a firsthand look at how our research, technology, and vertical integration has transformed our company and influenced our community.
December 17, 2012 – 6:00 am EST
CABLE & ION BROADCAST STATIONS – Dual feed
6:00 am EST, 5:00 am CST, 5:00 am MST, 6:00 am PST
SATELLITE (DirecTV ch. 305, Dish ch. 216) – Single feed
6:00 am EST, 5:00 am CST, 4:00 am MST, 3:00 am PST
December 24, 2012 – 10:00 am EST
CABLE – Dual feed
10:00 am EST, 9:00 am CST, 9:00 am MST, 10:00 am PST
SATTELITE (DirecTV, Dish) – Single feed
10:00 am EST, 9:00 am CST, 8:00 am MST, 7:00 AM PST
December 31, 2012 – 7:00 am EST
CABLE – Dual feed
7:00 am EST, 6:00 am CST, 6:00 am MST, 7:00 am PST
SATELLITE (DirecTV, Dish) – Single feed
7:00 am EST, 6:00 am CST, 5:00 am MST, 4:00 am PST
September News: A Recap of a Successful Sales Meeting!
Since we shared our excitement prior to our 2012 Sales Meeting on our blog, we thought it was only fitting to let you know how successful the event turned out and to share a few more details. We gathered at the new Walkerton Clean Water Centre’s meeting facilities, and after 2 days of presentations, activities, and great conversations, many of our Manufacturer’s Representatives commented that it was one of the best Sales Meetings that they had ever attended. And, we have to agree. We could not have been more pleased with the level of interaction and enthusiasm. Read on for a few of the areas we focused on.
New Technologies & Equipment – We revealed our recent purchase of Sitecore and our reps were excited to get to learn more about the targeted, dynamic web experience and the quantity and quality of leads the tool will provide. We also covered a few more tech items:
- Our President, John Larsen discussed our progress and goals for the future, including how we will leverage new technology for growth.
- Our General Manager, Mary Jane Bushell educated attendees on our operations, specifically our LEAN process. She also presented additional CAD software which will compliment SolidWorks.
- There was also an introduction to additional software programs to boost sales, including one to speed up our quoting process.
Sales Territories & Customer Service
- Our Purchasing Manager, Dan Wong provided a thorough explanation of the material purchasing process, including strategy to get the best pricing possible.
- Our VP of Sales & Marketing, Steve Caslick shared our sales history and 2013 targets.
- We also gave the Manufacturers’ Reps the floor to share opportunities and discuss challenges in their respective territories.
Plant Tour – One highlight of the meeting was to show our reps why we are the Hinge People® through a tour of our manufacturing facility here in Walkerton.
- This hands-on experience allowed everyone to better understand our methods for quality control and effective operations.
- We showed them the LEAN manufacturing process we use as well as how our Tool & Die and QA departments benefit from the additional CAD software
- This also gave us the opportunity to converse about how new technologies and equipment will make us more competitive and capable going forward.
Larsen & Shaw’s Sales Meeting 2012 wrapped up nicely on the links Wednesday afternoon with a relaxing game of golf, where we kept it very non-competitive of course (for our Manufacturers’ Reps sake!). We would like to thank everyone for attending and look forward to Larsen & Shaw’s exciting future!
What Does Larsen & Shaw Have to Do with Washers and Dryers?
There are certain things in life that we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about, even though they affect us on a daily basis. In some cases, they may be among the most important things in your home or office. Hinges definitely fall into this category! We’re surrounded by them, and they’re incredibly important – but when was the last time you stopped and really thought about them?
We think about hinges a lot here at Larsen & Shaw –particularly when it comes to appliance hinges, which include hinges for items like washers and dryers. We know that probably the last thing on your mind when you’re putting in that last load of laundry is how the washer is made, but take a few seconds to read on about some interesting hinge statistics we have been able to gather over these last 93 years.
As you might imagine, manufacturing hinges means manufacturing a lot of them. We produce 4 million appliance hinges alone each year, which means that Larsen & Shaw products end up on 2 million washers and dryers. To put that into a little better perspective, that’s 8000 appliances from major manufacturers per day being rolled into showrooms and homes, built with Larsen quality hinges.
Our long run capabilities are well exhibited by serving these customers, but we’re happy to help with smaller orders as well. Visit our site to learn more!
Larsen & Shaw’s Sales Meeting 2012 Plus a NEWS LEAK!
Larsen & Shaw is proud to be hosting our sales meeting from September 10th – 12th, here in Walkerton, ON. We’ll have the chance to meet with all twenty of our Manufacturers’ Reps from across Canada and the US. The meeting will focus on marketing, with plenty of discussion dedicated to what we are currently doing with our social media presence and our future plans for effectively using our website as a sales tool. We will also be leading factory tours to present new technology and products that will be introduced late this year and will help us expand into new markets and industries.
For readers of our blog, we’re offering a news leak about a new content management software that we’ve purchased called Sitecore! This is news not even our Manufacturers’ Reps know! It will not only be introduced to our reps during the 2-day meeting, but we will be reviewing the current state of our website technology and how we plan to enhance the overall web experience with these capabilities now at our fingertips:
- Personalization will offer our website visitors new levels of convenience that will allow us to adjust the content displayed based on the visitor’s behavior and demographics.
- Responsive design that will adjust the content based on the device’s screen size.
- Private portals tailored to individual customers.
- An improved search engine within the website.
- And much much more!
Follow us on Twitter @larsenhinge and stay tuned for live updates!
We’ve Got Some Special Hinges
The next time you visit Larsen & Shaw for your next batch of hinges, be sure to take a look at a section of our site that you may not have known was there: our Monthly Specials, located just under “Larsen & Shaw News” on our new home page. Each month, you’ll find unbeatable deals on special quantities of just about all our hinge types. From stainless steel to brass, and plated to powder coated, no matter what kind of hinge you’re looking for, our Monthly Specials page should be your first stop.
Be sure to keep checking back – hinges and their availability are regularly updated, so you may make a great find on a couple of 96” brass hinges for a large-scale project, or a couple thousand smaller hinges that would be perfect for short-run production jobs. Our inventory is extensive, so we’ve always got a wide selection to make available for our Monthly Specials. Visit today to find your deal of the month.
A New Look for Larsen & Shaw
Learning about Larsen & Shaw’s custom hinges, standard continuous hinges and architectural products is now easier than ever. We recently launched our re-designed, customer-focused website with a fresh new look and feel that is engaging, useful, and instructive. The new website makes it easy to acquire information that is relevant to helping you source the right hinge to meet your specific application needs. Visitors can browse our products by hinge type or material and finish, making product selection simple and straightforward.
The website now also contains several new and unique features that we are very excited about. Not to be missed is the introductory video, which in three short minutes tells you the story of Larsen & Shaw and how we, as “the hinge people®,” understand that quality, price, and logistics are all important to you. Our Monthly Specials offer you great prices on select hinge products, so don’t miss an opportunity to browse through the selections and replenish your hinge inventory at a discount! Having a hard time keeping up with industry news? Visit our Metal Pricing blog, which is filled with the latest news on metal pricing and the trends, swings, forecasts, and dynamics of the commodity market. You’ll also find the latest news on industry trends, market information, as well as product innovation and performance under the Larsen & Shaw News heading on the right.
We highly recommend you come see all that our new website has to offer, and hope to see you back for many return visits!
The Little Things
As hinge manufacturers, you might not be surprised to learn that we’re pretty detail-oriented. A few hundredths of an inch error in our production process could mean a whole lot of squeaky doors, stuck openings, improper alignments – you know, those little problems that can turn into big headaches.
We also consider ourselves detail-oriented in that a hinge, while an integral part of so many constructions, is rarely (if ever) the central feature of an item. It’s just a detail, important, but relegated to supporting status.
Of course, we don’t think of hinges that way: they’re our entire business, and that makes them pretty significant. One of the banner products in which our hinges are used is the Square D line of fuse cases and boxes, manufactured by Schneider Electric. Often, a fuse box itself is something about a product that few people notice – to say nothing of its hinges. But from residential uses to programmable robots, fuse boxes are everywhere. Our hinges are of such high quality that we’re a major supplier to this commonplace brand and product. We’re proud to focus on getting the details right, in the large and small parts of everyday life – and to us, hinges are both.
The season for PermAlign hinges has arrived
With the warm weather fast approaching, many people are looking out their back windows and thinking about improvements to their outdoor living space. A fence is usually one of the most important editions to a backyard, regardless of what life stage you are in. Some homeowners have fences already encircling their yards, and others are starting their projects from scratch. Wherever you find yourself, this should offer some valuable information.
Larsen and Shaw have developed a hinge that solves the common problem of gates and doors sagging. Traditional hinges fasten to only one surface of the gate system. The screws transfer the forces being applied from various directions onto the mounting material (usually wood or metal). As the screw holes enlarge in the mounting material with time, the gate or door sags. This makes it difficult to open and close and causes stress on the door system. PermAlign Hinges instantly align themselves and fastens on the two or three surfaces of both the gate and the post it hangs on. It makes sense that the PermAlign hinge is 90% stronger since the load is on the wood material and not just the fasteners.
PermAlign Hinges allow for quick and easy installations, and are available in both a black and decorative zinc finish. They are also ideal for many other heavy load applications aside from gates. Have a look at our PermAlign Hinge section on our website and see our selection of gate hinges.
http://www.larsenhinge.com/gate-hinges.html
Larsen & Shaw Limited 