CRM in Action: Armed and Ready for ROI

Challenge: Remington Arms is one of the country's oldest continually operating manufacturers of sporting good and products for the hunting and shooting markets. As a challenge unique to the industry, the company must respond to the constant evolution of hunting seasons throughout the year--and present the appropriate information to its various customers in respect to the season. "Phone calls were primarily the only way that our customers would interact with us on a regular basis," says Ned Moore, e-business manager for Remington Arms. "It wasn't a channel that was well-suited to developing and nurturing relationships with customers." From Labor Day on, business is particularly intense, and call center reps were scrounging for a way to cater to Remington's growing number of Internet-using clients. Solution: RightNow allowed Remington Arms to adjust its Web site content without manual intervention. The most relevant information, based on the current hunting season, is now displayed at the top of the home page, descending in relevancy as the reader scrolls down. The Web site, which started with just three FAQs, now has more than 100; the new FAQs were added in fewer than 30 days. In addition, RightNow's locator solution has enabled Remington to accurately direct customers to retailers that carry a specific product--a problem that had previously posed quite a challenge, because at any given time about 8,000 to 10,000 active storefronts sell the company's products. "The system does such a good job in educating the customers," Moore says. "They're asking more technical, detailed questions--they are being more challenged." Results: Remington Arms realized a payback in the first month of using RightNow, with a 1,483 percent ROI and a savings of $1.6 million over three years. The company has also seen a 50 percent decrease in email volume, a 30 percent decrease in the call volume of general questions, and a 70 percent reduction in call abandonment.