Case Study: IronPlanet

CLIENT: IronPlanet
Founded in 1999, IronPlanet has grown to be one of the biggest auction companies of used heavy equipment and trucks. Backed by Caterpillar, Komatsu and Volvo, the company sells equipment through online auctions. IronPlanet is the only auction company to provide detailed, guaranteed inspection reports for used equipment in its auctions. As the third-largest heavy equipment auction company in North America, IronPlanet completed 2004 with a record-breaking sale of $7.7 million in equipment and trucks.

NEED: Address customer service issues without hiring more customer service personnel.
IronPlanet is experiencing dramatic growth and their customer population is increasing quickly. They wanted a cost-effective way to address specific customer service issues without hiring additional employees.

They knew customers needed help with specific areas of the site. IronPlanet needed to address these help issues as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible. They wanted to become more scalable and create a virtual workforce.

SOLUTION: Clear and concise site demos to meet their customer service objectives.
During discussions with IronPlanet executives, Autodemo helped pinpoint three specific touch points with potential and existing customers who would benefit from a demo. After a thorough evaluation of IronPlanet’s customer service objectives, the following three demos were recommended:

A showcase demo to provide an overview of site features and to explain the process of finding and evaluating equipment.

A bidding demo that explained the bidding process for approved customers.

A post-sale demo that covered how to access an invoice, make payments and arrange for transportation.

The demos were strategically placed on the site and emailed to customers who had been approved for bidding or had made a purchase.

“The process worked perfect. It was extremely smooth,” says Bill Coleman, a top IronPlanet executive who worked with Autodemo’s producer to create the demos.

“Autodemo did a lot of things without taking up a lot of our time.”

RESULT: Fewer customer service calls and reduced call-length times.
Previous customer service calls averaged a call-length time of 15 to 20 minutes. Since the demos, call-length times have decreased dramatically and customer service is experiencing lower call volumes.

“Now when one of our customer service reps receives a call, they can answer their question by emailing the customer a link to the appropriate demo,” says Bill Coleman.

Since implementing the demos from Autodemo, IronPlanet has not had to hire new customer service personnel even as their business continues to grow.