The WebCo - Liferay Mueller Case Study
Leading Building Materials Manufacturer's New Self-Service Functionality Leads to a 73% Increase in Quotes
Building materials manufacturer and retailer Mueller, Inc. transformed their website with Liferay working with Liferay Partner XTIVIA to create a self-service solution that guides and empowers customers during the buyer’s journey.
54,000+
73%
250%
Key Takeaway
-
Give customers as much autonomy as possible.
Adding self-service functionality to Mueller’s website meant the entire customer journey was improved and optimized, allowing customers to create their own checklists and discover the right product for their projects. -
Simplify complex purchasing processes for the customer.
As a building materials manufacturer, Mueller had to think creatively about how to change and improve their purchasing processes with a streamlined buyer’s journey. -
Find innovative ways to improve the sales process.
By enabling customers to submit their own checklists to the sales team and receive a quote after using the 3D design tool, Mueller jump-started the sales process.
Background
Challenges
“Buying a metal building online is a more complex process,” explains Mueller’s Corporate Technology Manager Hab Adkins—not as simple as purchasing products on a site like Amazon. But their existing open-source content management system didn’t provide the functionality needed to meet these complex and growing needs.
In searching for a new open-source solution, Mueller needed a platform flexible enough to support some of their custom-developed web applications with features that would enable them to transform the customer purchasing experience.
Mueller wanted their new solution to address the following challenges:
Liferay’s out-of-the-box features and development toolset empower us to create a customer experience that moves us toward the vision of engaging customers wherever they are and completing the whole purchase process online.
Hab Adkins
CORPORATE TECHNOLOGY MANAGER
Implementation
Mueller chose Liferay for their new solution and began a two-phase execution process with XTIVIA, a trusted Liferay Partner from the Liferay Partner Network.
In the first phase, Mueller relied on XTIVIA to build out a minimum viable product in under a year, strategically integrating certain custom web applications into Liferay through Liferay SAML and migrating others directly into Liferay. Using Liferay also meant Mueller was able to consolidate development tools and technologies into a standard toolset on one platform.
For the second phase, Mueller transitioned some responsibilities internally, leveraging Liferay University and XTIVIA resources to acquire the right skills and product knowledge.
Here are just a few highlights of the new and improved website:
- Shareable checklists where customers and prospects can save their favorite products and submit their lists to the sales team
- Complex workflow routing with Liferay Forms that send customer responses to the appropriate group within Mueller
- Facebook integration, where custom Liferay campaign pages can be created and maintained without IT involvement, with the ability to track statistics and evaluate campaign success
- A 3D design tool that customers can use to bring their building vision to life and get a quote
XTIVIA is a trusted partner that helped translate our ideas into the engaging website we have today. Their expertise and desire to help us succeed is why we continue to entrust them with this challenging but gratifying work.
Hab Adkins
CORPORATE TECHNOLOGY MANAGER
Results
Giving new life to their website and adding more self-service capabilities with the help of XTIVIA has already surfaced incredible benefits for Mueller. Corporate Technology Manager Hab Adkins explains, “We regularly hear from customers who share positive feedback about the site and how it helped them refine their ideas into an eventual purchase.”
By allowing customers to explore product offerings, find project ideas, and learn more about the process, customers can become better informed faster, removing roadblocks to making a significant purchase. Mueller has seen a 73% increase in quotes per month, with some months as high as 163%.
