For Steve Mattie, president of Transport Designs, Inc., gaining a customer’s trust goes hand in hand with utilizing technology.
Transport Designs, a custom trailer and motor home manufacturer, has
come a long way since its beginnings 20 years ago. “In 1998 we
purchased our first computer for design,” said Steve. “Fortunately, we
also found ourselves with donated software but had very little
knowledge about how to use it.”
Now, Steve would say the exact opposite is true. Designing and
building a large array of custom trailers ranging from mobile
restaurants to on-set movie trailers, Transport Designs attributes much
of its success and growth to understanding technology and how it can
garner customer trust and, in turn, a competitive advantage.
Steve uses custom design software, AutoCAD, combined with Adobe Acrobat Professional
and digital photography to share highly-detailed designs and floor
plans with customers before and throughout the entire motor home and
trailer construction process. The images include such detail that Steve
can feature plan and elevation views of people in his drawings, really
helping a customer visualize the final product.
Attracting customers from as far away as Australia, these full-scale
images and the consistency of communication help customers feel as
though they are at the build site every step of the way, no matter how
far away they really are. According to Steve, technology has enabled
him to build enough customer trust that he can sell five and six-figure
products to customers all over the world even though they’ve never
physically seen his trailers or motor homes.
Steve maintains that Transport Designs’ supreme customer service is
what it is because of technology. “We have recognized benefits in even
the simplest of electronic tools and employed them in a way our
competition never thought to.” The result? Truly measurable results and
achievement.
If you have experienced significant growth because of technology or
have questions about how to use IT to grow outside your local customer
base, please comment here. If you happen to be in the market for a
custom trailer or motor home, please feel free to contact Transport Designs directly.