Adform customers are very clever. They’re always finding new ways to use promotional kits and marketing items to meet business goals. For example, Caterpillar dealer, Ransome, created a welcome promotional kit program to thank its customers and build loyalty. “We are quite close to our customers,” notes Nilsa Rosario, Marketing Coordinator at Ransome CAT. “The kits add a personal touch to the new-machine delivery process and welcome customers into the Ransome CAT family.”
Customers don’t just accept delivery of their new Caterpillar backhoe, dozer or loader. On the big day, their Ransome CAT representative is present during delivery to make sure everything goes smoothly. The representative does a walk-around and reviews safety features with the customer. “The welcome kit is handed to the customer as a personal thank you,” adds Rosario. A few weeks later, the rep follows up with the customer to make sure everything is going well and field questions the customer might have. The promotional kits always come up in those conversations.
Caterpillar is a customer-centric organization. The company wants CAT customers to feel appreciated and happy about their purchase. CAT dealers are no different, though they may offer different programs. Ransome decided on these thank you gifts for their customers as a nice gesture.
The promotional kit program started about a year ago. Adform produces and assembles each customer appreciation kit, which includes a professional looking, branded padfolio, journal, pen, and USB flash drive. Ransome loads the drive with useful information, including specs and manuals for the machinery purchased, service & support offerings, and contact information for their local Ransome branch office. The cherry on top is a personal thank-you letter from the Ransome president.
Ransome's thank you gifts for their customers have been well received. “They see the support we provide right from the beginning, and they appreciate the personal touch we add,” said Rosario. It’s gone so well that Ransome plans to extend the promotional kit program to customers who purchase used equipment, too. “It’s a little thing. But it’s sincere, and it makes a difference in customer loyalty.”
Rosario is thinking of creating new customer thank you kits every year, or offering different kits to customers who make additional purchases. "Some customers buy CAT machines several times per year," she explains. "They would appreciate receiving other items, such as a tumbler." As the number and types of promotional kits increase so would the program's complexity. So, Rosario is also thinking about having Adform manage the inventory and shipping logistics in the future.
In the meantime, Ransome's welcome kit program is doing a great job fulfilling Caterpillar's goal of making customers feel appreciated and happy about their purchase.
*Ransome CAT is now Foley CAT