Originally Posted by mrheeltoe

February 2012 will mark the ten year anniversary of heeltoeauto.com. We can’t really believe it, but then we think about our business model of putting customers first, profits a very close second, and splurging last and it isn’t too surprising. Heeltoeauto.com’s excellent reputation is based on this model and it works for our customers time and time again!

Customers first means we think of our customers before making any moves. We are customers ourselves and are constantly looking at our experiences both on the web and off to think of ways to make our customers happier. Improving the website as much as we can, providing personal sales and service support, and spending as much time as needed with each customer to ensure their satisfaction are all reasons why our customers are loyal and keep coming back. We treat customers like, well, people.

Profits second means that profits, while important, are not more important than our customers are. Keeping customers happy means they keep coming back. While treating our customers like people, not paychecks, they are happier with the parts that they buy over the long term. We earn a living by something that is ordinary, but by doing it extra-ordinarily well. All this combined means we don’t often flinch at customer service or retention related issues because we know that preserving Heeltoe’s good name and our customer’s loyalty is worth more than any replacement part.

Splurging last means not spending money that we make on things that we don’t need. We are frugal by nature. Often times we will put off marketing expenses, for example, that do not immediately help improve customer relations. The money spent on these expenses is instead diverted to upgrading our systems and technology to better serve customers. Splurging on meets, stickers, catalogs, and other valuable but less important marketing endeavors takes away from our ability to put the time and energy where it counts: developing better customer service practices. This is the main reason why a lot of people have not heard of Heeltoe, but those who have have great things to say about us!

Back on topic of the website; we feel that we have exhausted the abilities our current website to help us make those customer service developments that are the core of our retention and potential expansion. Innovative advancements can still be made to the current platform, but at great expense. Going to a newer, more stable and secure software means the site will run faster and cleaner. And while we have never had a problem with hacking or security, we are going to meet the latest PCI-DSS compliance.

But like all efforts Heeltoe takes on, if it is worth doing it is worth doing right. A new Heeltoeauto.com would not be right if it didn’t represent huge advances in the areas of customer service and customer experience. We don’t add flashy graphics and confusing navigation to our sites because people compliment us without that stuff. Instead we make advances where people have suggestions.

People needed a better means of getting updates, so we recently incorporated a new customer updating system that fully utilizes the Order History feature online. Now you can see the status of your parts on order on a line-by-line basis. And every time an update is made you are sent an email update. And should you need an update, it is as simple as logging in and clicking one button. Our ability to more proactively update you, and get the information to you faster has made us more efficient while serving an important service need. We feel the investment payed big dividends over what other promotional projects could have: it got us more happy customers.