www.barringtonmotorworks.com

Recently, our client, Barrington Motor Works LLC, located in Barrington, New Hampshire has sold 300 BMW Restoration and Service manuals within just a month after we implemented e-commerce functionality by integrating it with PayPal using simply PayPal’s “Click here to buy now” button to their site.  I think that they got those orders quickly and for that number is a successful story, especially, with the current economy.

Before we added ecommerce to their website, they had already gotten some phone calls by new customers who wanted to order the manual after we launched their website, but after e-commerce was added to their site, they were getting more orders.  Now they are getting international orders, so yesterday we had to add different buying options for their customers in different regions.  Each region such as the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, etc., has different shipping cost.  It was necessary to set up different configuration for each “Click here to buy now” button.

Christopher and Barbara Betjemann started restoring and constructing BMW motorcycles as a hobby for twenty years.  Later in 1999 they decided to open Barrington Motor Works, LLC to share what they “learned and knew about the vintage BMW motorcycle with other BMW vintage motorcycle enthusiasts.”  To learn more about them, please visit their website at http://www.barringtonmotorworks.com/.

Later in the fall of 2007 we had the pleasure of meeting Christopher and Barbara Betjemann.  They had found us offering our website design and web development services on the Internet.  They sent us an inquiry with a request for a project proposal to redesign and rebuild their existing website.  Our meeting went really well.  It was a start of a good business relationship.  It is really a blessing to win the chance to work with such wonderful people.  They were very happy with the new look we created and functionality we built for their website.  We custom designed and developed the site with a content management system that allows them to update their web pages and photo gallery.

We launched their website in February 2008.  Not long after that they were actually getting some phone calls from around the world about their BMW restoration services.  The Betjemanns already had an established clientele in the USA and Europe.  The new website actually moved their business further.  Later they were getting inquiries from China. They then told us how happy they were with the website, because it was getting them new customers.  It really makes us happy when we learn about clients who are happy with our work.  Our goal is always to make our clients happy with our work.  That is really important.

Last year the Betjemanns were also working on having their BMW Restoration and Service Manual published by a local publisher, so they could start selling it and promoting it through their new website.  They then finally advertised it on their website.  They came to see us again to discuss about how they could sell their BMW Restoration and Service Manual online.  They were also telling us that after they advertised their manual through their website, they were getting order requests.  They were ecstatic about that, and they thanked us.  They expressed how much they love the web graphic design, how perfect the color scheme is (they thought it just fit well with the branding they had expected), and how much they like the functionality of being able to update their website.  We thanked them also for giving us the opportunity to work with them.  Now they wanted to offer their customers convenience by providing them the  capability to order the manual and pay it online using a credit card through their website.  We advised them on the different merchant services such as PayPal and Authorize.net since having an e-commerce requires a payment gateway.

This year by early spring the Betjemanns finally decided to have us implement e-commerce for their website using PayPal, but they wanted to start with selling their BMW Restoration and Service Manual online only within the US.  They wanted to first see how it would turn out.  In June 2009 we added e-commerce on their website.  We then found out how busy they’ve been due to the number of orders they’ve been getting, and just a few days ago, they requested to allow their customers outside of the US to order online through their website instead of just through a phone call and also the capability for them to add new products they want to sell online since they wanted that, too.  We implemented this capability early this week.

This is actually one of the most successful online business venture stories we’ve had the opportunity to be involved with since we’ve operated our business in 2004.   To me it’s the most positive outcome in all the businesses we’ve had the chance to work with.

It is quite an inspiration.  Why is theirs very successful while there are other online businesses out there that are still trying to make it?  I do believe that attitude and experience matter.  The Betjemanns are very positive and confident about their goals for their online business and what it would take.  They’ve also had a well-established network of friends and business relationships here in the US and Europe for years before they launched their online business.  That certainly helps.  Barrington Motor Works has been around, but they are new in the online business.  However, years of having a good networking connections make a difference, and that puts them at a high advantage.  They already have a built-in market to start with.  For new online businesses that don’t have an established market sphere would need to do some aggressive marketing to be visible and spend more on traditional and online-marketing.

The BMW Restoration Manual as a product is very unique.  It still has some competition but not a lot though.  There is actually only one BMW Restoration Manual by a different author that is sold at Amazon.com.  However, the Betjemanns’ BMW Restoration and Service Manual is listed on Amazon also.  This is actually not an authorized listing.  The Betjemanns did not authorize Amazon to list their book.  Their book is not available for purchase in Amazon.com.  What their company, Barrington Motor Works, sells is the BMW /2 Restoration and Service Manual they (the Betjemanns) wrote.  They only sell it online through their website.  There aren’t many BMW /2 Restoration Manuals published out there.  The /2 refers to the class or model of BMW.  If you go to Google, and if you type in BMW restoration manual, their website will come up on the first page of the query.

The less competition you have with your product the higher chances you will get new customers.  For businesses with high competition, especially, those whose services and products are similar with other companies would have to compete with how unique theirs are versus the others.  What makes theirs special than the others?  There are a lot of choices out there for consumers.  It’s just not the type of products.  It is also the type of service the customers get.  As business owners we always need to be aware and sensitive about customers’ needs.  We also need to fine tune and improve our services and processes.  No matter how excellent your product is customers will go to other providers if you don’t provide them the service that meets their need.

The Barrington Motor Works Company has an extraordinary product that attracts to BMW enthusiasts – their customer base, and the fact that they’ve had a network of continuous good business relationships over the years is a testament that they also provide excellent service to their customers.   Their website is content rich with information and photo galleries that display photos of their work, services such as engine work, specialty products such as vintage plates, and more.  A professionally built user-friendly website with aesthetically pleasing look that conveys the right identity of the company and presents a well-organized content will most likely grab visitors’ and prospective customers’ interests, especially, those who are BMW enthusiasts such as in this case.  They will want to always visit and find out more of what that website has for them.

There was a good turn out of students attending my presentation.  Students seemed to be paying attention.  I was amazed.   I brought some books relating to web design and programming.  My focus was to talk about what it would be like to be in this industry.  What it would take to get there.  I showed them our web design and web development portfolio.  Besides showing examples of our work, I discussed about what involves in producing a web site or web application product using a flowchart.  I explained each area such as gathering information from the customer, project management, the design production, the programming process, etc.  I also touched on web marketing.  I also stressed on education.  I talked about how to obtain the skills in computer graphics such as going to a technical school, getting an associates degree, bachelor’s degree, and master’s degree at a college or university.  I provided statistical information on the different pay scales based on the years of experience, specialty (web designer versus software programmer), and location such as in a city or state.  I wanted to give them some idea about how much a web designer or web development makes in this economy based on the different factors. I talked about the challenges of owning a business, being a freelancer versus being a full time employee.  I, especially, stressed the importance on networking even starting when they are in high school as well as how important it is to keep good friendships, to get a good working relationship with your co-workers, customers, supervisors, and so on and so forth.  I wanted them to realize that networking and keeping long-term relationships play a big role in reaching your goals in the future.  Sometimes friends in high school could be a great help later on when you are looking for a job.  Maybe their friends have contacts to people who might be in their type of industry.

What an opportunity it was for me to share with the students my knowledge about web design.  I did talk to them about my personal experiences being in this career field in computer graphics such as how to deal with situations relating to customers, meeting deadlines, and the challenges in meeting project goals.   I provided them with some realistic scenarios and examples of things that they might deal with in this type of work.

At the end of each session, (there were three of them total, which took place the whole morning) I did have a few students asking me questions, gave me some good feedback, and thanked me for my presentation.  They said I presented some really good useful information.

The computer department’s teacher –in-charged was quite helpful in providing me with the necessary tools I needed to make my presentation run smoothly.

I would definitely do this presentation again if the school would invite me the next time they have a career day.

By Catherine Alcivar