Wohl Associates is a family-owned and operated dealer in pre-owned industrial machinery—specifically, machinery used for processing and packing. Wohl Associates was founded on “hard work and the American dream,” fostering a reputation as a trusted leader for the last half-century, as they bought and sold everything from popcorn poppers to lotion dispenser fillers, to tablet presses and much, much more. Not only does Wohl Associates supply customers with high-quality equipment, they add in accurate industry knowledge and decades of experience to help customers meet their business challenges.

The Problem

Wohl’s industry knowledge has properly evolved with the times, however, for a long time, their website failed to keep pace. The website was extremely outdated, both in look and structure, and was not user-friendly. The website was not optimized for mobile viewing, completely excluding a large portion of Wohl’s customer base who were researching equipment on their mobile devices. The final “nail in the coffin,” as it were, was that Wohl was no longer in contact with the developer who designed the site and created the content management platform.

These issues came together, creating a “perfect storm” filled with site glitches, security vulnerabilities, and even email notifications that were never sent. The site’s difficult navigation discouraged many potential customers who simply could not find the products they were looking for via the search function. Understandably, website traffic decreased, pageviews were low and leads significantly declined. In short, Wohl’s outdated website was causing a significant drop in business.

Analysis

Since the website’s infrastructure was crumbling by the day and the person who implemented the site was no longer available, MaxBurst determined that an entirely new website—with a design that improved both UI and UX—was the most appropriate, cost-effective solution. It was determined that an up-to-date Content Management System was necessary to reduce “glitches,” allowing problems to be handled easily and efficiently. Of course, there were stumbling blocks to overcome along the way.

“Design was tricky for Wohl Associates since ‘used machinery’ isn’t always the prettiest of topics. We did a lot of research on industry standards and made sure Wohl stood out from the rest. We wanted to incorporate a family oriented, well established, mechanical feel that was easy to navigate and keeps the users’ interest. ‘There are millions of sites out there, what is going to make you stay on this website?’ was the question our team had to focus on.”
Design Team at Maxburst

The Solution

An entirely new website was designed for Wohl Associates by the MaxBurst team, featuring the most up-to-date Content Management System. MaxBurst’s primary goal was to ensure the site was easy and efficient to both use and to maintain. When focusing on Wohl customers, MaxBurst designed the site to be virtually effortless for those searching for a specific product, adding in a tool that allowed customers to save items they were interested in to a “wish list,” that could easily be returned to later. The entire site was designed to exhibit a cleaner look, a more streamlined functionality, and a dynamic presence. Optimization for mobile use was implemented—a crucial step since 40 percent of consumers say they use their mobile device to conduct research prior to making a purchase.

MaxBurst’s new site for Wohl Associates offered a variety of improved methods to capture and communicate with leads. The site now offered automatic notifications when a new lead came in, including data on what page the customer connected from and the specific products the customer indicated an interest in. The admin dashboard site allowed sales reps to email customers directly from the admin login—a great method for establishing a connection.

Finally, a virtual explosion of new content was added to Wohl’s site by MaxBurst. This content included the Wohl company history, which established Wohl’s qualifications, setting them up as an industry leader. MaxBurst created innovative ways to easily update the site, ensuring it remains fresh and current over time. The ability to add new products, as well as to edit and update existing products, was vastly improved, including the option of adding videos to specific products for demonstration purposes. The latest deals and offers can now be promoted on the homepage, offering a rotating selection of featured products.

“The great thing about this project was the collaboration from all departments. We endured a lot of late-night brainstorming sessions and research to make the site great, not only from the frontend for users but backend for the client. It definitely shows!”
Project Management Team

Key Features

Highlights of just a few of the many features MaxBurst implemented in the Wohl design include:

Features from the Frontend User Experience :

• The search bar and its functionality increase user experience
• Ability to add YouTube videos directly to each product gallery, and opening in a lightbox.
• Giving the user the quick access to ‘request a quote’ of a product directly from the category page is an important feature for customer ease

Responsiveness features which vastly increase the experience of mobile users:

• Simplifying items for mobile devices is critical for customer usability. Utilizing icons and stacking elements for mobile devices is important.
• Clicking on the cart icon allows you to give you a quick view on mobile as well. Again, a great feature for users.
• Mobile pop up for users is easy to click through or ‘x’ out of smoothly.

Features from the Backend User Experience:

• A customized dashboard for employees.
• A customized login screen with a separate URL for Wohl associate employees
• A customized quoting system that allows all leads to come into the quoting dashboard. Every lead that comes into the system shows as OPEN.

The Results

Once the many changes were implemented on the Wohl Associates site, the positive effects were immediate. The improved navigation of the site drove more potential customers to use it, thus improving overall visibility to the company’s target audience. More customers began using the site on their mobile devices, and leads began to increase, which, in turn, led to more sales and higher revenues. Of equal importance, the site’s improved ease of use on the back end led to significant improvement in employee productivity. We are pleased and excited to report that Wohl is thrilled with their new website!

“The new site is a huge turning point in our company. There are so many added features that make our jobs easier, such as the built-in quote system with the ability to select from preassembled templates. In addition, our SEO team now has the ability to increase our visibility to keep us growing. We couldn’t be happier!”
Wohl Associates Administrator