Since Thomas helped us put up our latest website, we've received $6 milliom in sales from peole who wouldn't have found us otherwise.
Jeff Hurst
VicePresident
Challenge: Difficulty attracting new customers and reaching out to engineers
Solution: Use ThomasNet's Web marketing tools to make CAD drawings and product information available around the world
When Hurst Boiler & Welding Company, Inc., a major supplier of gas, oil and wood-fired boilers to thousands of customers around the world, decided to redesign its website and focus its efforts on Internet marketing, the company turned to ThomasNet.
With the company's website, www.hurstboiler.com, ThomasNet.com, and ThomasNet CAD Solutions all working together, Hurst Boiler's Web marketing program is making a big difference in the company's sales. “Since Thomas helped us put up our latest website, we've received $6 million in sales from people who wouldn't have found us otherwise,” says Jeff Hurst, Vice President of Hurst Boiler & Welding Company, Inc. “One CAD download, alone, brought us a $1 million sale.”
Hurst attributes much of the company's growth to the downloadable CAD drawings that Hurst Boiler makes available to customers with the help of ThomasNet. Design engineers can incorporate Hurst's CAD drawings directly into their designs. They can render, specify, select 2D or 3D, and scale the CAD drawings to fit into their specific designs. Hurst says, “Being able to insert our CAD drawings with one click is what wins customers over.”
Hurst Boiler's CAD drawings are compatible with all major CAD systems and are accessible from www.hurstboiler.com, www.ThomasNet.com, and www.CADRegister.com. Plus, Hurst's CAD drawings are distributed through ThomasNet's CAD CD-ROM libraries, PlantSpec and CADBlocks, to over 58,000 plant designers, engineers and architects. “We were the first boiler manufacturer on PlantSpec. Right from the beginning it helped us get a lot of business. Now, our competitors are on there, too,” Hurst says.
Hurst Boiler has had proven success using CAD drawings to convert prospects on the Internet into customers. Hurst Boiler keeps track of CAD downloads through the monthly reports it receives from ThomasNet. “You can find out who downloads your drawings and see where sales are coming from and follow up on leads. We sold a $2 million order to a company in Bolivia,” Hurst says.
“We give a lot of credit to ThomasNet for getting us out there in people's faces where we need to be seen. It has helped us get into many new markets, both foreign and domestic, and get a leg up on our competitors. In fact, ThomasNet has helped us become one of the fastest growing boiler companies in the world,” says Hurst.
For more information on the solutions used by this company, call us at 866-662-0222 or complete our Contact Us form.
Back to full Case Studies list
