Pivotal Customer Care automated, single-point-of-entry data At M/I, 15% of buyers are repeat customers. integration The CDC Marketing Automation system With Pivotal integration, data never has to be integrated with Pivotal helps M/I provide re-keyed.

1. M/I Homes
C a s e
Survival through sales force automation: How CDC Pivotal
CRM helped M/I Homes enhance its position during a deep
industry downturn.
s t u d y
Key Results: Overview relied on 20-year-old DOS technology. At
After 35 years in business, M/I Homes prides the same time, M/I knew that 98% of its
• In three years, web leads have
itself on delivering exceptional customer service, customers access the company website at
increased from 4% of total sales to
but had struggled to manage data spread some point during the construction process.
25%
between seven different computer systems. The company was missing a huge opportunity
• M/I is the only top 20 U.S. builder to The company wanted a 360-degree view of to understand visitor demographics and
increase its closings in 2009 its customers and turned to CDC Pivotal CRM motivations, generate and nurture leads, and
for a fully integrated solution with out-of-the- streamline communication. M/I Homes wanted
• Prior to the second quarter of 2010, box functionality. Just three years later, web- to gain a 360-degree view of its customers and
M/I had six consecutive year-over- generated leads have grown from 4% to 25% implemented CDC Pivotal CRM to achieve this
year quarters of positive growth of total sales. The team is focused on nurturing critical goal. Despite the challenging market,
these online leads, gathering detailed customer M/I Homes has strengthened its position
• Budgets can now be completed in and credits Pivotal CRM with helping the
15-30 minutes, versus 1-4 hours demographics, streamlining data collection and
distribution, and creating targeted marketing organization to survive, and even thrive, in
• Enhanced customer service, campaigns. The past several years have a tough business environment.
marketing and communication marked the toughest housing downturn in U.S.
history, but M/I Homes has leveraged Pivotal the Pivotal solution
• Complete customer and website CRM to strengthen its market position and earn email marketing
visitor demographics and more loyal customers.
segmentation As soon as customers connect with M/I—either
through the website, by referral, or after visiting
• Single point of entry, automated
about M/I Homes a model home—the team initiates contact
information flow, system integration Founded in 1976 by Irving and Melvin through email marketing campaigns. In the
Schottenstein, M/I Homes is dedicated to past, M/I simply sent out mass email blasts.
building homes of uncompromising quality, Now, they use Pivotal CRM to target customers
‘’We needed to have a system that was innovative design and enduring value in the based on preferences, demographics and
really flexible, that could grow with us, most desirable locations possible. In over three communities of interest.
and this was quite honestly one of the decades, M/I has built homes for more than
critical factors in choosing Pivotal. ‘’ 78,000 customers in 12 U.S. markets. The Integration with envision online design center
Ron Frissora
company recently acquired TriStone Homes, The Envision system enables customers to
CIO, M/I Homes a small builder in San Antonio, Texas. M/I browse and choose home options, such as
Homes is listed on the NYSE and trades under carpets, cabinets, exterior colors and trim, and
the symbol MHO. is fully integrated with the Pivotal solution. When
customers select upgrades online before visiting
the M/I Homes story the design center, it saves time, resources, and
M/I Homes is one of the largest homebuilders in helps the company provide better service.
the U.S.—ranked 15th in the nation by Builder
“Pivotal was the final piece of the puzzle for
Magazine in 2010. The company operates in
us to fully integrate all of our systems. From
12 markets and serves a customer base of
JD Edwards ERP to BuildPro construction
primarily first-and second-time home buyers.
scheduling to Envision’s design center for our
Since 2006, however, the market has not been
customers—all of this data links into Pivotal
kind to the housing industry. According to Ron
from inside out.”
Frissora, CIO of M/I Homes, the U.S. Home
Building industry is in the midst of the worst Web tracking and lead generation
downturn in history, with 60% of all builders M/I recently pulled its traditional marketing
and 80% of all land developers currently in efforts to focus fully on web leads. The
bankruptcy. company uses Pivotal to measure and segment
“Pivotal helped us achieved probably one of our unique site visitors and has designated Internet
most important goals— having a 360 degree Sales Associates (ISAs) who nurture leads, track
view of the customer.” says Fissora. appointments and drive customers to the model
homes. The ISAs also use Pivotal to send
In 2008, M/I Homes senior management electronic meeting reminders—a critical task,
realized that the company was not effectively given that 25-30% of in-person appointments
leveraging online technology to nurture sales ultimately become sales.
leads. Corporate data was spread across
seven different systems and customer care
Pivotal CRM | Case Study

2. Pivotal Customer Care automated, single-point-of-entry data
At M/I, 15% of buyers are repeat customers. integration
The CDC Marketing Automation system With Pivotal integration, data never has to be
integrated with Pivotal helps M/I provide re-keyed. Homebuilding, costing, options and
C a s e
outstanding service and track B-back leads, customer information enters the system once
which are customers who previously made and is available to each applicable division.
contact—either directly or through a referral For example, field contractors use tablet PCs
partner—and then returned to M/I. Customer loaded with construction scheduling software to
care also means responding to online inquiries communicate with subcontractors and execute
s t u d y
as quickly as possible. change orders. As a result, current field data
is available to sales and service staff, who
‘’Pivotal has given our field reps immediate can provide customers with up-to-the-minute
access to the information they need. They construction timelines.
can respond to customer requests in minutes
instead of hours or days and communicate with streamlined budgeting
subcontractors from anywhere.’’ Accurate budgeting is paramount to success in
“
the home building industry. M/I needs to know
Pivotal has been instrumental in helping us to survive— exactly how much each house will cost to build.
and even thrive—in the worst downturn in the history of Before the Pivotal implementation, contracts
were written and signed in the field, then
the housing industry.
” Ron Frissora
CIO, M/I Homes
brought to a central office where staff keyed
data into the ERP system. Now, all information
is fed automatically through the system,
enabling costing staff to complete a budget in
analytics and lead investigation
15 to 30 minutes, rather than 1-4 hours.
By tracking appointments, M/I learned that
20% of its leads book an appointment, and
3% of those people attend the meeting.
The team’s new goal is to get 30% of its
approximately 3,400 annual leads into a model
home for a meeting, which would translate
into 400 additional yearly sales. With Pivotal,
the company can dig down and examine
where leads originate and track them through
to a sale.
“ Pivotal is a tremendous solution that we’ve built into
all facets of our organization. It has really helped us to
streamline our business.
” Ron Frissora
CIO, M/I Homes
Customer demographics
In the past, M/I relied on salespeople to enter
customer information into the system, but few
would actually complete the process. Now,
the team uses CDC Marketing Automation to
automatically send customer survey emails after
a sales visit. M/I is developing deeper customer
insights and can incorporate this data into
marketing campaigns.
Learn More about Pivotal CRM
To learn more about how Pivotal CRM can meet your organization’s unique needs, call us today at +1 877-PIVOTAL (+1 877-748-6825)
or visit us at www.pivotal.com.
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