Championship Powersports Drives More New Business with Aline

Executive Summary  

Wes Squire is a Sales and Parts Specialist for Championship Powersports. For 5 years, Wes has worked alongside ownership and team members to fulfill the unique needs of all types of riders. In 2020, Championship Powersports experienced a sharp increase in the number of inbound calls. Their business needed a phone system that could handle the inbound call traffic. Since implementation, Aline ensures that all phone calls have the opportunity to be answered before they reach a voicemail box. Aline’s enhanced features provide Championship Powersports with more flexibility and solved some additional problems.

The Challenges: Missing calls, sales opportunities, and an inefficient phone system.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought upon a unique year for business in 2020. While many businesses suffered, according to Wes Squire, the Powersports industry thrived, “2020 was a very weird year in the Powersports industry, sales were up almost 60% as a whole nationwide”. This meant that at Championship Powersports, they were busy. Inbound call volume increased and their current phone system couldn’t handle the traffic. CenturyLink was their current phone provider but only three calls could be held at a time. This meant that if all three lines were in use, and someone called in, the call would reach a voicemail. Wes elaborated, “We were losing a lot of calls because people would just keep calling and just keep going straight to voicemail”.

In addition to missing inbound calls, Championship Powersports was also lacking the flexibility to run a more efficient operation. There were times when multiple calls were happening at once that needed to be transferred and couldn’t because all lines were in use. Also, inbound calls weren’t filtered by their departments which meant there were lots of interruptions and transferring.

To avoid missing out on sales and serving their current customers promptly, they needed a different solution.

The Solution: A Cloud-Based VoIP Phone System.

Championship Powersports was introduced to Aline Phone Systems, a VoIP service provider, and learned about the added value the solution could provide their business. The team purchased new phones, softphones, mobile apps, and implemented an Interactive Voice Response (IVR). This changed the way that their business operates but for the better of their employees, customers, and sales.

The Benefits: No more missed calls, more sales, enhanced flexibility, and a better customer experience.

The addition of Aline has eliminated the need to purchase extra lines from CenturyLink and now, even if all phones are in use, inbound calls are no longer sent immediately to voicemail. This is because Aline is built to handle an unlimited number of calls at a given time. Plus, they’re no longer missing new sales opportunities and delaying when they speak to current customers. With Aline, even if all phones are occupied, inbound callers can either wait on hold listening to music, or an employee can place a current caller on hold to answer the new call. Their customer experience has enhanced, and they’re not missing out on new sales opportunities.

“When you get five to eight calls all within, a five-minute period, it’s nice that they come through now” – Wes Squire

Also, the addition of the IVR has streamlined inbound calls by the department. When calling into Championship Powersports, customers can select which department they would like to connect with. Before, all phones would ring which caused interruptions and resulted in having to transfer calls. Now for example, if someone selects the service department from the IVR, only the service department will ring. If service phones are in use, it will then ring the sales and parts departments as a backup. The IVR has eliminated delays in serving the customer and reduced inbound call interruptions throughout the business. Plus, any protentional sales inquiries are not lost.

The mobile app has also been a valuable tool for their business- especially if the internet goes down at the shop. Having the mobile app ensures that calls can still be received in the event of having no internet. As busy as their shop is, no potential new business is lost and customers continue to be served. They also have one employee who works in a mixture of all departments, floating between them. This employee always has the mobile app on his cell phone ready to take any calls that remain unanswered. Wes had this to say, “He is like the backup phone if we’re all busy. He’s the one that does the phone answering and then takes notes and stuff so he can get back to people. At Championship Powersports, the mobile app has eliminated the fear and frustration of potentially missing out on new sales if the internet goes down, or if all phones are busy.

They have also found an easier way to conduct business using the softphone application. The softphone is accessed on a computer and allows their employees to view if another employee is available to receive a call before transferring. This eliminates the risk of a call being transferred to an employee who is occupied on a call which can result in a frustrated customer. Championship Powersports is also using the eFax feature to send documents during sales deals or sending updated documents to distributors and manufacturers. With eFax, seamlessly integrated into the softphone, their business has a one-stop-shop solution for their phone and fax needs.

Overall, the transition to Aline has been smooth. Customers are happy and new riders keep pouring in eager for their next adventure!

Are you tired of not having a phone system that can’t meet the needs of your business? Is it time for you to make the switch? Click here for a free quote from Aline!