Fusion Case Study
Motorsport-events.com
Taking the racing line to business on the web
Being ahead of the pack is something that Motorsport Events’ Managing Director, Ed Moore is well used to. As a racing driver with 20 years experience Ed has rubbed wheels with some of the biggest names in the sport, including Formula 1 stars Ralph Firman and Jensen Button. His recent racing career in Formula Ford has seen him notch up some famous victories and he has held lap records at Snetterton, Silverstone and Castle Combe Circuits. In the 2006 season he dominated the Midlands South FF1600 Championship and won an amazing 16 races and in 2007 he won the Castle Combe Championship for the second time. So it is no surprise that Ed’s company should be in the lead when it comes to web based trading.
Motorsport Events is a small business organising track days for car enthusiasts. The company’s two Directors are Ed and his wife, Natasha, a Business Studies graduate specialising in the motorsport industry. They are ably assisted by teams of highly qualified Marshals, Racing Instructors, Paramedics and Caterers who are employed on event days to support the fifty plus events that are run every year.
Track Days
Most Motorsport Events track days are run on airfields, where enthusiasts can experience the thrill of driving their own cars at high speed in a safe, controlled environment; plus they can receive expert coaching and become better and safer drivers in all conditions. Airfield venues offer the ideal conditions for a safe experience, as Ed explains, ‘If someone makes a mistake on an airfield, the likelihood is they will just slide through a few plastic cones, whereas a normal circuit has plenty of crash barriers and hard objects to ruin your day.’
Integrated Solution
Ed and Natasha apply the same level of meticulous professionalism to running the business. ‘The track day business is highly competitive,’ explains Natasha, ‘We have to offer exceptional value and that means there’s no room for waste in the office. That’s why we were so pleased to find such incredible value in Fusion’s web trading solution, which is customised to our exact needs. Not only does it capture orders and process bookings and payments, but it produces our event documents and integrates with our Mamut accounting system.’
Customer managed profiles
There are several key aspects where Fusion has transformed the way Motorsport Events is run. The customer is the key focus, so each customer is able to manage their own profile on the web site, including details of their car and driving experience. Despite more than 2,000 customers, Natasha is able to get a full profile of everyone attending an event. ‘The customisation for our needs is perfect’, says Natasha, ‘My Event Sheet is a vital document to me, but totally unique to our business.’
Online payment with automated documentation
Marketing of events is heavily focused on the web, so the complete integration of web marketing with web trading means that customers have a great experience on the Motorsport Events web site, with easy browsing of events, while always being just one click away from selecting their optional extras and making the booking. Payment by credit card is also included and integrates with web services from a well known payment provider. As soon as payment is confirmed, an email confirmation with a PDF invoice and terms and conditions is sent to the customer and the accounting transactions are created.
Management Sales Information
Finally, there is the management sales information that is provided. ‘This helps us to see the business in a new light,’ says Ed. ‘We can analyse trends and see which types of events and locations work best on which occasion, it’s all about serving the customer better.’ It’s the kind of attention to detail that is vital in a commercially astute, but safety conscious company and which has contributed to Motorsport Events being the leading airfield track day organiser in the UK.
‘The icing on the cake is that so much of what used to be tedious office work now takes place automatically,’ says Natasha, ‘Ed’s used to doing things at 150 mph, so having bookings and payments arrive instantly with no effort suits him perfectly. Fusion have understood our needs and created a stunning experience for our customers, and all done at high speed; that’s exactly how we like to do things at Motorsport Events’.
Please visit http://www.motorsport-events.com/ for more information.