The challenge they faced:
Foley Engines sells diesel engine parts to farmers, repair shops, and contractors, most of whom buy with equipment down or close to it. About half its customers were first-time buyers, and others went several years between purchases. The company wanted to understand what drove those buying patterns.
Most orders still came in by phone, tying up the people who carried decades of product knowledge. Customers were initially segmented by company size, which said nothing about how they actually purchase and interact with the company.
Our approach:
We combined customer interviews, a survey, and an analysis of order history, running interview transcripts and survey responses through our own AI analysis workflows to surface patterns. Factor analysis showed what drives loyalty. Cluster analysis grouped customers by how they buy into four segments with personas and journeys behind them. Then we designed a Voice of Customer program built for customers who don't answer surveys: one short post-purchase check with NPS (Net Promoter Score) and one question matched to how they bought. Web buyers rate how easy the part was to find, and phone buyers rate the help they got. Every answer is tied to order data and reported quarterly against revenue.
The business impact:
- Knowing where to spend first: making parts easier to find online, the single biggest driver of customer loyalty
- A path and plan to roughly double the value of a one-time buyer by turning them into repeat self-serve customers
- A business case for the website, modeled on a 15–25% lift in web conversion and a lower cost to serve as fewer orders need a call
- Confidence to compete on speed and availability since customers facing downtime value speed over price
What's next:
The research set the direction. The work on customer loyalty and experience continues:
- Launching an AI-powered quarterly VoC program. A short check-in after each purchase asks whether customers would recommend Foley and one question matched to how they bought, tied to their order history.
- Closing the loop. Unhappy customers get a direct follow-up from the Customer Solutions team, and each quarter's report shows what changed because of it.
- Automated AI analysis. Customers' open-text answers are grouped into themes automatically, with recurring problems flagged as they emerge.
- Tracking what pays off. As Foley improves part search, fitment info and tech tips, the quarterly report shows which changes move repeat purchase, web conversion and the share of orders that need a call.
- Growing loyal self-serve customers. Every quarter's priorities aim at the same goal: more customers who find the part online, buy, and come back.
