FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Tom Borgman
Marketing Manager
(320) 395-5227
tborgman@lesterbuildings.com
"Lester eBuildings" Launched: Post-Frame Building Industry's First Online Pricing Website
October 7, 2003
Lester Prairie, MN
Lester Prairie, MN - Lester Buildings has launched its "eBuildings" website, a new interactive service that allows users to select, customize and price buildings online. Lester eBuildings has been integrated into the company's main website at www.lesterbuildings.com and is currently available in Lester's factory-direct sales areas.
Tom Borgman, Marketing Manager, says "This is a new and convenient service that lets you browse for all sorts of storage and equestrian structures. The site allows you to accessorize and colorize your building while providing real-time pricing as you change your options."
The new site is claimed to be the first of its kind in the very competitive pre-engineered post-frame building industry. "The internet has fundamentally changed information exchange forever. While we were the first in our industry to develop a design and pricing software program (Improv®) for sales representatives to use in their face to face contact with customers, we have now taken the spirit of that idea right to the internet. Now, you can visit the site to visualize, customize and price a building yourself, all in the comfort of your home or office," notes Borgman.
The Lester eBuildings website features four different ways to search for a building: by square footage, by building type, a full online building catalog browsing tool or a "Building Finder" Wizard. Sizes offered range from small 18' x 28' storage buildings up to 60' x 100' equestrian arenas. Buildings are presented in two different packages - basic or deluxe - with deluxe packages featuring additional and upgraded doors, windows, wainscot, overhangs, cupolas, etc. Borgman adds that a user can add any number of accessories - like shutters, additional windows, stalls, insulation, etc. - to any package and get real-time pricing. Pricing includes installation labor but excludes freight and tax.
The site neither requires nor has the ability to conduct financial transactions. "That would be asking a lot more than most building customers are willing to do online," Borgman continues. He adds that the purpose of the site is to allow users to get a head start in designing and pricing a building in their own "time and space", before submitting a "building request" for a final review and pricing by a local Lester representative.
The site allows visitors to save buildings they're interested in for 30 days. If a visitor submits a building request, it goes directly to a local Lester representative, who contacts the submitter to review the building in detail and confirm final pricing, including freight and tax, in the traditional manner.
The site is currently available for pricing buildings in Lester's factory-direct areas only. This includes most of Minnesota, the state of Wisconsin, northern Illinois and much of Virginia. "All other areas where we distribute our building systems are serviced by independent, locally-owned Lester dealers. We are signing up a number of participating Lester dealers and would like to eventually have all of them offer this service through their own websites," Borgman says.
Lester buildings are primarily sold into the light commercial, equestrian, suburban, agriculture and livestock building markets. The company has grown to be one of the nation's 'top five' suppliers of pre-engineered wood frame buildings, with building sales in over thirty states, from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast. Established in 1947, Lester recently announced that its management group intends to purchase substantially all the assets of the business from its parent, Butler Manufacturing Company. The acquisition is scheduled to close in late 2003.