R.M.Williams applies its craft to create a premium customer experience at every touchpoint.

Founded in 1932, R.M.Williams has become one of Australia’s most iconic brands. The footwear and clothing company is best known for its boots crafted using a single piece of leather. Originally designed for the rugged Australian outback, the boots are built to last and feature a timeless look, making them a staple for customers globally.

In 2020, R.M.Williams was acquired by Tattarang, one of Australia's largest private investment groups. The acquisition brought the brand back into Australian hands and set it up for a bold new chapter, one underpinned by its digital transformation.

Salesforce is a partner in the brand’s transformation which has given employees the tools to craft a premium customer experience.

To deliver success now and in the future, R.M.Williams wanted to provide customers with a consistent and personalised experience no matter where they shopped or interacted with the brand. First, it had to empower employees with the right tools. The customer service team, for example, had to move between more than 30 systems which led to long wait times and a fragmented customer journey.

R.M.Williams needed the right partner and technology to transform and found both in Salesforce. Alignment in values and a shared passion for philanthropy and sustainability were deciding factors.

“Partnering with Salesforce was the only way for us to put the customer at the centre and transform how we engage with them online, speak to them in-store, and support them through our customer service channels,” said Nathan Alexander, CTO, R.M.Williams.

Salesforce Professional Services worked side-by-side with R.M.Williams and other key partners to build a roadmap for success. The Professional Services team also helped R.M.Williams make the most of Salesforce’s out-of-the-box functionality and accelerate time to value. In addition, the team provided coaching to help R.M.Williams take ownership of the program and ongoing enhancements.

“Working with Salesforce Professional Services taught us new ways of doing things and helped us avoid heavy customisation. As a result, we completed what should have been a three-year project within a year and a half and started seeing a return on investment within three months,” said Peter Ratcliffe, Head of Technology, R.M.Williams.

“R.M.Williams believes that when things are made well, they enrich life’s journeys. As a result, delivering a personalised signature experience for customers is essential to support both the online and in-store selling ceremonies,” said Alexander. “Now powered by AI + Data + CRM, we can scale the service customers have come to love and personalise every interaction.”

To enhance the service experience and remove friction for customers, R.M.Williams uses AI and machine learning to elevate product recommendations, not just online but when talking to customers directly. The brand also ensures customers get a personalised experience from the content they engage with online, including product assortments and campaigns. 

With Service Cloud and Service Cloud Voice, agents now answer the phone and immediately see who is calling. They also have everything in one place to respond to questions on the status of orders or coordinate returns or repairs.

“It’s important for our customer service team to deliver the R.M.Williams’ signature service to every customer, at every point of interaction. Service Cloud helps agents by giving them the information they need to respond to customers quickly, accurately, and in a really tailored way,” said Stephanie Frazer, Senior Manager, Digital Operations, R.M.Williams. 

R.M.Williams has additionally given customers the option to self-serve. Combining With Salesforce Knowledge, the brand has established a public-facing help centre with answers to frequently asked questions.

Overall results from the use of Service Cloud include a 42% reduction in phone calls and greater transparency of cases and customer needs. Productivity has also improved with automation reducing time spent on tasks like processing refunds.

Seamless and personalised engagement via Marketing Cloud complements R.M.Williams’ enhancements in service. For example, campaigns and journeys are now tailored based on customer behaviour and purchase history. So rather than sending a customer a campaign featuring boots they’ve already bought, R.M.Williams can automatically trigger an offer for a matching belt. 

The brand also automatically pauses email marketing to customers with an open service case, demonstrating an understanding of where customers are at in their journey. Building a workflow with clicks, not code, a Flow automation connects Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud to tailor customer experiences. 

These enhancements and others have led to measurable increases in customer engagement, including 3.5x higher open rates and 2x higher conversion rates from targeted email campaigns as well as 1.6x revenue attributed to digital. 

R.M.Williams continues to build on these results and wow customers with innovative campaigns and journeys. These have included the brand’s 90th-anniversary campaign which included a special offer for VIP customers executed with the help of Service Cloud.

“We continue to look at ways to surprise and delight our loyal customers and our 90th anniversary was a great opportunity to enhance their experience with our brand. Salesforce helped us execute the campaign successfully and with a lot less manual effort than would have been required in the past,” said Frazer.

As part of R.M.Williams’ digital transformation, it has rebuilt its ecommerce site using Commerce Cloud’s Storefront Reference Architecture (SFRA). The move to SFRA has vastly improved the mobile shopping experience, contributing to a 20% increase in online conversion, a 10.27% increase in average order value, and a 34% increase in online revenue.

R.M.Williams now plans to introduce new capabilities through the site, including click-and-collect in-store. The replacement of R.M.Williams’ Point of Sale (POS) with NewStore POS will help to enable this and allow the brand to provide a truly omni-channel experience.

The connection between NewStore POS and Salesforce also provides in-store consultants with a complete view of customers, helping consultants have more personalised discussions about their needs. For example, consultants can provide proactive advice about repairing and preserving the life of a customer’s boots, thereby encouraging more sustainable consumption.

R.M.Williams is now working with MuleSoft Professional Services to implement MuleSoft Automation to support its vision for hyperautomation. With a complete, easy-to-use set of tools, MuleSoft Automation will automate human-driven tasks and processes through clicks and accelerate innovation securely and reliably. 

Increasing end-to-end automation is essential as R.M.Williams looks to drive efficient growth internationally. It will also equip the brand to deliver increasingly personalised experiences. 

“Our founder’s connection to customers at a personal level, the product he made for them, and the way he supported them through life’s journey are what’s made us a customer company from the beginning,” said Grossman. “It’s those same principles that are going to carry us through to the next 90 years.”