Brent Atkinson
RTO Enterprises Marketing Manager
"...The response has been phenomenal" said Mr. Atkinson. "The new website is generating 35% of call center orders..."

RTO Enterprises consolidated its six retail banners into a single brand - easyhome (See Story). The company recently launched an updated website www.easyhome.ca to go with the new name.

Every rent to own training program ever written stresses that "any customer contact should be viewed as a selling opportunity". Yet most websites don't take full advantage of the 'selling opportunities' available online. Unlike other RTO sites, easyhome is 100% customer focused. The navigation is designed to funnel customers to product pages. Product selection is by category and weekly rates are listed for all items shown. Next to each payment is easyhome's 'easypay payment plan' logo.

All product pages are accompanied by a related "Super Special" prominently displayed above a rotating banner stating "no credit needed, no down payment, and no hassle return".

Click on any thumbnail image for a larger view and visitors are encouraged to 'order this item'. Customers fill out a simple form and easyhome reps contact them by phone. Simple is an understatement. The only required fields are name and phone number.

Easyhome Knows It's Audience
Rather than publish a cookie cutter site, the site was designed in-house by Brent Atkinson, RTO Enterprises Marketing Manager. Brent worked with Advertising agencies LPI Communications Group and Meadwell & Associates, to develop the look and feel, and Britech, a website design firm to turn his vision of a rent to own customer friendly site into reality. "We reviewed every site we could find", said Brent. "We learned from others mistakes and successes and built what we believe is a 100% customer focused website for rent to own."

Dispelling The Myth of No Access
Brent Atkinson told RTO Online, "With the RTO demographic, you would lean towards the opinion that not many have internet access. We just can't believe the number of orders that are coming through the site." He added, "The online order form we developed is much more toned down than some other RTO sites. It doesn't make sense to promise 'no hassle' and then require customers to write a book to place an order. Essentially, we use the site to generate hot leads".

RTO Enterprises recently opened a  'shop by phone' call center based in Toronto. Customers across Canada can call from 9am till 10pm to place orders or get product information. When site visitors fill out the short order form (name/phone) the form is sent to the call center as a hot lead. "The response has been phenomenal" said Mr. Atkinson. "The new website is generating 35% of call center orders".

Visitors can click on 'How it Works' for a concise description of the value of rent to own. The company even publishes Company President David Ingram's phone number on the site to register complaints...we tried it...it really works:)

The HR section of the site lists current job openings and detailed job descriptions. Britech developed a content management system that allows RTO Enterprises employees to append company job postings and press releases from remote computers.

RTO Enterprises has experienced tremendous change over the past 12 months. Under the leadership of David Ingram, the streamlined company will continue to dominate Canadian rent to own, on-line and off. One wonders when that energy will spill south...over the border...