To start, tell us briefly about you. What is your current role at your company, and what are the measurable achievements you are most proud of?
I am the Founder and CEO of GreenRope and CompleteCRM. We have been in business since 2000, which seems like forever in the tech world, but it’s been a great ride. We have helped businesses, non-profits, and governments manage communication and operations for a long time and our platform has been a part of the growth of some really awesome organizations! Over a 25 year span, we have a lot of accomplishments our team is proud of.- We’ve helped nonprofits raise money to help bring healthcare to disadvantaged people
- We’ve helped businesses save 90% total cost of ownership when switching to our CRM
- We’ve helped city and state governments keep in touch with their constituents and engage their communities.
What pain point(s) do you solve for your customers? What was the “aha Moment” that led to the idea? Can you share that story with us?
Our first business was in email marketing, something we pivoted on in 2008. We realized that the real struggle facing businesses was about pulling together information from sales, marketing, and operations in a meaningful way. That’s hard. Oftentimes there are different stakeholders, each with their own priorities and software. The vision of building a Complete CRM, something that integrates all that together in a single platform, is a big one. We realized to do this, we would need to either build a lot of connectors to different software, or build it ourselves. We chose the latter, and it has resulted in a platform that truly transforms an organization into an efficient team. By shifting from email marketing (one part of a relationship) to a SaaS that is all about the relationship itself, we have built an all-in-one platform that brings a company together. Through automation, improved security, and meaningful data sharing, the parts of an organization work together to build together.What do you think makes your company stand out? What are you most proud of?
One thing that makes us unique is that we have always been bootstrapped and grown organically. I started the company in my apartment after getting out of the Air Force, without the benefit of a trust fund or external money. I had to live cheaply, sacrificing having a social life for several years and eating lots of Top Ramen and macaroni and cheese from boxes. It was worth it.- By listening to our customers, we have built a sustainable business around providing value and helping them solve their problems.
- We have always been focused on responsible use of our platform (ever since we started, back in 2000, we had a strong stance against spam and unethical marketing).
- We have always invested heavily in customer service, so that all of our customers benefit from the work we’ve put into making our Complete CRM.
From your experience, what are the most important things to build a highly successful website and online business? Please explain each in detail.
The first thing any business leader needs is to have a clear understanding of their business and customers:- Understanding the target market (who are you selling to) is the first step.
- Understanding what the customer journey looks like – how do they find you, how will you engage with them, what happens after the sale.
- Defining what information you need to keep to manage that relationship all the way through.
If there were one part of the website development process you would have spent 50% more time on, what would it be and why? What made you realize the importance of this step?ws
It’s important to consider how your customers will interact with your website on all kinds of devices. Spend the time to test how it looks and ask friends for feedback on their various devices. Consider your buyer’s journey in the design of your website.- How are you engaging with your buyers?
- What do you want them to click on?
- Is it easy to find?
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What’s the one key lesson you’ve learned about building a website and business that you wish you knew when you started? What’s the story behind this realization?
Map out your requirements FIRST. Don’t just dive in and start designing. You have to have a clear understanding of your business objectives before you choose a design, designer, or host. That way, designing a website is a lot like picking your CRM. You have to know what you want before you start anything. Having a clear understanding of where the website fits in the customer journey is key, so it contributes to the customer acquisition and conversion process.In your opinion, which aspect of running a website tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?
From what I’ve seen, security seems to be one of the most overlooked aspects of managing a website. In GreenRope, where our platform includes a template-based website builder, there are no risks with out of date plugins. However, with platforms like WordPress, there are frequent updates required to make sure your website doesn’t contain a vulnerability that could end up damaging your reputation, reducing lead flow, or worse. Make sure you have plans to regularly update any plugins required to make your website work.
WordPress Vulnerability Statistics (source: https://wpscan.com/statistics/)
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people making when building their website and online business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen is not involving the stakeholders when defining business objectives. If one person, particularly if that person is not managing all the departments, chooses a website design, CRM, or marketing platform, getting the team to buy in and use it is much, much harder. While you don’t have to get everyone involved in the decision and design process, it’s a good idea to gather input and direction from the team that will be using and benefiting from the software you choose. Gather requirements, and when deciding what software you want to use and how you want to configure it, you’ll be able to help them by meeting their requirements. Try to gather requirements in as objective a way as possible. The more concrete you can make your requirements, the easier it will be to meet them.Is there any advice you’ve received in your career that you now wish you never followed? What happened?
I think my greatest mistake was employing too many people when data showed the greatest source of leads was from PPC ads. Years ago, I invested in multiple marketing managers, when I could have outsourced PPC ad management and invested more money in the ads themselves. This resulted in fewer leads, which hampered our growth. Labor is often the highest and most consistent expense for a business, so using automation and tools like AI to reduce labor costs will help a business grow and remain profitable in a competitive environment.What strategy has been particularly effective in growing your website audience this year?
Leveraging AI for content has saved our team considerable time in helping them to make blogs, newsletters, and social media posts. You never want to trust AI blindly, so always review what it makes, but it’s a powerful tool to help smaller businesses compete with the bigger players. AI is also great for sales. Having messages personalized by AI for a particular lead or customer helps our team reach out to more people. This results in more people in the funnel and the ability for our customer service team to support more clients.If I asked you to share the key ingredient in your “secret sauce” for inbound marketing, what would it be?
Our CRM is always the secret sauce. It doesn’t have to be GreenRope or Complete CRM – many CRMs have the ability to integrate marketing, sales, and service into one system – but make sure the automation and workflows you design are engaging and helpful for your team. The right CRM with automation will help a business scale with minimum effort.Based on your experiences, what trends and technologies are currently underestimated or overlooked, but can significantly impact your industry? How are you going to adapt?
Everyone is talking about AI, but only a few platforms are actually using it effectively. Using AI to streamline the way you business is going to become more important as your competitors start to do it too. AI is a great tool for helping to generate content, but it’s also good at summarizing information and unstructured data. Find a CRM that helps you by leveraging AI tools. Here at GreenRope, we’ve invested heavily in AI tools:- Integrated an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI, which facilitates automated customer support. This chatbot uses natural language processing to provide intelligent responses, allowing businesses to engage with customers 24/7 and streamline communication processes.
- AI-driven assessments of contacts by analyzing CRM data and linked social media profiles. Users can obtain a concise narrative of a contact’s personality and interests, which aids in personalizing communication and understanding client needs better.
- GreenRope’s AI can automatically gather and summarize publicly available data about companies. This feature saves time by generating descriptions of leads or clients with just a click, providing users with essential insights without extensive research.
- GreenRope’s AI assistant can generate various types of content, including emails, blog posts, and landing pages. Users can specify parameters such as word count and creativity level, allowing for quick content generation tailored to their needs.
- AI with Support Ticketing. AI-generated summaries for support tickets make it easier to keep track of ongoing issues and updates. This feature enhances clarity and efficiency in customer support interactions.
- GreenRope incorporates voice recognition technology, allowing users to manage CRM tasks through voice commands. This functionality simplifies the process of updating records and retrieving information, thus improving productivity.
- An AI SMS chatbot manages incoming messages with human-like responses. It can trigger workflows based on specific criteria, enhancing communication efficiency and ensuring timely responses to customer inquiries.
How can our readers follow your work?
Website:- https://www.greenrope.com
- https://www.completecrm.com
