We discuss with James White CEO of IntouchCRM what its really like to run a successful SaaS company in 2016. James and team have spent the last 8 + years building one of the most popular CRMs in the UK for small businesses.

 

In this episode, James has a lot of insights on how to differentiate yourself from the competition, what it takes to makes sales, and the importance of email marketing.

 

Show Table of Contents

 

0:00 Intros

1:52 Why did James start a Software as a Service company in the first place?

4:20 What is the general advice James would give people starting a company or wanting to be an entrepreneur?

6:28 Dont concentrate on the technology - find your customer and focus on your marketing.

7:24 Planning is the most important step in launching a business

8:39 How the InTouch Growth Academy is helping businesses actually succeed with their CRM

9:43 "Software (by) itself doesn't do anything."

10:20 Customers need help getting started with your product

11:40 The value of a hybrid Saas and training service

12:57 The importance of listening to people who have succeeded in the same path that you are trying to walk down

14:45 Knowing who you can't help is important for your business

15:18 If you are planning the problem you want to solve, and who you want to solve it for, most of your pain as a business owner will disappear

16:57 What are the most common mistakes that the user base makes when marketing their business?

17:30 Unless you drive traffic to your site, there's no point in having a website

18:15 You have to keep following up to close a sale. Most sales take place on the fifth to twelfth interaction.

19:41 Where did James get the idea for the Growth Academy? and what sort of difference has it made in onboarding, sales, and customer success?

22:49 How does automation make following up easier? And how does this affect your overall closing rate and sales?

24:35 "There will come a time where you have to pick up the phone."

25:01 "Most people don't schedule the right amount of time to do their sales activities."

25:20 Making sure you have the discipline to do your sales activities every day.

26:06 If you don't make time to pick up the phone, you won't carry on in business for very long

26:49 "When you're busiest, that's when you need to step on the gas the hardest."

27:13 Triggered emails and the advantages they have over traditional email blasts

27:38 Relevance gets rewarded

27:49 The analogy of the two pet owners (brilliant way to explain email marketing)

29:15 Triggered emails + relevance + information means you can talk directly to a specific customer

30:03 Using email sequences to take people on a journey through the sales funnel

30:30 Understanding leads to trust, which leads to closing sales

30:54 The importance of email segmenting

32:54 "If you're too big for the small jobs, you're too small for the big jobs."

34:38 Outros and ending remarks

37:19 Easter egg outtakes

 

 

InTouch CRM

http://www.intouchcrm.com/

 

 

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You can find additional show notes on the WP-Tonic website:

https://www.wp-tonic.com/podcast/127-james-white-ceo-intouch-crm/

 

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WP-Tonic is not just a WordPress maintenance service, but publishers of a twice weekly WordPress business podcast where we talk with some of the most successful people in WordPress development and online marketing.