The Next Zappos?

The Next Zappos?

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of hearing so many leadership, marketing and customer service speakers and authors always cite Zappos and Apple as being the ultimate companies to emulate for service and corporate cultuInfusionsoft HQ Receptionre. There are many other companies out there to emulate, but they don’t get the recognition that they deserve!

I’ve found the next Zappos in the making.

The company to watch? Infusionsoft. They are proof that all it takes to be an overnight success is 12 years of hard slogging.

Their sales have really taken off since 2011. I heard that it was since marketing guru Dan Kennedy endorsed them. Their headcount and sales have risen dramatically in the past 3-4 years. From $15 to $30 to $60 to $80 million in 2014 and over 600 employees. Their 5:1 ratio of leaders to staff show their commitment to their employees.

Dan Ralphs, is their DREAM MANAGER! His mandate is to ensure that all employees have a non-Infusionsoft related dream and to help them make it come true. Some of these blackboard images come from what I call his Dream Cave, an area that Infusionites can go to dream and think in a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. Here they can and read a good book, look at other people’s dreams and think of their own.

I hope we all know byInfusionsoft's Dream Board now that happy employees mean happy customers and that happy employees always come first! Making sure that employees are living their dreams is part of feeling empowered and engaged.

Since I’ve helped start and run a software company for 10 years and boot-strapped it from 0 to 20 employees and seven-figures in profitable sales. I know how hard it is to grow a small company, never mind a large company to over 600 employees (with plans to hire another 250 in 2015).

For Infusionsoft to have maintained that corporate culture, their values and their dedication to small biz is admirable. Why can’t more companies be like them? Maybe then you wouldn’t have as many people wishing their lives away (that’s what TGIF really means, you’re wishing 5/7ths of your life away).

I met Elizabeth Pitt, Infusionsoft’s Chief Customer Officer, who only wants to serve the small biz community. That’s all. Even her name badge had the ribbon ‘Here to Serve’. It was 100% crystal clear that that is what she saw as her function. She knew if she served others, then Infusionsoft’s mission would be accomplished too. That fits my values of being of service to others, do that and the money will follow.

Infusionsoft Dream Wall

Rich people have big libraries, poor people have big TVs Jim Rohn

Georgi Feidler holds the two week Infusionsoft employee on-boarding classes, with 15 of them scheduled for 2015. They offer $5,000 to those who are not 100% all-in (like Texas Hold’em) for the company and its values–more than the $2,000 that Zappos offers. To graduate from this class, they have to put on a show in front of the whole company to demonstrate how all-in they truly are.

 

 

My clients ask me for recommendations on which marketing automation/CRM system to use, a topic for a future blog post. If you can’t wait, contact me. You can also contact me to book your free, 30-minute Sales Intervention call and we’ll see if we’re a match to work together. I help companies get unstuck and selling more faster, and more effectively at great profit.

416-951-3842  Patti@SmallBizSalesCoach.ca

 

 

Full disclosure: Infusionsoft invited me as their guest to their Media, Analyst and Small Biz Influencer tour just before their 3,500 Small Biz Conference ICON15 in March, 2015. Prior to this, I thought they were an Enterprise CRM system provider aimed at much larger organizations. They are so committed to serving ONLY the small biz community that they outgrew their own system which they recommend at maximum 100 employees.

Best part of the ICON15 conference was doing some impromptu coaching with Heather Woodward 

 

Post a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.