Exciting Dash Update!

Dear DirectFlow Participant,

We are happy to welcome our developer Joshua Hoyt back from a well deserved family vacation. He graciously rescheduled the original dates because our timeline of need was pushed ahead. As basic as the CRM has been in the early going, it was needed earlier than expected so he answered the call and worked through the month of July and the first 3 weeks of August without a break, including many weekend binges and middle of the night updates, so as not to upset the function any more than needed during prospecting hours.  

In our meeting today we focused on the details of moving the old CSV files out of Dash proper and into a section of its own entitled “Legacy Leads.” I will take responsibility for inconveniencing you all with the navigation issues during the early going. In an early developmental meeting, I got excited about the ability we had to migrate the old list and old leads into Dash working under the expectation that all of the clients who  migrated over to the new system could pretty much “pick up where they left off” and work their old leads and the new ones without interruption. My idea worked as well as communism, great in ideological theory only, not so much in practicality. Little did we know that the old files were full of inconsistencies and random unnecessary code that would strain the system when searching and slow down a system we confidently named Dash. It has been embarrassing to have a CRM named Dash not perform “up to speed” (no pun intended) but until we introduced the tens of thousands of old leads and the supporting notes associated with each lead, we had no way of knowing how a clean new system would be negatively affected by dirty data. We do now. We have experienced the laboring system trying to interpret inconsistent data and Clyde came up with a fix that Joshua agreed will be the solution. 

It was my fault to allow the old data into the new system. I should have encouraged everyone to work the old leads off of the CSV where all the notes and dates already existed and enter them into the system manually, therefore in a proper format, if they, the prospect, became willing to engage. My intentions were to make the sales associates' world an easier place and it actually backfired. We had no way of knowing because never in the history of the industry had a migration of this size taken place, and therein lies the hazard of “going where no marketing company had ever gone before.” Being the marketing Star Trek of the industry is an adventurous place. We learned a valuable lesson about protecting the integrity of a clean new platform and now have the fix in progress today, 9-3-2025, as of this writing. I apologize for the inconvenience BUT not the attitude of innovation. My attitude accepts inherent risks on the way to the greater goal. As John D. Rockefeller advised us all, ”Don’t be afraid to give up good to go for the great.”  

The old leads will be imprisoned in their own database apart from the fast new one. Dash will now be speedy. The projected upgrade date to beat? Friday 9-12. Instead of sifting through antiquated files built hastily in random ways, Dash will then be filtering only its own properly formatted leads and show us its true capabilities. When you toggle over into the legacy leads they will still display the delays in thinking but your new, higher quality leads, will be protected by a database wall. The old leads will have an old “created date” from the CSV, BUT if you choose to move them to the new system it will have the date it was moved as the lead date moving forward. You’ll need to search your old notes for chronological references. 

As if that’s not enough progress, you will also see the addition of a SOLD category at the end of the “Customer Journey.” The Customer Journey still operates manually but in time will operate manually at the command of a sales associate or from AI if a prospect takes an action such as clicking a “Read More” on an automation, “liking” (the hearty symbol thing) a certain piano on a list, or sharing a piano. In time, the shopper will be able to create a list of the pianos they like best which will be viewable by the sales associate in cue. 

Enough for this update on the approaching new features but please know that we are progressing nicely toward the CRM you are telling us you need. We are stock piling the good ideas and with your help, by the time we get into Q1 of 2026, be concentrating on advanced Phase #2 CRM functions. Please understand that doing this right, customizing it for the luxury marketing space which needs a specific list recipe of AI and sales associate interaction, has never been done on this level before. And as I say frequently, ”It’s better to do it right then do it fast.” The big tech CRM companies build “one size fits all” platforms and customize them for you at “$10-20k a pop” for segments of capabilities suited for specific client needs.  We are building this by forfeiting chunks of profit and reinvesting in the piano industry.

I’ll end with a controversial feature we will be making available. We have not prioritized it to be done in weeks but more likely in a month or two. The ability to switch the automations off. We have experienced a handful of passionate requests to be able to turn the dynamic automations off, and we will accommodate that request in due time. I promise. Please remember that the automations are not written to interfere with the sales associates' prospecting activities as they are totally informational about the specific piano type the prospect identified they were interested in. There is only the occasional disconnect IF the sales associate doesn’t position and coach them on the front end by informing the prospects that they will be receiving a series of informational emails about the type of piano they have inquired about, or a series to help them decide what type of piano may be best for them to consider if they didn’t provide a desired piano type. If the series is communicated on the front end as a helpful “added value” from your friendly, most dependable piano information source in the market, this is nothing but a positive. If you don’t embrace it and it is a surprise, then there may be a small portion of the consumer population that will be annoyed by it. Please remember, and I shouldn't have to mention this but I will, there are those consumers that are “easily annoyed” and there is no marketing agency on the planet that can purge them, or the wealthy folks who act cheap. Many times these behaviors are smoke screens and excuses to keep a level of insulation between their wallet and the dreaded sales individual. Rarely will a person not buy after being served up professionally crafted automations on topic with their request. 

To summarize this third and final Dash topic in this update, and to the delight of all who aren’t fans of the automations (that are dynamic per piano type request and that we labored over to build for you all) there will be a ON/OFF toggle and the ability to schedule them to your liking as in “start dates” and “distances between automations” and the “ability to build your own.” Before these last two items come online they, the automations, will first be branded by company and sales associates in cue and that will be sooner rather than later. Until they are built out and under total control per admin personnel, I urge you to incorporate this language in your conversations, voice messages left, texts and emails,” Dear ______(name of prospect), Please be expecting a series of professionally researched and crafted emails providing helpful information about the type of piano that you inquired about. It’s just another way that we provide the friendliest, most dependable piano information to the music lovers in ____________. (name of city or region.)    

We thank you once more for the opportunity to serve you and the partnership we embark upon together to take lead generation to the necessary level so that we continue to more efficiently make friends online and talk them onto the showroom floor. This is a critical ability we must frame in and refine, so as to thrive and not simply survive. The amount of online piano interest is staggering. Together we must learn to dominate it and subsequently place more music in homes, schools, arts venues and churches.    

More on Dash coming fast…