The Wheels Inside the Wheel - An Integration Revolution in Progress!

Have you asked yourself this question of the Direct Success Digital “A” Team?

If the main players at their previous company wanted to break off simply for the sake of freedom and a new working environment, why not build a quick and easy, basic CRM that would take weeks instead of months to get up and running? You have the right to ask this question, since you are paying for a new lead generation service from a company who is still developing a complimentary CRM, that you are getting used to as it evolves. Here is the answer: because of integrations and ultimate performance capabilities that didn’t exist. We had to get started for the sake of our survival and the ultimate survival benefit we can provide the industry we love. The critical need that will allow us to thrive, and not merely survive, is to create the very best possible way to find new business. We have invested tens of thousands of dollars to get this journey with you started and will continue to invest until we have created the very best system the piano world has ever seen. I’ll share the details but first, a simple A-B comparison of where we were vs. where we’re going needs to be illustrated.  

I’ll use an example of something  universally understood for the service it delivers - a car. Since “Lord Mr. Ford, What Have You Done?” gave us the freedom to travel more readily than ever before, we have depended on a vehicle to get us from point A to point B. Most of us have no care or concern about the mechanical parts that work together to make a car run. We learn enough over time to make sure the mechanic doesn’t screw us after it goes up on the rack, but unless we fall into the category of what we in high school affectionately called “gear heads”, we don’t know or care what “glass packs” or “hooker headers” are. That is also true about a lot of business retailers and service providers. They want their marketing to run well regardless of the internal parts needed to make it do so. Many things can be going on behind the scenes, but what the retailer cares about is the obvious and current performance of the marketing. We understand that.   

Where we need to go to thrive and not simply survive takes a level of performance not previously achieved with lead generation and marketing follow up protocols. It will take a new vehicle. Similar in some regards to the Model T, but a way higher performance level in the delivery of opportunities like say, a Porsche. Does the Model T still get you down the road? Sure. Does it perform at an impressive enough level to be competitive in today’s world? I’m obviously being rhetorical. Profitability is “more and more” tied to efficiency and that, in today’s environment, comes at the hands of not only utilizing but integrating the proper technologies that will provide the maximum amount of quality opportunities. That is what we are in the process of doing. What independent businesses had access to for lead generation did “get us down the road”, but that is simply not going to get it, and is a pathway to a slow shrivel and eventual economic extinction. There are many “wheels inside the wheel” that make anything run. You needn’t know about every cog, but you do need to know those people who you can trust to keep things running at the necessary level to maintain long term success. This article isn't about taking your time to know all the parts of the engine but a major understanding of where we were, and where we're going. It is critical for us intellectually to head in the same direction. 

Why is Direct Success Digital the Porsche and not the Model T? There are several reasons, but allow me to highlight the main one that kept me up at night: the dots were not connected. Until the revelation on how to connect the dots came to us, I felt like we had a plethora of tools in the tools box that were not being used properly. My quandary was the quality of the parts in the vehicle and how all things worked independently instead of “in harmony.” I felt like we were capable of being capable, but not of high performance. Here’s what we had as the industry standards:

1. Websites that were not optimized well for conversion. They sported CTA’s (calls to action) that were surveys and “Contact Us” buttons and non-imaginative ways, imploring the consumers to reach out to them. We solved the website problem by creating widgets that converted a higher percentage of visitors into workable leads but never got to the benefit of retargeting to capture ALL the available web leads.    

2. Retailers placed Google and Meta ads to create SEO, but didn’t have the experience, audience intelligence and pixels to target as well as an agency. The DSD coalition of clients provides the largest pool of intelligence in the industry.

3. Enter agencies, such as the one we came from, using ads to drive people with specific interest to “stand alone pages” optimized for conversion. In layman’s terms - ad agents sending people somewhere other than to their retailer’s site because it had a singleness of purpose: to capture a lead. That worked to a higher degree than ever for lead capture but the integration with the dealer's website or social media was non-existent. 

In summary of what was: websites that didn’t create as many workable leads as they should, ads placed by “Do it Yourselfers” or technically astute tech people with no sales savvy, and well placed ads by agencies that gathered leads off of ugly pages that made no emotional connection with the consumers. Sound about right?

I wrestled with these issues in my mind until I realized that harmony between quality elements was the key. We are now tackling these shortcomings and the solutions are in progress! For the first time, we are headed toward efficiency. Are we there?Absolutely not, but it is just around the corner! How? As I stated in the first paragraph: because of integrations and ultimate performance capabilities. Similar to a good team of any sort, all the players need to be using the same playbook. 

The goal is more opportunities. I knew all the tech talent was there but the system wasn’t connecting all the dots for the plays to be run right. We needed every client digital dollar bill spent to support every other digital dollar bill spent. This means the ads dollars, the CRM, the landing pages, and the sales force all need to be aligned. That wasn’t happening   

Here are the solutions either already being applied, or in development and almost ready for service:

1. We are working first to complete phase #1 of a CRM with the most intelligent follow up and audience capabilities ever built. This will allow for better follow up from the CTA’s leads and retargeting. The results? More engagements, better search intel, and more sales. Web leads properly chased with humans aided by technology close at a higher ratio than any other leads known to sales-dom.    

2. By branding the leads using the client’s name and logo, it creates a phenomenal amount of impressions. The DSD coalition of clients provides the largest pool of intelligence in the industry. The results? Viewership of social media and websites will escalate significantly because every ad now placed is no longer a third party ad. Not only will online traffic increase but so will phone calls and visits. The largest benefit though? The quality of the leads will increase dramatically. we are down to 15% digital nationally.        

3. By the ads being branded with the client brand, there will be synergy. Agencies worried about getting all the credit don’t give synergy it’s due, and all retailers know that the best team is one where everything is all pulling in the same direction. That is the process we have begun. Alignment will take some doing but it has officially begun. The Result? Since it takes “D All the Above”, a series of impressions and touches to create a client, having integrations aligned will create more opportunities. 

That’s a great place to bring this home; more opportunities are available. They are online and plentiful, and we can find them for you. Together we will craft the best possible way to get as many fish in the boat as possible. In summary, the goal of any business is to thrive, not simply survive. We knew we had to rebuild from the foundation up to get to where we want to go with you, so a quick and easy CRM, duplicating old creatives and settling of the status quo, was never an option for Direct Success Digital. Building the best possible way to grow online revenue however is. It is the one we chose, and thank you! for helping get us all there. 

Our goal is that day in the near future when our mantra will be:

EFFICIENCY=RETENTION=REFERRALS which equals GROWTH  

In the meantime we have to live by this quote:

“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” - John D. Rockefeller