Bryce Henderson left a steady 9-to-5 job to start his own company working as a real estate agent for first-time homebuyers. He also flips houses and strives to give his clients the best possible service. He knew the career change was right for him but it didn’t come without challenges.
“So starting my own business was very ... nerve-wracking. I went from a salaried position with benefits to providing everything for my own family. It was a very stressful 6 to 12 months getting everything going, but looking back now, I would never go back,” he said.
While he’s dedicated to his new career, Bryce became overwhelmed by email nurture campaigns and client follow-up work, a critical component of owning a small business. According to a survey conducted by Keap, nearly 44% of respondents cited at least 1 problem related to follow-up, including slow to no responses as a reason for not hiring a firm. Also, 44% of prospective clients don’t hire a service provider if the business doesn’t follow-up quickly enough.
Despite the serious demands around client communication, Bryce persevered because he enjoyed the freedom that owning his own business provided.
“As a small business owner, I love the flexibility. So yes, there are a lot of long hours and long days. It’s not your typical 9-to-5 type of gig. But the flexibility of being able to spend time with my family, being there for school drop off and pick up, and bedtime is huge for me. I love it,” he said.
But as Bryce grew his client list, it became more difficult to maintain. Hiring an employee at this stage in his business was not an option, however.
Bryce was at a crossroads with his business, which left him with less time to follow up with new clients and less time with his family. And when you're out selling homes, longer sales cycles and the need to nurture leads and clients don't stop and still needs to be taken care of.
But with Keap, a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, Bryce learned you can actually be in 2 places at once. While he was out showing and selling homes, Keap was back at the office making sure leads and clients were taken care of.
“Keap allowed me to free up time and focus on expanding my business in other ways,” he said. “I was following up with prospective clients, past clients, and current clients. The software has allowed me to remove myself from that role and to focus on getting new business, as well as maintaining my current stuff,” Bryce said.
Keap allowed Bryce to automate follow up with leads and existing clients, freeing up time to deliver more, personalized service. Overall, he said he had a great experience with the success team at Keap throughout the onboarding and training process.
“Just like anything, there's a learning curve. As long as you are dedicated to it and spend the time to learn the software, it will pay for itself,” he said. “I would definitely recommend Keap. The onboarding and the software are great. It's helped me expand my business and I know it would help other small business owners expand their business.”.
Bryce’s ability to follow-up and expand helps build a reputation of trustworthiness and dependability with clients which are the most important attributes people look for when they’re hiring a service provider. According to our study, 97% of people base their decision on these 2 factors alone.
Additionally, Keap has provided Bryce with that family time he values. He now spends a lot less time juggling the responsibilities of work while spending time with his family.
