As part of our ongoing “Meet Infused Customers” interview series, this month we talk to Jermaine Griggs, owner of Hear and Play based in Orange County, California.
Jermaine knew he had a talent for music as a young child. He started Hear and Play 10 years ago to help others learn how to play music. From piano to organ, to guitar and drums his customers learn how to play by ear, without reading sheet music. His online CDs, guides and video tutorials have trained hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world how to play their favorite instruments.
Jermaine was one of the most talked-about presenters at our Conquer & Grow conference last month where he shared a deeper look at how he uses Infusionsoft for creating campaigns that automatically nurture customers to buy more.
Why did you switch to Infusionsoft? I was frustrated because I kept hitting the same gross sales for years. I started looking for an “edge”. I decided to watch an Infusionsoft demo, and the rest was history. Once I saw what it could enable me to do, I realized what I had been missing all this time: It was automated follow-up!!
What I couldn’t do before is systematize things under one roof. I had many systems doing many things. And I couldn’t tell you exactly the process that happened whenever someone placed an order. It was a consistent experience and my follow-up was mediocre. Now I can tell you exactly what happens when. I didn’t have a place I can press one button that does a series of things it literally is set and forget it. With Infusionsoft, I can now. I can tell you exactly after someone buys, what communications they get. I know what time their phone is going to ring with a greeting thanking them for their order. They’re going to get a post card, a birthday card.
The magic sauce is the automation. With other systems it’s nonexistent. There’s no focus on automation. I can take orders online all day.
How do you use Infusionsoft? Where I really use Infusionsoft and see the magic is with what happens right after a customer orders. They place an order. Then a few days later they get a thank you and special offer postcard, then they get a thank you phone call, followed by a letter in 30 days. If they don’t buy more from us in six months, I have a special campaign I set up that is set to automatically send a letter saying, ‘What happened to you?’ But any time they order, that campaign gets delayed until they go another 6 months without ordering. So essentially no contact goes untouched for more than 6 months. It’s brilliant the way it just works.”
What has Infusionsoft enabled you to do? I now offer high-touch super-sized customer service and have the capability to up-sell in a natural way. I have to say, we market like world-class marketers now. I incorporate the following in my marketing campaigns: Voice broadcasts, text messaging, mailed letters, and postcards, gifts like Starbucks cards and brownies, and birthday cards. My business looks and operates like a bigger business with all the tools we use in our marketing.
What do some of your campaigns look like? My campaigns in Infusionsoft consist of personalized emails that are automatically triggered by what my customers do or don’t do. As a result of Infusionsoft and its ability to fully automate my marketing, now I touch customers in a 360-degree way through multi-channel campaigns that incorporate email, letter, postcard, text messaging and phone. We’re on track to double our net profit this year with record-breaking income and cost-savings.
Managing continuity programs is way better. I can set up so many different rules when credit cards fail. I can keep credit cards on file and so if customers want to buy again they don’t have to re-enter information, they can just click a link and the order is completed.
Now I can segment my prospects and customers a million different ways, and with ease. I can offer payment plans on all products. If I want to test 4-pay options, I add it in 15 seconds and now every product can be 4-pay. Or I can do it by certain products. I can even do it if they put in a special code only. Or I can do it by price. If they spend more than $300, add 6-pay option.”
What’s your best campaign? I have a great campaign I dreamed up that I know would be impossible to make happen without Infusionsoft. But with Infusionsoft I can! It’s my “CD of the month club” product. Everyone starts at CD 1 and moves forward every 30 days… automated. I've recorded up to CD15 already and I record them each month. Any time I want to stop recording, I can still market the program and just end them after month 15. Infusionsoft makes this seamless. It enables intelligent follow-up. You can set up so many rules and triggers.
How has your business changed? My business is totally different now. People get collection letters automatically, they get birthday cards, birthday text messages, they get Starbucks $5 card the minute we notice they spend more than $350. That’s automated. They get cookies when they have spent more than $750. I use it for customer marketing, online sales, automating credit card collections, follow-up campaigns to manage failed charges and workflow automation where it sends tasks to my assistant.
Is there anything you can’t do with Infusionsoft’s marketing automation suite? There is pretty much no limits on what you can do. Really. It’s amazing how creative I can get.
What are the results you' ve experienced? With the software I was using before Infusionsoft, lifetime customer value peaked at about $90, but with Infusionsoft and being able to run continuity programs, 1-click up-sells, and automation links and really pinpoint, our customers the lifetime value of a customer has jumped to $374. I never knew my customers could spend $1000 at one time and now they do. If you follow up, do it intelligently—meaning hyper-targeted—instead of mass blasts to everyone like I was doing before, you see results. Hear and Play is living proof of that. Here are other results I've seen:
Increased sales by 80% to existing customers!
Reduced overhead, but increased sales—your accountant is asking you how you did this?!
Reduced hours spent working each week—every hour you spend on the system means increased sales, but less hours working long term
Increased customer retention
Increased lifetime customer value from $90 to $375
Spend more time with wife and 2 kids—especially now that we have a 10-month old and one on the way, I can help out much more
I can actually can take vacations now. My wife and family love Infusionsoft too
If you missed his presentation from Conquer and Grow, here is his slide presentation 360-Degree Marketing: How to close more leads and increase repeat sales.
If you have a story you want to share with the world, tell us how your business is infused here.
