vCita Teams Accelerates Sales, Fueling Growth of POS Software Firm
• vCita LiveSite Online Scheduling link within Marketo email campaigns increased conversions resulting in more sales
• Unique scheduling link tied to sales specialists in Salesforce CRM to accurately connect clients to data
• ShopKeep Sales team has doubled since inception with vCita easily scaling
ShopKeep was born from two Brooklyn-based wine retailers, who quickly grew their business into four stores. As their business grew, they could not find a suitable, cloud-based point of sale system. Co-owner, Jason Richelson, a former technology consultant and trader, decided to create a point of sale system that fits the needs of a small business like his. ShopKeep now serves thousands of retailers ringing up hundreds of thousands of transactions a day with data stored securely in the cloud.
Bridging the Gap
As the company grew so did the sales team. Brandon Bernard Jones was promoted to manage ShopKeep’s sales operations and quickly realized that the team needed a better way to schedule sales consultations with inbound leads. Jones sought to find a way to close the gap between the moment of interest of an inbound lead and the time that elapses before a specialist can make the first contact. He believed that closing this gap on elapsed time would increase lead conversion as leads would be encouraged to schedule a consultation as opposed to waiting for a specialist to call. Jones, who had previous experience with online scheduling systems, contacted vCita. Jones and vCita worked closely to tailor a long-term solution for the ShopKeep sales team.
Cha-Ching...
ShopKeep now uses vCita Teams, specifically designed for businesses with multiple employees. Jones’ sales team consisted of 17 sales specialists with vCita Teams providing each specialist with a unique vCita account, linked to their Google calendar. Within minutes, each ShopKeep specialist quickly customized vCita Online Scheduling with its preferences, meeting options , automated reminders and notifications. Jones then helped ShopKeep’s Marketing team add each unique scheduling link to outbound Marketo email marketing campaigns where prospects can now easily click to set an appointment with that specialist using vCita. The prospect can view the specialist’s availability and select a time convenient for the prospect. A confirmation and a meeting reminder are automatically sent. Specialists are also notified so they are well prepared for the sales call, and the meeting is added to their Google calendar.
But Wait! There’s More...
Jones then took vCita one step further for his sales organization. He created custom formula fields in Salesforce CRM to link each sales specialist’s unique vCita scheduling link with their respective lead owner. This ensures each specialist is accurately connected to the client and all client data is centralized. Accurate client information is always within reach.
And the Winner is...
Results have been phenomenal. Since January 2014 when Jones implemented vCita, the ShopKeep Sales team has grown from 17 to more than 30 specialists and counting, and ShopKeep recently opened a west coast office in Portland, Oregon. The Sales Team averages at least 71 sales appointments scheduled each week through vCita Online Scheduling, and this number is growing. Jones says that “the quality of the appointments has increased as well” helping ShopKeep further increase revenues.
Clients comment that the link is easy to use and appreciate the self-service aspect. Clients like the immediate gratification in scheduling time on their terms, saving the hassle of back and forth emails, and coordination and confusion around time zones.
“ShopKeep is growing fast and vCita is able to easily support our upward growth as we continue to scale,” says Jones. “vCita is easy to use, client-centric and it looks great on mobile—which makes ShopKeep look good. And, vCita goes the extra mile to ensure the software is easy, comfortable and right the first time. It’s been key to our success in sales.”
Jones administers the vCita Teams account and credits ShopKeep’s growth in part to vCita. In April 2014, ShopKeep closed $25 million in venture capital funding and was serving more than 10,000 brick-and-mortar businesses. “vCita certainly helped make this possible,” adds Jones.
Special thanks to Brandon Bernard Jones, sales operations at ShopKeep for sharing his story. Visit ShopKeep at www.shopkeep.com.
