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"Our Sales Reps have enjoyed a 200% increase in sales since implementing the Brown Dog CRM Strategy and automating our CRM Tool!"

In 2010, I met Carol Smock and accepted her generosity to train my sales staff to use a CRM tool called Salesforce. We traded 3 hours of her time for an article in Brentwood Home Page about a non-profit she works with. We had subscribed on our own to the Group Edition of Salesforce for 1 year but it was Carol’s training that made us functional. But, as 2011 kicked off we realized that we desperately needed the CRM tool to do more of the work FOR us. We had collected six months of great information, but there was no automation and we did all the work. 

Upon contacting Carol, her generosity was yet again what I noticed first. She patiently went through our processes, asking questions about our needs and where our present system was failing. I asked if she could provide us an estimate to customize Salesforce and automate many of our processes. She quickly informed me that our current version of Salesforce would not allow for automation at the level we desired and that in order to get what we needed we would pay roughly $125/user/month. She offered to provide us the research of three systems detailing cost, capability and her recommendation for purchase. The cost of this analysis was minimal.   

Upon review of the three systems, she recommended one and provided us an extremely fair estimate to install, customize, migrate our data, train and provide front-line service support. We are now spending $34/month/user to enjoy the automation that Salesforce would charge $125+/month/user. And learned that while Salesforce “says” their system integrates with QuickBooks there are many restrictions to achieving two-way communication (and the cost is prohibitive to a business our size). These savings alone makes the investment worthwhile! Yes, it is an investment. And with the automation of most of our lead generation, sales and invoicing processes we expect an ROI within a year. Within a week, I was able to pinpoint several accounts that would have slipped through the cracks and been a loss of income had the automated tasks not been present.

Carol is attentive, dedicated and passionate about the work she does. She’s very knowledgeable about Customer Relationship Management as both a strategy AND a software tool. She is determined to give us what we expect and continues to work side by side with our staff. Brentwood Home Page is thrilled with the CRM Tool & Strategy we purchased and with the customization and support provided by Brown Dog CRM Consulting. We highly recommend Brown Dog CRM Consulting to help you increase Sales and Sales Revenue through automation.

Kelly Gilfillan
Brentwood Home Page
Brentwood, TN 

After talking with Carol, I determined that she could help FarmVet with customer relations. Before working with Carol, we only had one new customer program in place. After the first sale, we would touch the customer once with a “Welcome to FarmVet” postcard. Carol developed a personalized 8-touch program for our new customers. Since this new program, we have seen a dramatic increase in new customer retention.

Another program Carol set up for us was the lost customer program. This program gave us a step-by-step method on how to get lost customers back and how to maintain the relationship once the sale has been made. These programs have been indispensable to the marketing department.

Besides developing marketing programs, Carol has developed programs for our sales team. We never had a set program in place for our Microsoft CRM software, and it seemed as though all of our sales staff was using it in different way. Carol created a plan that was easy to follow and moved everyone to the same page. This has made FarmVet’s sales team work smarter and more efficiently.

I highly recommend Carol to help move a company in the right direction. She is an endless source of knowledge, and is very dedicated to her work. I am very happy to have worked with her in the past, and I am looking forward to continue working with her in the future.

Kathryn Jennings
Marketing Director
FarmVet.com
 

I have had the pleasure of participating in a couple of Carol's CRM workshops. Over the past two years, I have been able to continuously implement these strategies, which have allowed me to "get to know" my clients. Maintaining client contact through thank you cards, anniversary cards, and holiday cards, were just some of the basics. We also had the opportunity to look a little deeper into different CRM software and how each can help in easing the implementation process. Carol helped me in understanding how important it is to create a customer profile as well as a client retention program. She was even willing to do follow up consultations after the workshop.  We have maintained contact over the years and she is always willing to offer her services. I believe the tools I've learned from Carol have not only helped grow my business/clientele, but will be pertinent many years from now.
 
Elisa Jones
Investment Advisor/Managing Partner
Clearview Financial Group, LLC


I used to track all of my sales leads on a clipboard. After hearing what Carol had to say about creating a customer retention strategy, I asked her to set up ACT!, a contact management system.
 
We ran a report of my top 20% revenue generating customers. This report reminded me to follow up on a pending proposal that I had forgotten about... I sold the deal! That one activity made me a believer and now I spend more time talking to those customers that offer the most revenue potential.

Don Calverly
CEO
Markwell, Inc.
 

When we needed help in developing a professional proposal and presentation for a potential client, we called on Carol for help. Not only was she responsive to our request, she quickly educated herself about our business and its unique market challenges. Her creativity and marketing savvy proved to be invaluable while we worked on the proposal. That experience proved to us that Carol was not only talented, but reliable and could set and meet deadlines.

We have since contracted Carol to help with a number of projects including our table top display for trade shows, marketing material including brochures, business cards and hand-outs. Also, she edited and published a “how to” manual we distributed to our clients and which we continue to share with potential clients as a key component of our marketing presentation. We are a small company and must be confident that our very limited marketing dollars are expended in the most effective and productive way. Carol always exceeds our expectations not only in her understanding of our needs, her productivity and performance, but also in her sensitivity to our budget concerns.

In summary, we know Carol is talented, committed and reliable. Her commitment is obvious through her work and performance, but most importantly, the many relationships she has developed and maintains. It is an honor to recommend her.

Tony Hollingsworth
President and CEO
Anesthesia Business Solutions, Inc.