Tell me about yourself and your business.

Desoto Consulting is a marketing consulting firm that is extremely different than your traditional advertising or digital agency in that we help our clients establish organic growth through counterintuitive methodologies. Prior to launching up Desoto Consulting, I was the CMO of 2 multi-million dollar businesses, developed patented software to ease the process of vehicle wraps.  I have been blessed to see what works and what doesn’t.

Along the way I developed a counterintuitive methodology for marketing and growing businesses. For the past 8 years, as a consultant, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to implement our methodology and build some amazing brands and companies, delivering unprecedented results.

Some people say I am a different kinda guy, I am cool with that. I wear cargo shorts to the boardroom and in my spare time I love to hang with my family and use my hobby, photography to help homeless in inner-city Arizona.

What were your sales and marketing challenges before you used BenchmarkONE?

My clients and I struggled with being able to communicate with contacts in an authentic and personal way that didn’t feel automated. With the email marketing tools I was using I could send a mass email but it wasn’t personal. I needed an easy way to be able to communicate on a mass level but keep it real and have more of an intimate conversation with our contacts and customers. Also, managing the results of my marketing efforts was difficult and extremely time consuming.

With BenchmarkONE it just feels real. It extends my core belief of fostering and creating authentic relationships. To me a handshake is far more valuable than a like or a tweet anytime.

How has BenchmarkONE specifically addressed your challenges?

BenchmarkONE delivers more value than any other tool I have used for my clients such as Infusionsoft or email newsletter tools like Constant Contact. It also enables me to take my clients’ prospect and customer data and filter it, sending out heartfelt communications, ultimately driving brand loyalty, engagement, and customer growth.

BenchmarkONE is the ultimate source for cutting through the advertising noise by allowing me to drive personalized messages to the right audience at the right time with tangible results.

What was the big “Ah-Ha!” moment that made you decide you needed to try BenchmarkONE?

My “ah ha” moment was when I talked to Tricia and Jamie from the BenchmarkONE team. Tricia was genuine and truly interested in helping me. Then I had the pleasure of walking through a demo with Jamie. It wasn’t like any other software demo I had been through, his approach was unique. He wasn’t pushy, instead he was knowledgeable and insightful. I knew instantly that this was a company and technology that I had to partner with.

Even after I signed up, Jamie and the entire team at BenchmarkONE has been unbelievable at making sure I am having success on the platform. Also, the BenchmarkONE interface was also a big “ah ha” moment for me. I love the layout and the simplicity. Everything is where it is supposed to be.

The ability for me to take a technology like BenchmarkONE and turn it over to my clients has never been easier. Now my clients, regardless of their technology level, can better communicate with their customers and spend less time learning a new software platform.

What are two or three BenchmarkONE features you love?

I like to focus on basic human psychology, at the core people are still human. We desire to receive a hug or a thank you note every once in a while. With all the automation tools out there today we tend to forget that basic principal. BenchmarkONE keeps it personal. It allows my clients and me to deliver personal messages in a massive and truly engaging manner. I call it #BenchmarkONEHugs.

If you are going to make your marketing real, then BenchmarkONE tagging helps you do it. With tagging I can now isolate my client’s needs based on their problem or interest and communicate in an authentic and viable way directly fulfilling their desires.

Once a contact responds to my communication, I have the info to be able to respond with the right, directed message. Engagement rates go up and the contact gets a #BenchmarkONEHug.

I also love the email template and form builder in BenchmarkONE. My clients can quickly and easily create professional looking emails with the drag and drop tools in BenchmarkONE and the more advanced tools give me the flexibility I need to deliver brand consistency.

The ability to institute actions on website visitors, on forms and on email click troughs is a game changer. It gives my clients the ability to see who is visiting their websites, filling out their forms and automatically start them on the appropriate email campaign based on a contact’s true needs not the companies mass offering.

 What measurable results have you seen since you started using BenchmarkONE? 

As far as Desoto Consulting, our click through rates have doubled since using BenchmarkONE and our unsubscribe rates have dramatically declined. A VIP program I designed for one of my clients to bolster exposure and relationships with their customers has increased over 400% in a very short time with BenchmarkONE. It’s a fiduciary win for our firm, our clients and their customers!

Every client I have on BenchmarkONE is seeing amazing results. Engagement is up and they are seeing a dramatic increase in customer retention.  Actually, when I look at my client’s numbers since implementing BenchmarkONE (keep in mind, we don’t often have our clients do traditional advertising) it just makes me smile. I have one client who has seen a 53% growth in sales since implementing BenchmarkONE while saving over 10k per month in ad campaigns. Go figure!

What is the single biggest reason you would recommend BenchmarkONE to another business?

Because I personally use the software and believe in it. With my counterintuitive approach to marketing, I only recommend technology solutions that I believe truly cut right through the marketing jargon and get to the heart of marketing and basics human psychology. BenchmarkONE allows me to scale authentic personal relationships resulting in real sales, real brand growth and real profits. (and hugs).

I also have to be diligent for my clients and not waste their money on tools that don’t drive results. My investment in BenchmarkONE is a no brainer. BenchmarkONE is not just a marketing tool it is an operational platform necessary to fuel growth for any business looking to reach and better engage their audience.