Based in Haymarket, Virginia, DC Coaching teaches its clients how to use technology to reach and engage more potential customers while maximizing referrals from their existing networks.  

Recently, we talked with Terry Chenowith, technology director at DC, and he explained how the company teaches clients to be better business owners and helps them build an effective tech stack that can accelerate the growth of their businesses while making their lives easier.

As Terry puts it, “Every loan or real estate professional has their own tech stack, although most don't know it's a tech stack. They're using random tools that they've stacked on each other. At DC, we’ve created a service that builds an effective tech stack for our coaching clients in the way we've seen works best after helping hundreds of businesses in their industry.”

“At DC, we’ve created a service that builds an effective tech stack for our coaching clients in the way we've seen works best after helping hundreds of businesses in their industry."
Terry Chenowith, Technology Director at DC Coaching

Helping clients use technology to grow their businesses

The fact is, most people in the real estate and mortgage industries are not that tech-savvy. They like what technology can do for them, but they can quickly get bogged down in the weeds. That's why many are intimidated by seemingly complex tech tools and some never get over that hump.

A big challenge that DC faced was trying to set things up using the client’s existing tech stack, but they soon realized that doing it that way was too complicated and required lots of time. So, they decided to put together their own system and offer it to coaching clients. They call it SalesMachine.

“Basically, we're acting like an agency,” explains Terry, “We start with a default system, then hold the client’s hand while we personalize and tweak the system to fit their particular business goals and needs.”

Some clients just want coaching, while others want coaching plus the tech stack. DC has found that coaching is essential to its clients' ongoing success; as Terry puts it, “We really see a sales difference between people who let us coach them and the ones who are just using the tech stack. Nevertheless, almost everyone who chooses SalesMachine ends up using it in their business long term.” 

“We really see a sales difference between people who let us coach them and the ones who are just using the tech stack. Nevertheless, almost everyone who chooses SalesMachine ends up using it in their business long term.”
Terry Chenowith, Technology Director at DC Coaching

How ActiveCampaign and Salesmsg power DC's SalesMachine

Terry, Deryck, and their team at DC measure success by the total number of clients actively using SalesMachine, which is powered by Salesmsg and ActiveCampaign.

“We’ve built a few different pipelines within ActiveCampaign. The first is a fulfillment pipeline that guides people through a deal right up to closing,” explains Terry, “And we’ve created other pipelines that manage post-closing things and referral partners. We help our clients use all of those effectively, but the main focus is on the fulfillment pipeline.”

He continued, “We've noticed that people have more peace of mind and success using the fulfillment pipeline than with any of the others. The more they use the fulfillment pipeline, the higher our user rate increases.” 

User rate is key because it’s the team’s primary success metric. The more clients actively working in the system they’ve set up, the more revenue the company makes. 

Closing more deals without working longer hours

We were curious to know more about how DC Coaching uses ActiveCampaign and Salesmsg to help its clients grow their businesses, so we asked Terry to walk us through an example.

“The system we provide our clients is like having an executive assistant. If you don’t have an assistant, you're a one-man show. That's why we’ve made it so that as a deal progresses, the system sends text updates to customers and referral partners via Salesmsg. Sometimes we use email, but it’s mostly text messages. We've pretty much gotten away from email.” 

Terry continued, “Long story short, our clients can do more deals without hiring more staff. Most loan officers hit a wall right around seven to nine deals a month. After that, work starts to creep into family time. They’re working late hours. They’re not taking weekends off and postponing vacations. By combining Salesmsg with ActiveCampaign, we're giving our clients more freedom to step away from their business.” 

“Although it's hard to quantify, our success really comes down to that,” he says, “While it typically results in more deals, in the long run, it's our clients’ happiness and the enjoyment they get from their jobs that’s most important. Lots of times, people come to us totally burned out. They say, “I’m ready to quit. I'm retiring.” We’re talking about people who are ready to walk away from incomes in the million-dollar range because they’re so burned out.”

“They're simply fed up and can't deal with it anymore," adds Terry, "Their lives and family are stressed to the max, and that’s why we built a powerful system that helps them do more deals without burning out.”

“They’re working late hours. They’re not taking weekends off and postponing vacations. By combining Salesmsg with ActiveCampaign, we're giving our clients more freedom to step away from their business.”
Terry Chenowith, Technology Director at DC Coaching

Getting and keeping more clients

DC built SalesMachine to help people grow their businesses, but it also uses the same system to expand its client base while delivering world-class support. 

“We use it two ways,” explains Terry. “First, we use it as a ticketing system. We don't use Zoho desk or other ticketing systems, so we use Salesmsg and ActiveCampaign as our ticketing tool. We also use Slack.”

“To notify the team of something we need to do, we automatically Slack a message from ActiveCampaign. We also use ActiveCampaign’s Conversations to support our clients," he says, "It lets you have a live conversation with someone on your website, through Facebook, or through email. Text messages and emails also go out to coaching clients, which helps with retention.” 

Nowadays, we focus more on retention than on sales,” adds Terry, “More people come to us because we take good care of our existing clientele. We used to run ads but stopped. However, sales continue to go well because we really focus on keeping our clients happy. If they're happier about their work life, their home life, and they're making more money, they're usually not going anywhere. Combine that with the tech stack we’ve built for them, and most people in their right mind aren't going to leave.”

Generating referrals on autopilot

SalesMachine (ActiveCampaign paired with Salesmsg), is fueled by existing customers and referral partners.

Essentially, it’s a transaction management system that walks people through the loan approval process or a real estate deal. As the deal moves to the next stage, the system helps agents guide customers through each workflow stage by sending them follow-up messages and different types of assurances.

SalesMachine lets the client’s customers know the next step is and what's needed from them. And when the transaction is completed, it launches a text campaign with follow-up messages designed to generate referrals for the agent. 

Terry explains it this way, “DC teaches its coaching clients to see every deal as an opportunity to close seven or more deals in the future. Most people freak out about loans and big purchases like buying a house. By creating more certainty and confidence throughout the process, our system helps to make sure our clients’ customers never feel that way. That alone helps with future sales and referrals. 

The system sends people messages from the agent saying things like, “Hey, I loved working with you and would love to work with you in the future. Is it okay if I reach out occasionally to see how everything's going? These automatic messages help to make every customer feel like a VIP. And once or twice a year, it sends people a message that helps to remind them that they’re valued customers who are truly important to the agent.” 

“They don't send anything salesy,'' adds Terry, “They don’t try to offer anything. The messages are designed to connect and nurture relationships with the agent’s clients.” 

The power of canned messages

By combining Salesmsg with ActiveCampaign, users have easy access to a suite of powerful sales and communication features. Of course, different businesses have different needs. And that’s why certain features are used more often than others. In the case of DC and its clients, Salemsg’s canned messages is one of the most used features.

As Terry puts it, “We get lots of benefits from the canned text messages. For example, when we move a message from one stage to the next, it sends an automatic update to the borrower or referral partner.”

“Another thing we like is that canned messages can be written with the exact words of the loan officer or team leader. This reduces the risk of an assistant sending a customer a message that’s going to irritate the loan officer or potentially hurt the deal.”

“If you’re in the loan business, you can hire an assistant or other employee who’s green to loans. And because they can send canned messages through ActiveCampaign and Salesmsg, that person doesn't need to know about that loan or even how to do a loan. We just make sure the canned messages are written correctly. Then, we teach the assistant how to move each message through the system, so the right ones get sent to customers and referral partners.”

“We get lots of benefits from the canned text messages. For example, when we move a message from one stage to the next, it sends an automatic update to the borrower or the referral partner.”
Terry Chenowith, Technology Director at DC Coaching

More freedom + ease of use = Happier clients 

Every time we interview a customer, we ask them what the money they pay Salesmsg truly buys them. That question almost always helps us uncover the key benefits our users are getting from our software.

When we asked Terry the same question, here’s what he said: 

“Salesmsg buys us freedom. Another thing is it’s simple to use for people who aren't techies. On top of that, it helps us be better coaches. Right now, we have about 150 coaching clients, and Salesmsg sends them reminders, so more people show up for our coaching calls. I think that's probably the biggest thing, it helps us take care of our clients in the way they deserve to be taken care of.”

Adding an extra $250,000 in annual income 

“Back in 2019, we lost 45 clients in three months,'' explains Terry, “That was a huge number, but we've built that back, and are thriving. Nowadays, our business is growing, and we’re seeing a compounding effect. That’s because we’re laser-focused on using ActiveCampaign and Salesmsg to add more and more value to our clients' businesses and lives.” 

“If for some reason, our coaching isn't fitting their needs, the tech stack is, and we’re coaching them on how to use the tech stack in ways that grow their business while improving their quality of life.”

By implementing the tech stack for its clients and focusing on retention, DC coaching has added over $250,000 in annualized revenue. Plus, it’s seeing fewer exits than before.

As Terry puts it, “Having that extra income gives us the ability to get better at what we do. We don’t just see it as more money in our pockets; we look for ways we can reinvest that money to improve our system and serve our clients better.  By doing this, we help them  (and us) continue to grow.” 

Feel free to share this story with your friends and colleagues. And if you’re not already using Salesmsg to build your business, try it out for 14 days free.

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This case study was written and published in collaboration with StoryOps.