Deep Impact
One entrepreneur uses innovation to help others make a lasting impression without the headache.
What: Service that helps
salespeople manage relationships with prospects
Who: Morris Shepard of Impact
Systems Inc.
Where: Littleton,
Colorado
When: Started in 1995 keeping
in touch with prospects
Keeping in touch with prospects can be a daunting task, and
nobody knows it better than Morris Shepard. Having worked as a
stockbroker and a sales manager for car dealerships, Shepard knew
from past experience how difficult it was to maintain regular
correspondence with customers.
In fact, Shepard often thought about doing something to simplify
the process. In 1995, Shepard got the idea for a new software
program that would automate the process. And with the expertise of
a software developer, Shepard's signature program was born and
christened the Sequential Client Contact System.
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Today, Shepard's business uses that software to make it
easier for salespeople to stay in touch with prospects and forge
new potential business relationships. Because of the new program,
gone are the hours spent drafting thank-you notes and letters for
countless customers on a recurring basis. For a mere $95 per
salesperson, Impact Systems does all the work instead.
Shepard, 48, makes daily trips to clients' offices, picks up
prospect contact information from salespeople, and then enters the
information into a database. Notes and letters--a total of 15 over
a five-year period per prospect--are printed out on either
letterhead or card stock. These are delivered to the client, who
simply signs the correspondence and drops it in the mail.
The software also allows Shepard to track the overall
effectiveness of advertising, such as which models sell well in
specific ZIP codes. He provides this information free of charge to
customers, which include car and motorcycle dealerships and
mortgage companies.
Sales for 2001 pushed past the $200,000 mark, and 2002 sales are
expected to increase nearly 30 percent. Shepard is currently
working on modifying the software so realtors can use it as well,
and eventually he would like to license his software to other
entrepreneurs who are interested in starting similar
businesses.
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