Brian Whorley Writes, Tweaks, and Improves His Way to More Sales

Brian Whorley really knows how to build a company. He and his co-founder, Daniel Lynn, have built Big Tree Solutions from the ground up for over three years. Their product, RDS Logic, allows restaurants to offer delivery when they don't normally have delivery services. RDS Logic allows restaurants to significantly increase their revenues because they can fill many more take-out orders than tables.

Selling RDS Logic

Over the course of the three years, Brian developed some great strategies around pitching his product to potential customers. Each time he met someone who could use his product, he sent an email to explain how it worked. Brian knew that RDS Logic could significantly improve a restaurant's business, and over time he was able to hone his message and develop different ways of selling the product; he basically created different templates.

We sent ad hoc emails that often varied day to day. I think they naturally evolved into 'that best template' over time, but that took too long - we needed to find out what doesn't work faster.

Consistent Messaging & Faster Tweaking

With Tout, Brian was able to create specific templates for each of his messages and track the success of each one. Because he was using Tout templates, Brian was able to make sure that he included all the relevant information in his emails. Like all business owners, Brian really did know the product like the back of his hand. It was still a challenge to remember each piece of information and customize it to show how RDS Logic fits the needs of each potential customer. With Tout, Brian could take the basic mental template he was already using and send it with Tout - consistency was faster and much, much easier.

Armed with analytics around his sales messages, Brian could also tweak and improve each message, making each email more effective than the last. His standard message was the same, but he could find information on the success of his delivery after each email, rather than waiting until the end of the sales cycle.

Tout allowed Brian to adapt and improve much faster, and thus lead to even more RDS Logic sales and more revenue for restaurants across the country. If you're ready to send a better message and improve your sales, give Tout a try today.

7 Surprising Ways You Can Get Through Your Email Faster

People seem to find a lot of ways to sort and slash when it comes to email. Batching emails and answering them all together,turning off notifications, focusing on big projects during the day: they're all tried-and-true ways to generally be more productive. We've seen them, we've tried them, and they work. (Sometimes.) Still, it's hard to avoid getting bogged down with email, especially when your phone is buzzing, your computer is dinging, and your co-workers are waiting on your response. Last week, Scott Britton shared some of his favorite  and most creative lifehacks, among them some that actually help him actually achieve a better email workflow. We've shared some of them below - enjoy!

Step. Away. From. The. Inbox.

Bookmark pages you access through email

If you're using your mail to access your calendar and your documents, create bookmarks for the pages you normally have to go through your mail to access. That will keep you out of your inbox until the time you've designated to look at your mail.

Download a Chat Client

Using a chat client solves two problems. First, it keeps you out of your inbox so that you can batch your email response. Second, using chat encourages you to send those quick questions faster - freeing you and your colleague from another "quick question" email. Many businesses choose to use internal chat clients that save your chat history, like HipChat, so that you can reference them later if you need.

Use What You've Got

Learn Keyboard Shortcuts

Does it really take that long to move your mouse and click on "New Message?" No, it doesn't. But why not do it faster? Data analysts learn all the excel shortcuts in the book; they want to do their job as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you're using email as a major part of your job, why not find a faster way to do it? Google has a bunch of keyboard shortcuts that you can learn, and you can even customize your own shortcuts in your email settings.

Use Filters Effectively

All email clients offer filters. Use them. In every way possible. For your personal email, a tool like Other Inbox is great - you'll keep the junk out of your inbox, without losing a single bill notification. For all other emails, you can sort by sender, message, or subject to organize them before you even see them. Not only will it cut out steps for you, but it will also help you batch your email, since you'll be able to move through similar emails all at once, rather than jumping around to different subjects.

Create Templated Responses

Every time you're answering an email that you think you've typed before, create a template from it. The next time you're answering a similar email, you'll just need a few clicks to send a thoughtful response. Plus, templated emails ensure you don't forget anything if you're in a rush.

Use Rapportive to Get In Touch

If you're not already using Rapportive for Gmail, you should be, because it's seriously awesome. When Rapportive reads an email address, it searches that address across all social media sites, and pulls the most recent posts into a sidebar instead of ads. If you don't know someone's email address, you can try to guess the email address from various first and last name combinations, and once you guess their email correctly, Rapportive will show their picture and LinkedIn information. Rapportive is also great if you're not the best at connecting names and faces. Each time you email someone, you'll see their picture right next to their name. It's like having little flashcards in your inbox!

Don't Send an Email Unless it Needs a Response

Want a better response rate on your emails? Make sure that every email you send has weight. Remember the little boy who emailed wolf? If you're constantly sending a little note here or there, it creates work for the other person, and if your messages don't have a certain degree of urgency, you're probably getting pushed down the priority list. If you have a message that doesn't require a response, think of more creative way to send it. Birthday wishes? Thank you note? Try sending a card! You'll stand out, and they'll be happy to avoid another message in their inbox. Have any other tips you use? Share them in the comments below!