Yes, Grasshopper…
I began this business in 2011 with an office, computer, desk, phone, and connections. Working through all the angles and ambitions for the company, I focused for a long while on communications. And I decided very early on that interacting successfully with my potential and actual clients was central to my business plan.
The key differentiator for The Yard Ramp Guy is that we communicate—clearly, exactingly, and frequently—with our clients, our vendors, and our business associates. I require that my team excels at this.
Especially given that our reach is coast-to-coast, I’m pleased with the website. YardRampGuy.com is our virtual business card, brochure, and catalogue. Beyond that, the phone remains our lifeline. It’s the way we (mostly) do business, and it personalizes the experience in ways not readily found in our competition.
Right from the start, I invested in a complete telecommunications service from Grasshopper. Their virtual phone system has a number of dynamic functions that I find intuitive, scalable, high quality, and reasonably priced.
They set me up with our toll-free number—even finding one with my favorite number sequence. All the essentials are there: the welcome message, the on-hold music, the programmable extensions.
Beyond that, I like the ease with which we can port our calls directly and quickly to whatever phone we want, be it landline or cell, even programmed to switch at specific times of the day. We have faxing which converts the incoming document to a scanned pdf that’s sent to our email, and voicemail that converts to wave files and is emailed to us immediately.
A Plug for Entrepreneurial Spirit
Lest you think this a simple plug for a company, I send my kudos to Grasshopper for its entrepreneurial spirit. Two guys with nothing more than an idea started the company in 2003, and now they have a quarter-million clients. With their success and their happy customers, they’ve also been paying it forward and are now in a position to support those who may well be their future customers:
The Grasshopper Entrepreneur Scholarship offers $5,000 to a student in or enrolling in college in 2016. This year’s essay topic: “What does market disruption mean to you as an entrepreneur? What would you do to create market disruption for your business?”
I’m more than happy to share this with our readers and their kids. Good luck to all entrants.
