A conversation with John  Ambra

VP sales TAWK The largest CHAT room on the planet

Business tech blog for small business from Maltix online stationery.

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In preparation for a google meet call next week to some contacts via Marc Jarret’s WhatsApp networking group, I thought an introductory BLOG would be useful.

Eight years ago, I decided to install a chat room into my WordPress maltix.co.uk website, I was recommended TAWK and have used it ever since without a hitch and also use the App.

A couple of years ago, a group of us banded together as Partners within the My Most Trusted programme through Scott Cundill.

We became a self help support group, the idea was we would learn much quicker collectively than individually.

As ringleader, I set up a SLACK system where we could share and manage vast quantities of email correspondence and documentation.

We began integrating technology we were using, especially Google Meet for up to 100 people for free, a brilliant tool and so easy to use to this day.

It was during this time that we began to realise there was a lot more to TAWK than met the eye, so I invited the very modest John Ambra into our sessions.

A conversation with John Ambra, nonchalance Aussie style

Lovely relaxed conversation with John this morning, the sales VP from Tawk the largest chat room on the planet.

John is an unassuming man with an interesting background in direct sales.

He started off as a door-to-door knife salesman and his party trick even today is to cut a five cent coin in half using the very same knife from 20 years ago.

That’s the value of selling something that’s worth $1200 I guess.

After university he set up a small business being a DJ and with his parents help put some money into the musical equipment, he then got more and more into direct sales.

The mindset of commission only

I’m with John, the best sales people in the world are commission only.

To be excellent earning through cold calling commission takes its toll.

You don’t hear of people talking about the benefits of commission only and the personal growth you need to experience to get really good at your job.

Jump forward to a 21 year old John starting his own sales company with some big US Brands.

After nine years and loads and loads of different types of products, boutiques etc over 120 people were on his team, commission only.

After 9 years running his own company, a good friend of his Rob began to talk about the next stages within his CHAT room creation called TAWK, on New Year’s Eve 2017 the stage was set.

Rob was looking to refocus on his company and needed somebody to take over sales within a couple of days over a percolated coffee, John and his brother committed to TAWK

In 2018 a big change came into John‘s life because he decided to shut down his sales company, that was tough for him, but he needed change.

John said it was really interesting going to work with people he had known since primary school, including their wives!

A bootstrap company with numbers that take your breath away.

Numbers trip of the tongue with John, nonchalantly announcing that the dashboard attracts 4000 new clients a day and they have got 7 million users.

Tawk controls 20% of the marketplace and they get regular offers for the sale of the company, it aint happening, the journey has a long way to go.

And the strapline hasn’t changed from day one “Forever FREE”

I asked how they make money, a bit cheeky maybe ? not at all replies John.

There are elements in place that make money.

Many business account managers employ TAWK chat operatives for a dollar an hour and then there’s the VA service to let you become more productive by freeing up time.

There’s also a White Label offering if you’re not familiar it allows you to brand other peoples technology within your own brand, a seamless provision of service.

Tawk has also added video screen share and very sophisticated CRM

2023 is a real big year for growth adding more tools and more value into into the system.

John confidently predicts that the integrated services of TAWK will become the biggest business operating system on the planet.

With 2.9 billion widget transactions a month on Tawk, you cannot possibly doubt that.

Next year this CHAT room moves into SMS and email ability to seamlessly interact all your channels in one place.

WhatsApp Facebook Instagram, website, App all in one place with more integration of in situ payments and in chat payments.

This is the exact same spirit of in situ smartphone business we keep on about.

There are more exciting announcements on the horizon moving towards crypto-based payments as well perfect for small business.

It’s easy to see business adopting TAWK as a one stop shop, one place to login into in the morning, everything you and your clients converse about all in one place.

3 Words about John: Gritty. Generous. Intune

CLICK or SCAN to view dates & register

This is the worlds first EVENT platform built for the Smartphone with secure CRM integration. RENT directly from Maltix

Add EVENT to the diaries you use and share via you phone.

Chat room coaching
Chat room coaching

Over 50 touchpoints in most completions.

Mary-Ann-Dougherty
broken customer service
Broken customer service has to stop

And why Estate Agents simply cannot keep up with he demands of the Smartphone user.

In the high-stakes world of home buying and selling, understanding the path to a purchase is both an art and a science.

Our analysis shows that the average home buyer requires 52 touchpoints, spanning from initial research to contact with an Estate Agent to actual purchase.

What were our top findings?
There’s an average of 52 touchpoints from first inquiry (like a smart form submission, chat room query ) to completion.

The Metrics.

If one sales agent sells two homes per month, that’s 24 buyers per year x 52 touch points = 1,248 touch points a sales person has to manage in a year.

And that doesn’t include all of the other inquiries and contracts that cancel.

Average time from first inquiry to close was six months for primary residence and 15 months for secondary homes.

80% of Clients submit a smart form to start their enquiries, mostly off their Smartphone.

Drip email and newsletter campaigns can increase traffic by as much as 5%

But our research suggests a Progressive Web APP with no download required will increase enquiry traffic by as much as 20% using a combination of free notifications and SMS

Over 50 touchpoints in most completions.

How did you determine the amount of touchpoints in a single home buying transaction?

What are the top most crucial touchpoints? MIND MAP


Progressive Web APP notification advocacy
Online and QR based smart form submission
Email, CHAT and TEXT
QR based appointment booking
Bespoke Smart Brochure interaction EXAMPLE
Video interaction via Smart brochure and window QR

How can Estate Agents make the most of each touch point?
Speed is critical.

The probability of reaching an online lead goes down the longer you wait with a follow-up email, call or chat reply.

The Millennials insist on absolute immediacy on their Smartphone and the killer is that whatever platform they touched, they expect you to have a record!

Your Smart Brochure, Smart form pages, Company email, telephone calls and texts, QR links, Chat room, and Progressive Web APP have to be joined into teams within a CRM

The rule for the Smartphone user now is a maximum of 10 minutes on any medium, or they drop you like a stone.

Get it right and Smartphone advocacy on social media goes through the roof.

Within the first 10 minutes of inquiry — 98% chance of reaching them

Contact 4 hours later — 95% chance of reaching them

Contact 8 hours later — 92% chance of reaching them

Contact 12 hours later –80% chance of reaching them

Contact 24 hours later — 60% chance of reaching them

Contact 48 hours later — 5% chance of reaching them

This is why it’s critical that sales people get immediate notifications about hot leads and that follow up is relevant and automated.

Depending on the stage of where the buyer is in the purchase cycle, personalisation is important.

Estate Agent Touch Point MIND MAP

Link to Smart brochure functionality

Mary-Ann-Dougherty
Mary-Ann-Dougherty Board Mentor Maltix. The Millennials demands are extreme.

One month in tech is like a year

retail
Marc Lambert pioneer using a Maltix built PWA

Marc Lambert online shoe and sportswear retailer Newswire July 06 2021

I inherited a business through my mother in law, a retail shop with 22 staff and a consistent $900,000 turnover

The business had lost profitability year on year for 7 years straight.

I could see the symptoms but didn’t understand the cause.

I very nearly spurned the opportunity all together, the hours were crazy and the back office systems chaotic.

The business was just about breaking even on a very modest Directors salary.

I had actually inherited a gobble monster inside a vicious spiral of upward costs.

By chance I came across some videos on you tube under “Break even analysis “

A light bulb went off in my head, my garden was full of weeds and the pruning was going to be brutal, I needed help and fast.

My first port of call was The Maryland Chamber of Commerce in Annapolis.

I met a highly regarded Consultant in the harbor, where we sat and talked for 2 hours.

The culmination of thought had one simple answer, we had to digitise as much as possible, as soon as possible.

We had to reduce the moving parts of the business, generate more business and lower variable costs.

That was phase one and we completed that in 6 months.

What happened in reality was floor to ceiling change, so much in fact, the main shop front asset was sold and fixed costs almost completely removed.

One month in tech is like a year.

It felt like I was destroying 27 years of business knowledge.

In fact the telephone system which cost $16,000 in 2011 was the first casualty.

APP based telephony was key when Covid broke, we needed our home workers to act on order deliveries and I had to manage that through a CRM and billing platform connected to their own smartphones.

The e-commerce part of the site we kept, we removed the website and replaced it with an APP.

These decisions fundamentally changed us from being a bricks and mortar retailer to a full online retailer selling and distributing to our target sportswear audience.

My staff were amazing and turned garages and workshops into storage and distribution.

We now operate with 7 staff, all on higher salaries. Our turnover is rapidly climbing and we hope to overtake the 2019 turnover within 2 years.

We now ship coast to coast and our reputation is growing on social media.

My advice to anybody contemplating the digitizing of their business:

You have to trust your clients, it’s what they want, it’s where they do business, it’s on their Smart phone.

Marc Lambert online shoe and sportswear retailer Newswire July 06 2021

Progressive Web APP the benefits for small business.

PWA
PWA the benefits for small business

Smartphones are becoming super dominant for small business.

Users are demanding new experiences.

That a website was never designed to fulfill.

Maltix is showcasing a new Google engineered APP

Called a Progressive Web APP or PWA.

A PWA is very light on its feet, and doesn’t clog up Smartphone memory.

Super fast and actually works offline in tunnels or with poor reception.

A PWA gives the manager exciting two way options to engage a Smartphone user.

And distributes on its own merits through social media.

Perfect for small business promotions & ideas that focus on customer satisfaction.

And advanced business management, e.g filling quiet slots.

A PWA is how your future business distributes on social media with happy clients telling their friends and their friends.

No APP store required !

Your PWA has wings , we say it’s as infectious as laughter !

The benefits for small business distribution on social media focusing on customer service.

Smartphone users expectations

Good news

Customer service is key to the sales cycle.

The new Progressive Web APP enables the Smartphone referral on social media.

A PWA has the ability to dramatically reduce expenditure on SEO and marketing.

Social media is the natural distribution ledger for a PWA.

The challenge.

The expectations of the Millennial Smartphone user.

They will control market share by 75% within 5 years.

And demand immediacy and succinct continuity with a focus on A to Z business on one device.

More good news

A PWA appears as a website on a PC and an APP on a Smartphone.

It doesn’t have to be downloaded

Works offline.

Packed full of communication technology thats expected by the Smartphone user.

Very good news

Your existing website can stay as is.

The PWA runs off your website URL and automatically snaps into action on a Smartphone.

Maltix joins up the dots for your new PWA.

Consequential data management

Field to office 100% complete data in one place for ALL staff.

Advanced two way Smartphone communications.

Automatically managed.

All correspondence recorded.

No matter what platform it comes in on.

In-going or out-going contact.

Succinctly recorded.

PWA support
PWA Advice Support and Training

How a PWA works for small business

Click on the book and message ‘e-book’ for latest updates and discounts

PWA e-book discount
PWA e-book discount priority
PWA e book
PWA e book from Maltix a working document

Onboard for FREE with Maltix PWA
FREE on-boarding

Connecting QR to a PWA advice from Maltix

“A Progressive Web APP is as infectious as laughter”

Connecting to QR is a great way to start an incredible social media distribution conduit for your business or organisation.

The blue components here are all included in the Maltix hosting package.

We refer to them as the tools of your trade.

Connect PWA to CRM to distribute your PWA and start the social media frenzy
PWA connected to CRM for data control

A QR deal from Maltix

ORDER here Lets start the journey

Shop window deals perfect for Estate agents

Get your 12 month digital deal today 200 codes to print from your offices, connected to suggestions from our advisory team.

Or quarterly print deals where we post direct to your offices.

Place your order and we will send you simple documentation to onboard via email.


Best practice and industry share advice comes as standard with your order for 12 months.

200 QR codes over a 12 month period.

Order here EU

Order here UK


PWA support

Send a message for your free e-book

PWA e book
PWA e book from Maltix

Free on-boarding
Talk with Maltix and plan the correct PWA strategy for your business

Become a Maltix partner educating small business about QR and PWA in your local community

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PWA

PWA video Blog one

PWA e book

An introduction to business on the clients smartphone

Adopting change on the Smartphone for small business.

The dominance of smartphone business is accelerating.

Why millennial’s expect a lot more on their phone than a website.

The importance of A to Z business

Cheaper APP technology from Google .

PWA from Maltix

Click below and message

PWA e book
Send message with e book in comments

PWA video Blog four

PWA e book

The automation of incoming and outgoing data to one central resource

Essential for customer service and the referral reward on social media.

Gold dust for small business survival and growth.

Click below and message

PWA e book
PWA e book from Maltix a working document

Maltix video Blog two

PWA e book

Understanding how the sales cycle has been smashed by the millennial Smartphone user is key to the adoption of the Progressive Web App.

Addressing immediacy in your business processes is fundamental to survival and growth post Covid

Click book and send message

PWA e book
Add e book into message

Hosting 3rd party APPS within a PWA

Stay ahead PWA

Reasons to switch to PWA

Embarking on the journey of a PWA is a determined choice to do business on the Smartphone.

Over 60% of business is now done on the Smartphone.

A decision to specifically address the needs of the Smartphone user is a very smart move


PWA is reliable, fast and engaging
Quick, instant and distributable

So decision made, now what ?

Your PWA functions brilliantly with integral 3rd party APP’s

Here are some examples.

Smart forms that integrate with a CRM

Smart click to call APP telephony that integrates with a CRM

Digital contract and signature APP

Voucher and Coupon redemption APP

SMS APP

CHAT APP

Appointment and booking APP with banking integration


PWA Data collection management
PWA Data collection auto management

The tools for your trade must be integral to your PWA.

Here are some examples.

Limitless free Push notifications

Loyalty Card

Member log in

Membership and subscriptions

E-commerce / WordPress integration

User feed back and vote building

Website wrapper

One stop social account integration

Countdown

Analytics


Hosting your PWA

Negotiating and adding all this functionality is no joke and individually relatively expensive.

Luckily Maltix and partners have done that for you.

All inclusive PWA hosting package 39 sterling per month

PWA support
PWA support and training
onboard for your PWA
Onboard below for FREE
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