Shop-Ware Case Study

Learn how we reduced budget waste by 50% and increased the quality of opportunities to hit record-breaking sales in just one quarter

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S h o p - W a r e : G r o w t h A c c e l e r a t i o n

C A S E S T U D Y

Shop-Ware, a shop management system (SMS) for auto repair shops, faced significant challenges in the fall of 2023. Struggling to efficiently reach its target audience of auto repair shop owners and drive growth, marketing investments were resulting in declining lead rates and a 7% conversion to sales. CAC was unacceptable, and growth had stalled. As the market becomes more competitive for SMS solutions Shop-Ware urgently needed to prove market viability and establish its product as a preferred choice in the industry.

Infinite Edge Consulting was enlisted to help turn around a rapidly deteriorating situation . With a mere quarter to work with, we were given the mandate to improve lead quality, close rates, and define a path to consistent, predictable growth.

The Story

P A G E 0 1

Lack of a genuine understanding of audience requirements. Auto repair

shop owners are not technology buyers. While they see the value of

streamlining front and back-office operations with technology, there are

perceived risks that come with the inevitable disruption of their business.

In an industry struggling for profit, the added overhead of new technology

and the effort required to implement requires software providers to

demonstrate value throughout the sales process and beyond.

Relying solely on promotional communications. This audience needs

education and assurance to take a big risk in new technology. However,

with email, paid search, landing experiences, and sales outreach focused

solely on promotions, buyers were left to define the value for themselves,

which slowed the process and opened the door for competitors who were

educating and selling on value.

Over-reliance on a lead-volume-based PPC model. Most leads were

sourced from paid search designed to generate the highest volume of leads

possible regardless of quality. This resulted in a rate of junk leads as high

as 80% and a high CAC. Technical inefficiencies in the buy structure

limited the ability to optimize, which resulted in budget waste. Most of the

budget was spent on paid search, leaving little budget for awareness or

education of the target audience. Over time, lead volume declined with no

other efforts to feed it.

Disconnected online and offline marketing efforts. Each marketing tactic

operated independently from the other, limiting the ability to nurture

prospects entering through different channels on an ongoing basis.

P A G E 0 2

An audit of ICP and market ing st rategies uncovered some of the most common problems with tradit ional demand generat ion programs today :

The IEC team stepped in with a Fractional Head of Marketing and our

paid search experts to partner with the company’s leadership team. We

focused on quick, progressive wins to halt overspending, shifted budgets

to deliver quality over quantity of opportunities, and mined the

organization for value messages, content, and hidden opportunities.

Step 1: Optimize Lead to Sales Performance (Quick Win)

Within the first 30 days, we overhauled messaging, keywords, and

targeting for paid search campaigns to only deliver auto repair shop

owners and filter out audiences from other industries. There was an

immediate reduction in unqualified leads and an increase in close rates.

We freed up $15k / month of budget to divert into other tactics. In

addition, we revamped landing pages to showcase Shop-Ware’s value

proposition and provide a variety of ways for visitors to explore without

needing to talk with a sales rep. This approach allowed prospects to

explore and learn more and allowed Shop-Ware to nurture them until

they were ready to purchase.

P A G E 0 3

Strategic Act ions

Step 2: Launched a Value-Add Content & Social Media Strategy

When we dug a little deeper into the business, we discovered a wealth of

thought leadership from the CEO that was ideal value-added content

demonstrating profitability and showcasing the ways Shop-Ware improves

business. By offering insights and guidance, Shop-Ware could provide

valuable information to build trust and keep them within Shop-Ware's

ecosystem while they continue the decision-making process. From this

foundation, we helped them launch a comprehensive content strategy

centered around two cornerstone assets: a whitepaper and a webinar. A

full social media calendar was launched, 75% of which was made up of

snippets from these assets. These resources provided valuable industry

insights and served as lead-generation tools, building credibility for the

brand and attracting prospects ready to buy.

With a baseline of high-value content and an educational voice, the

company was now in a position to leverage paid social as an accelerator of

demand generation. The company has had little success with paid social

media in the past, primarily pushing promotional advertisements. IEC

launched a new strategy on Facebook that shifted the focus to providing

users with content of interest to them rather than ads by doing paid boosts

of their content assets.

P A G E 0 4

In just 30 days, IEC reduced our budget waste by 50% and

increased the quality of opportunities. As a result, Q1

2024 was our best quarter ever, and we were able to sell

the company at a much higher valuation. They work fast to get results not just

from marketing but our sales organization. They’re not just

consultants, they’re real partners in the success of our

business.

C A R O L Y N C O Q U I L L E T T E

C E O , S H O P - W A R E

2. Improved Lead Quality:

Unqualified leads decreased

from nearly 80% in 2023 to

around 20% in Q1 2024. The

percent of sales The sales team

reported receiving higher-

quality leads that were much

Shop-Ware Case Study

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