- February 15, 2019 -
Brad's Drink turned into Pepsi Cola in 1898.
Backrub became Google in 1997.
AuctionWEB morphed into eBay in 1997.
Datsun re-launched as Nissan in 1981.
Blue Ribbon Sports officially became Nike in 1964.
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo re-branded as Sony in 1958.
Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation converted to IBM in 1924.
...all examples of companies who made the name brand switch successfully.
So when the rumors about Infusionsoft changing their name starting making their way into online (and offline) conversations, the insinuations were inevitable:
"Infusionsoft is going under. This is a last ditch effort to reinvent a failing company."
"They've been bought."
And then when the new name (Keap) was announced, a whole new level of jokes erupted:
"Can't they even spell?"
"Do they not know what "keap" means in the Urban Dictionary?"
Here's my response:
1) The spelling was intentional...think Froot Loops, Cheez Whiz, Toys “Я” Us, Flickr, Netflix, Reddit, Lyft.
It stands out in all the noise.
Little known trivia...the misplaced apostrophe in Lands' End was actually due to a printing mistake made in 1964 that the company’s founder couldn’t afford to fix at the time. Betcha didn't know that.
2) Urban Dictionary? Really? Get a life, Russell Brunson (we all know you have insecurity issues and live to play dirty regarding your competitors) - Urban Dictionary makes every word known to man a double entendre.
3) No, they have not been bought out.
So with all that out of the way, what is the name change all about?
Cheryl has served on Infusionsoft's (oops, Keap's) Advisary board for several years and has first hand Intel (and a part in the development of the product) so what I'm sharing is directly from the owners and leadership team.
In fact...at least week's Partner Convention, she emceed the "Town Hall" session and asked a three-man panel (including owner Scott Martineau) questions regarding what went into the rebranding and what that means going forward.
I'm going to hit the important highlights since my caffeine level is running low.
And it'll be about as real as it gets.
Keap (the company) now offers two products:
1) Infusionsoft by Keap - the original CRM and marketing automation platform for power service providers who want total customization and control.
2) Keap - a smart CRM for smaller service providers who want an easy way to follow up with their leads and customers.
POWER VS EASE
Here's where "real" comes in...
Infusionsoft by Keap lost their way. They didn't know who they wanted to be.
The software was too powerful for an extremely large segment of the small business community.
Investors wanted a return on their investment...duh.
So what's the easiest path to cash? Throw all your development budget into a new product for a new audience base.
Problem was...the existing product (now known as Infusionsoft by Keap) was ignored.
It happens all the time.
And sh*t happened.
Bugs in the existing software raised their ugly heads...often.
New development in the exiting product lagged and long-time customers lost faith.
Got vocal in online forums. Lost trust. Threatened to jump ship.
Russell Brunson had a field day.
Here's the good part:
The owners (Scott Martineau and Clate Mask) weren't ready to give up. Wasn't in their DNA.
They knew they'd fu*ked up.
This was their baby. They were/are proud of it. They asked partners like Cheryl for input and they listened. So...
...they've doubled their product and development on Infusionsoft by Keap.
...they've committed to fixing bugs faster and eliminating them drastically.
They are exemplifying in their very public transparency the essence of the grit and passion small businesses put in each day to keep going, keep serving and keep growing.
Any business worth its salt has ups and downs. Dry spells. Periods of growth.
A name change was a definitive (re)birth of new ways of thinking and performing.
It was the outward expression of an inward renewal to their commitment of serving small businesses.
So what does this mean to you especially if you don't even use Infusionsoft?
The business you've built is sacred.
It's where you and your team grind it out.
Where you sweat it out.
Where you sometimes cry it out.
Where you help your clients do the same.
The one place you choose to ignore the naysayers and where you make miracles happen.
It's where you pour your passion into serving, loving, and helping.
It's where you pull all-nighters, weekenders, and everything in between to provide for our families.
Don't give up!
We're here to help you.
Talk soon,
