Background:

Hodde Bros launched in the early 1900s as America’s first Budweiser distributor, but their focus shifted to soda when Prohibition hit just a few years later. In 2014, Darci Kendall (the founder’s great-granddaughter) relaunched the family business as a beverage catering company. Nearly 100 years later, Hodde Bros is now a full scale cocktail catering company based in Santa Monica, California, known for its delicious craft cocktails, Airstream bar, and virtual happy hours. Today, Hodde Bros relies on Dropbox and DocSend to securely store files and gather detailed prospect insights throughout the sales process. 

The challenge: 

Prior to using DocSend, Darci Kendall, Founder & Creative Director at Hodde Bros, was overwhelmed with countless leads that were difficult to turn into deals. Without a reliable way to prioritize prospect inquiries and needing strategic insights on how to better prioritize her time, Darci felt like she was drowning in creating proposals. 

The solution: 

Darci had already been an avid Dropbox user for years, using it to sync all of her creative and client files in one centralized place. She then turned to another Dropbox product, DocSend, to securely share finalized proposals with new business opportunities. DocSend’s advanced analytics inform Darci’s follow-up strategy to prioritize the right prospects and close deals faster. 

Keeping a small and rapidly growing business running with Dropbox Backup

Running the day-to-day operations of a small business is no easy feat. With endless paperwork to manage, proposals to send, and contracts to track, founders juggle multiple responsibilities. Making sure all critical business documents are securely stored and instantly accessible is fundamental to a stress-free workflow and is critical to closing business quicker. 

This is precisely why, for years, Darci has relied on Dropbox to securely store all her business files. 

Securely sharing sales proposals with potential clients using DocSend

Renting out an Airstream mobile bar is one of Hodde Bros’ main service offerings. Their website offers detailed documentation regarding specs and layouts, which is all housed in an easy-to-access DocSend link. 

When interested visitors reach out requesting more information, Darci sends over an email with a DocSend link. Darci has more controls over her files with DocSend’s advanced security controls. With DocSend, Darci has the option to apply a passcode, set an expiration date, and allow downloading on any proposal. When Darci makes an update to content, she can easily change the file in DocSend and the updates will automatically appear to prospects on all links, without any cumbersome notifications. This allows Darci to put her best professional foot forward and makes the sales process seamless for both her and potential new clients.

Uncovering leads with DocSend’s document analytics

A key part of being a small team is learning which leads to follow and which ones to abandon. It was a strategic decision (one that is common in the events industry) to not list prices on the website. This usually leads to more leads coming in – and Hodde Bros was overwhelmed with requests. 

Although Darci was excited by the outpouring of interest, she was having a hard time prioritizing prospects and following up with leads who were actually interested. Drowning in requests without any way to prioritize left Darci feeling overwhelmed and in need of a solution. That’s when she turned to DocSend. 

Armed with x-ray vision into prospect engagement with her shared sales collateral, Darci can identify exactly which leads are a good use of her time. She can see who’s viewing and spending time with her proposals page-by-page, insights she simply didn’t have before DocSend. 

With DocSend document analytics, Darci has full visibility into when recipients have viewed or shared the files. Darci can effectively identify which leads are truly interested, and which would be dead-end deals.   

Informed follow-up strategy closes new business faster, powered by DocSend’s analytics

From sending proposals, to tracking prospect engagement, and identifying top-performing collateral, DocSend plays a critical role in Hodde Bros’ follow-up strategy. 

Since Hodde Bros creates custom proposals, it’s critical for Darci and her team to understand what content is performing best. With DocSend, she’s able to track prospect behavior far beyond the initial open. She can see exactly how effective her marketing is by drilling down into where viewers spend the most time. For example, if they spend time on a pricing page, she can assume that the customer is price-conscious and tailor her pitch accordingly. 

In the future, Darci is excited about using these analytics to inform how she speaks to specific verticals. “We want to focus on verticals like the film industry, wedding venues, golf courses, and more. I want each of those to have their own campaigns, and with DocSend I can learn so much more about the leads that I’m reaching out to within those verticals.”

Looking forward to the future: centralizing customer documents in DocSend’s client portal 

As Darci looks ahead to running more verticalized marketing campaigns, she’s excited to house all industry-specific content in a DocSend data room. 

“After checking out data rooms, all I can say is ‘WOW!’ I have so many ideas running through my head about how we can use it for future campaigns. It will be so useful and insightful.”