When you’re about to get on the radar of almost 9 million people, you have to make sure your platform runs like clockwork. When NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt called Billshark to interview founders Steve McKean and Brian Keaney, the elation in their Boston headquarters was palpable. They knew that this type of major debut in front of millions of American viewers was a real game changer.
As seasoned entrepreneurs, McKean and Keaney knew that after celebrating the major PR coup, there was a lot of work to do. Most of the preparation focused on accelerating growth within the company to handle an influx of new customers. They divided their efforts equally between three major areas: how to make the best impression, how to create great customer experience post-enrollment, and how to protect the platform against hackers. In addition to the challenge of executing the plan, there was also a time limit: this had to be accomplished in the one week between getting the call from NBC and the date of the segment airing. (Watch Here)
Fortunately, one of their competitors was on a similar segment the year before and posted their google statistics, giving the Billshark team excellent insight on what to expect after the segment airs.
To properly prepare for a flow of new customers, the Billshark team took the following steps:
- Enhanced technology. The Billshark team upgraded Amazon servers by a multiple of 10, increased API limits with Zoho, increased Zapier calls, checked and confirmed all limits on Billshark’s current email campaigns and marketing platforms.
- Intensified security. In addition to the standard security checks that Billshark does on a daily basis, the team also engaged two other security firms to double-check customer data who confirmed that all was completely secure. As an added security measure, Billshark upgraded Cloudflare to prevent DNS attacks. Finally, since the service is only available in the United States, they blocked access to nearly 40+ countries where there is increased hacker activity.
- Confirmed all domains. Billshark verified that the company owned all their domains and that get all misspelled domain names.
- Strengthened Customer Experience. The team combed through every single page to make sure that there were no spelling or grammatical errors throughout the content and that the messaging was clear and concise. They also confirmed that every link worked properly. Every email was double-checked to set appropriate expectations and to verify that all content rendered well on desktop and mobile devices. By taking these steps, the team set critical customer expectations.
- Accelerated company growth and programs. In addition to adding significant staffing to handle an influx of calls and executing security audits, Billshark accelerated its philanthropic venture: they launched the One Bill, One Hour, One Child program with Ramsey Solutions to bring financial literacy to 1,000 students at middle schools in Boston.
Although many of these steps were precautionary, the Billshark team was very focused about creating a safe and exceptional customer experience and protecting the company from security risks. When you have people like Danny Rodriguez and Michel Mora putting together Billshark’s architecture, the result is nothing short of extraordinary. The preparation was extensive and, at times, it felt like a complete relaunch, but the Sharks wanted to ensure that all went swimmingly after exposure to nine million viewers. So come and swim alongside the Sharks. They’re more than ready for you.