This week, we’ll be sharing interesting stories behind the Battle of the Apps Finalists, so you can get a feel for who is behind innovative solutions in the Marketplace.
The Battle of the Apps Finalists have put in a lot of work to help make your experience with Infusionsoft even better. Learn more about what apps made it to the finals in our blog post here.
Meet Chris Austin, founder of Tactical Shipping and owner of Tactical Marketing Systems. Along with his developer, John Pantoja, they have worked tirelessly to create powerful, scalable solutions for Infusionsoft users.
Chris hasn’t only created a powerful shipping solution, he’s also an Infusionsoft Certified Partner and Certified Developer, so he deeply understands the needs and interests of small business owners who use Infusionsoft for sales and marketing.
Discovering Infusionsoft
Chris discovered Infusionsoft nine years ago in 2005 at the Dan Kennedy SuperConference. He met our co-founder, Scott Martineau, and fell in love with our approach with business systems and automation. In his words, “Infusionsoft was the first tool I had ever seen that could truly automate a small business at an affordable price.”
Chris has been quite involved with Infusionsoft since the beginning. He toes the line between being incredibly strategic, technical and creative.
Since 2009, Chris became an Infusionsoft Certified Partner and has helped numerous small businesses accomplish their sales and marketing goals. Recently, he hired John Pantoja, a reputable senior web developer and is known as the API Freedom Fighter. Together, they offer a myriad of services and capabilities that help Infusionsoft users succeed. Check their website to learn more about them.
Customer Demand
Chris created Tactical Shipping based on proven customer demand. A couple years ago, he had a customer who needed to find a way to easily ship about 10 orders every day. There were numerous time-consuming steps they were taking to fulfill on these orders. Since they created this solution a couple years ago, this client still uses it to this day.
Inspired by Tyler Garns, a former Infusionsoft marketing leader and now consultant, created a custom script to assist All About Spelling with their invoicing and shipping needs, Chris’ vision for Tactical Shipping was formed.
Love of Small Business
Like many entrepreneurs, Chris frequently worked nights and through holidays. Bills had to get paid, customers needed help and prospects had to get closed. One time in 2009, he dropped and damaged his laptop containing his work. His daughter was saddened at the prospect of her father missing Christmas one more time due to work. He recorded a moving video and sent it to us thanking us for bringing back Christmas to his family. He entrusts Infusionsoft with his business, maximizing the automation to the fullest, so he doesn’t have to worry about if his computer is damaged.
Chris understands the plight of the entrepreneur because he is an entrepreneur. He understands the entrepreneurial drive to create something from nothing and the desire to control one’s own destiny.
More about Tactical Shipping
What initially started as a project for a customer has transformed into a powerful solution that Infusionsoft users can use to easily ship packages and create customized invoices on the fly. Succinctly, Tactical Shipping provides Infusionsoft integration between UPS, FedEx, Stamps.com, Endicia Pro and ShipStation.
Chris designed Tactical Shipping for anyone who ships more than a handful of packages every day. For $37 per month, users can get up and running right away with their newfound Infusionsoft shipping capabilities.
Customer Response
Tactical Shipping is new to the Marketplace, but not new to Chris. He tells me that customers are so happy that they can now ship packages in minutes. We’ve had some clients bring their fulfillment back in-house to lower their costs. Even better, some customers had purchased Tactical Shipping for their fulfillment house.
For customers with only a handful of daily orders, they’re happy that the whole order fulfillment process easier.
Have you used Tactical Shipping? Leave a review!
What’s Next?
I asked Chris to share what’s on the horizon with Tactical Shipping. He has plans to add even richer features that will help customers scale further. He hinted at expansion into international shipping capabilities. Lastly, he mentioned that his company is exploring a solution to help Infusionsoft users succeed with quotes and estimates.
If you’re interested in Tactical Shipping, find Tactical Shipping on the Marketplace.
Read more about the 2014 Battle of the Apps Finalists:
Revenue Conduit | Tactical Shipping | Parsey | Event Awesome | HipDash
Read more about this post, Behind the App: Tactical Shipping on The Infusionsoft Blog.