Tod knew he wanted to become a business owner after realizing he didn’t want to work for anyone else.
“At the time, I spoke at some big conferences around the world,” he recalls. “What ended up happening was I would talk to people about digital, social, etc. They would pull me aside afterward and ask me if I could just do it for them.”
That was all the motivation Tod needed 7 years ago to pull the trigger and start his own business.
Today he’s the President of engageQ digital, a Canadian-based social engagement agency serving notable clients across North America.
Together as a team, engageQ digital focuses on three core areas for their clients on social media: Engagement, organic content, and visuals—things Tod says sets them apart from other agencies.
“Very few organizations focus on the engagement side,” he explains. “A lot of them will work on running ad campaigns or organic content. Those really work well, but it falls apart when you’re not able to engage with people quickly and on their timeline. We’re on shift from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. We’ve got people in at almost every time zone, while some companies might only check once or twice a day.”
So when it came to managing the mission-critical areas of his business—like invoicing and accounting—Tod wanted a solution that would be hands off. That way, his team could focus on their mission to provide excellent service to their clients’ online audience.
“I didn’t want to spend my time running the mechanics of invoicing.” Instead, Tod wanted an accounting solution that would:
He tested a couple of solutions from FreshBooks to Quickbooks and, in the end, FreshBooks checked all of his needs. But soon he would learn it would provide much more than invoicing.
I dialed the number and within 5 seconds I was talking to someone who could help me solve my problem.
Tod calls FreshBooks “quick and reliable” for its ease-of-use and its detailed invoicing capabilities. But his new accounting solution had one perk that Tod did not expect: Great customer service.
“Since invoicing is such an important feature, you want to be responded to quickly,” he explains. “The fact that there was a phone number for me to call and was picked up by a human was great. The phone line literally didn’t ring on my end before someone picked it up. All of a sudden someone was there.”
He shares how he was surprised to not be put on hold or asked to navigate a phone tree.
“I dialed the number and within 5 seconds I was talking to someone who could help me solve my problem,” he exclaims. “I don’t think I’ve had that level of customer experience from anyone!”
While FreshBooks’ customer support was a pleasant surprise, Tod emphasized the overall importance of having an accounting solution to help run a business.
“Accounting is the lifeblood of a business,” he says, explaining that business owners should seek a tool to easily track invoices and revenue.
“I was looking for something quick, easy and reliable. FreshBooks delivers all of these things—that’s unusual, which is great for us.”