Inc. magazine just announced Demandforce, Inc. as one of the fastest-growing, privately held companies in the United States for the second year in a row. This is a fantastic accomplishment for the Demandforce team and community!

Highlights include:

• 816% Three Year Growth Rate
• 8^th Fastest Growing Software Company in California
• #361 in the Inc. 500 Overall

“We are proud to be once again recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States,” said Rick Berry, president of Demandforce. “Growth and success in the current economy can be a challenge for many businesses, no matter the size or industry. We owe it to our amazing customers as well as our dedicated employees that we are where we are today, a leader in innovation and a successful growing company.”

Demandforce is at it again! We want to tell you all about some amazing new features we are launching this week that will benefit our entire customer base!

Our latest features are going to make your online presence even more robust and allow you to connect Demandforce data with your website, easy and fast!

Here is a quick rundown:

• Demandforce WebFeed™: Demandforce WebFeed automatically submits business profile information to more than 90 Internet sites and search engines through a trusted feed, ensuring a consistent online brand throughout the Web. Trust that no matter where potential customers search online, your information will be accurate and up-to-date.

• Demandforce Connect: With Demandforce Connect, our customers can now embed Demandforce Easy Scheduler and certified consumer reviews into their website. In addition, Demandforce has expanded its developer SDK, making it easier for software vendors to integrate with Demandforce D3.

• Demandforce Social Media Tools (Beta): Soon our customers will have the ability to post their customer reviews instantaneously on their social media pages, as well as allow customers and prospects to schedule appointments direct from their pages.

We are excited about sharing these features with you, but this isn’t the end. As the summer months continue, we continue to innovate!

-The Demandforce Team

By Jason Lipscomb D.D.S.

Social media is becoming the must have addition to small businesses.  The social media phenomenon is changing the way businesses, both large and small, are interacting with their clients.  It is also changing the way businesses represent themselves on the web.  It has become a tried and true means of marketing and there are several best practices to follow.

1) First and foremost, be there! You can’t have a successful social media campaign until you start one!  This is the big opportunity to join in on the social media phenomenon as it hits its stride. Many businesses are hesitant to get started with social media because they are afraid of what will be said about them.   The truth is, the conversation has already been started whether you like it or not.  Web travelers can review your business, discuss your business, and manipulate the truth about your business without you.  Potential patients will often believe these reviews and posts unless they are contested.  Reviews are actually one of  the earliest forms of social media.  Start your own conversation by reaching out to clients via social media and gathering your own reviews with Demandforce.  By starting your own social media campaign, you take the power of influence into your own hands.

2) Claim your territory- As we stated, the social media experience is a fairly new one, and the virtual real estate associated with it is waning quickly.   Social Media websites all use their own respective usernames or screen names.  Each of these usernames translate into a separate web address. i.e. http://twitter.com/socialmediadentist. Many of the prime usernames, comprised of advantageous keywords, are being claimed quickly.  With them go the best web addresses.  As many of you know, the web address is the first thing that search engines recognize.  Those who claim the best web addresses have a distinct advantage over latecomers.   Search engine results will influence how many potential patients actually see your web site. Now is the perfect time to get involved with social media and claim those usernames while they are still available.  This is especially important for those who were late to the website game.

3) Learn about social media before you start-  Jumping into social media without any experience can be as detrimental as not being there.   Mistakes can often lead to frustration with the whole process.   Learning the nuances of each social media platform before starting will help avoid pitfalls.  Match the pace of each platform.  Twitter runs at a much different pace than Facebook, and they are both different than LinkedIn.   Don’t feel the need to be everywhere at once.  Start with one platform until you feel that you have it under control.  Then you can branch out and use each of them as a springboard to great exposure.

4) Be involved and be yourself-  Using social media for business is as much about representing the business as it is showing the population that you are a human being.  Choosing a dentist or a mechanic is a very difficult decision.  When you humanize the process with social media, you take away the fear of the unknown.  You are no longer just a picture on a page; you are a person who is an expert in their field.  Show that you can be helpful, informed, and open.  Your clients and patients will appreciate it, and feel that their concerns are your concerns.

5) Content is king- Post great content on whatever platform you choose.  Reviews from actual patients can be the most compelling content of all.  Be interesting, funny, sometimes controversial, and human.  Post things that people want to hear.  Don’t be preachy, bossy or gross.  No one wants to be told to brush and floss every day.  They will appreciate stories they can apply to their own life.  Interesting stories about gum disease or implants may trigger their thought process.  “That is what my dentist told me about my teeth.  Maybe I can do implants”.  Comment about items in the community, or ask about restaurants.  No one wants to talk about dentistry all of the time!

Your social media skills will grow over time.  You will make mistakes, but they are important to the learning process.  Most of all, you will appear to be a professional who is willing to communicate and listen.  Social Media enables you to have an open line of communication with those you need the most, your patients.

About Jason Lipscomb

Jason T. Lipscomb is a general dentist in Richmond Virginia.  He operates two busy dental offices and is a social media educator.  Dr. Lipscomb and his business partner Stephen Knight created Social Media for Dentists in 2009.  They coauthored a 350 page social media manual for small business owners also called “Social Media for Dentists”.  Jason can be contacted from his website http://www.socialmediadentist.com.  Dr. Lipscomb can also be contacted on his social media profiles; http://facebook.com/socialmediadentist and http://twitter.com/socialmediadentist

Exciting news for us over here at Demandforce – we have been ranked the Best Place to Work amongst Bay Area technology companies with 25-50 employees by the San Francisco Business Times! This award recognizes companies that provide employees with a positive workplace environment, including best practices, culture, and benefits and is based solely on employee surveys.

We would not be able to provide the fantastic product and support to our end customers if it weren’t for our employees here at Demandforce. This award recognizes that our company culture is unique and is a reflection of each individual on the team and we couldn’t be happier to have this distinction.

Rick Berry

President, Demandforce

Rick Berry and Sam Osman at the Demandforce office in San Francisco, CA.

Patrick Barry and Sam Osman accept the award.

We’ve been working hard over the past few months on a great set of new and exciting features. We’ve not only improved our base functionality and reliability across the board, but we’ve created some amazing new stuff that is going to benefit all of our customers by increasing revenue, improving customer satisfaction, and making everything more measurable.

Here is a quick rundown:

• Hotlist. Last minute cancellations are a real hassle and can hurt your bottom line.  Now, with Hotlist, Demandforce makes it simple to fill open slots with a single click.  You’ll find the Hotlist module on your Demandforce D3 Dashboard next time you log in.
• Improved reviews. Tired of managing your reviews and surveys one at a time? Now you can select multiple reviews and surveys and mark them as read with a single click!

• Email us! You now have the ability to email Demandforce Customer Care directly from the portal, “Questions?  Email Us”.  Try it – we’d love to hear from you.
• Quick notes. Add private notes to each record, allowing your business staff to share information safely and conveniently.
• Easy sorting. We’ve added the ability to sort campaigns, surveys, and reviews now using column headers.
• Custom HTML uploads. Power users can now upload custom HTML into newsletter content.
• Canadian text messaging. Text messaging in Canada is now supported!

• Enterprise customers, you can now easily measure and track all of your locations. Quickly compare campaign performance, using the Demandforce D3 enterprise portal.
• Auto customers now have the ability to send shop and technician-specific recommended reminders using email and postcards.  That’s right, Demandforce now automatically detects any service recommendations you enter into your management system and sends service reminders that are tailored to fit those recommendations.
• Auto now also has access to cutting edge newsletter content. Demandforce has partnered with the AAIA and the Car Care Council to provide the Car Care Council’s newsletter content and easy to use templates are now available.  Click into your “Campaigns” tab and take a look!

All this new functionality is free to existing subscribers, and no action is required on the part of the user.  Just log in and it works!

In addition to the new features launched today, we are currently testing a new way for you to manage your business from the palm of your hand: Demandforce Mobile.  You’re going to love it.  Sign up on our beta list to try it out before anyone else does!  To become a beta user drop us a line at beta@demandforce.com, and mention mobile.

We are excited about sharing these features with you, but this isn’t the end.  We have much more to come this year, and we look forward to rolling new stuff out.  As always, we welcome your feedback, and appreciate your support.

–The Demandforce Team

Demandforce is heading to Texas twice in the next month!

We’ll be in Dallas, April 27-May 1, for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD), booth 423.

We’ll also be in San Antonio, May 7th, for the 140^th Annual Session of the Texas Dental Association (TDA): booth 834. Stop by, say hello and see a Demandforce demo!

Southern California, we’re heading to you too!

Demandforce will be at CDA Presents in Anaheim, May 13-15: booth 709.

Don’t miss getting your photo taken in our Demandforce D3 photo booth and see a demo of all of our new features!!

Check out our full list of events.