After developing a marketing strategy with Benali, the phones are always ringing at FPS Technologies. The company is making a name for itself as the most trusted fire protection firm in Oklahoma.

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Their Story

A Born-and-Bred Businessman

FPS Technologies, Inc. is a fire protection business based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company offers equipment installation, maintenance and inspections, as well as safety consulting for both local and national customers.

FPS’s founder, Kris Pettigrew, got his start in fire protection at Oklahoma State University. He worked briefly as a contractor before he decided to strike out on his own.

Luckily, business management has always been in Kris’s blood. “I’ve [spent lots of time] around business owners. My family owned their own business. I always wanted to own my own business, I just didn’t know how I’d get there.”

In 2011, Kris took the first step and established FPS Technologies.

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THEIR GOAL

Sharpening up Systems to Establish a Local Presence

Before partnering with Benali, FPS was struggling to find direction in its sales department. Though the company had sales representatives, they were focused on looking after existing customers instead of generating growth. “It’s expensive to pay somebody to take care of people instead of sell [to] people.”

For a while, FPS had a small online presence. Though the company was fairly large, Kris and his associates didn’t have the time to produce a site with resources or past projects for customers to browse. Their first website was built on GoDaddy, and it didn’t include much more than the company’s phone number.

Kris also needed a way to keep track of new leads and customer information. The company didn’t have a good way to organize this data, so internal systems became a major focus after they partnered with Benali.

In terms of overall growth, Kris had big goals for his business. FPS earns more profit per customer from local companies than from national businesses, but his customer base was only 10% local and 90% national. Kris needed a way to shift this ratio and generate more profits from local businesses.

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THEIR SUCCESS

A Professional Online Presence Boosts Earnings

Since partnering with Benali, FPS’s revenue has grown by $1.4 million. Their customer base is now 50% local and 50% national.

A revamped website is helping the company attract and secure new leads. When a customer visits the site, they can fill out a form for a quote. Shortly after, an FPS employee follows up with them over the phone. The customer’s information is automatically added to the new CRM system, which makes it easy to keep track of the lead and secure the deal.

“Having [Benali] come in was the smartest decision we could’ve made.”

The new website also features resources for prospective and returning customers. Visitors can look over summaries of FPS’s past projects, or they can get answers to fire protection FAQs. The resources lend credibility to the site, and the online quote system turns site visitors into customers.

FPS is getting leads they wouldn’t have found without their new marketing strategy. OG&E, a large local utilities company, found the FPS website and reached out to start a partnership. “That’s a hard company to get in with,” Kris says proudly. He’s pleased to see the company’s local base growing.

Working with Benali has given the company’s senior executives more time to focus on what they do best. “We’re not marketing people, we’re fire protection people,” says John Vermillion, the company’s vice president. Kris agrees - he’s happy that he can focus on fire protection and leave the marketing tasks to Benali. “Having [Benali] come in was the smartest decision we could’ve made.”

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