I’ve passed my one year anniversary with Infusionsoft this month and I’m very proud to say that. I’ve learned one thing in the span of a year that many entrepreneurs will agree with me. I want to highlight the efforts of a true entrepreneur to underscore my point, doing enough just isn’t enough.

I know, the plight of the entrepreneur is often a rocky road in a terrain of risk. I’ve learned that here at Infusionsoft in how we help empower entrepreneurs to make their lives easier. On top of that, I’ve seen how doing just the minimum doesn’t get you results. Successful entrepreneurs need to be driven to not just do what competitors do, but to differentiate what they do and why they do it.

I illustrate my point with an example of us. Take it for what it’s worth:

“Infusionsoft does email marketing.”

Now, I’d be caught lying if that was the only function and feature of our software. Our software does amazing customer follow-up, intuitive CRM activities, sweet shopping cart and compelling email marketing. But if we didn’t do all that, we wouldn’t be nearly as awesome as we are. And there’s more to do, we love challenging ourselves to be the best marketing software that small businesses choose to grow their business. (The minute we rest on our laurels, you better call us out on it.)

But that isn’t my point. Really, I want to give you an example of a small business owner who demonstrated entrepreneurial qualities; who has found the right formula to be successful through social media for his business. Allow me to introduce you to Domino’s Pizza franchise owner, Ramon De Leon, in Chicago, IL.

Ramon does something unique from competing pizza franchises. Yes, he makes pizza that customers enjoy, but he does so much more than whatever “corporate” expects. He not only sells pizzas, he sells it with a smile, a promise and personal brand. He goes out and hustles his way (Vaynerchuk style) to connect to his customers. He improves his customer experience by being brutally honest about issues; and he isn’t afraid to engage his local media in addressing factors in customer complaints — pot holes. (I don’t claim to know what franchise owners are expected to do, but I don’t think franchisees are required to participate in social media, yet.)

What does Ramon do to wow his customers? He monitors what people are saying on Twitter, he volunteers his reputation to defend Domino’s, keeps an eye on his competitors; rewards his customers, produces short and honest videos, nurturing relationships; improve business processes from customer feedback; be ferociously passionate and care about the quality for customers.

Yes, all this ’stuff’ brings favorable results to his bottom line. The formula at play combines the need for personality in pizza, customer relevance, passion for quality product, and strong entrepreneurial “keep-going” spirit.

Some might say that it’s okay to not go 100% and strive for perfection. That argument holds true in a variety of instances. Perhaps, in the case of email marketing. There are many entrepreneurs who struggle their way through writing copy (text) in their e-mails to customers. There are just as many entrepreneurs who probably hurt themselves in productivity because they want that magic bullet in their business, instead of simply fixing the business. I respect that and I think it’s perfectly acceptable to let some things go. (It’s alright if there’s a typo, just communicate with customers.) I believe one should focus their efforts on executing on the best formula that works for their business (even if that means, not using social media).

Having all that said, I salute Ramon for his hard work, creative ideas and willingness to do not just enough, but the extraordinary for his customers. Trust me, if I’m in Chicago, I’m totally going to get a pizza from Ramon. He represents the surface of entrepreneurs and small business owners out there, and any entrepreneur can do this. It’s not rocket science, it’s quality customer service.

[Inspired by Beth Harte's blog entry, Chicago Domino’s Gets Social Media Right!]
The Domino’s Pizza logo is the registered trademark of Domino’s IP Holder LLC.

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