Basic Bananas
They relish the smell of the saltwater and the warmth of the rising sun on their faces as they glide along the waves. It’s just past dawn on the iconic shores of Narrabeen beach, Australia; Christo and Franziska Hall charge their batteries before heading to the office. A morning surf sets the tone for the remainder of their day as showrunners of Basic Bananas.
For this husband and wife team, entrepreneurship has long meant fashioning a business that fits the mold of their dream lifestyle — flexibility and fun are the forefront — and Basic Bananas grants them just that. Their weekly board meetings, at which their Sydney staff hit the beach equipped with actual surfboards, broadcast that sentiment loud and clear.
You know, having a great lifestyle is very beneficial to business;
Christo had worked hard running several businesses; Franziska was sick of being a slave to her job in corporate marketing and advertising. Both toiled long hours before Franziska’s brush with her own mortality.
Her awakening was a call from her brother in Switzerland with the news that her father had suddenly died of a heart attack. It was in that moment that she looked at her own life and asked herself, “If I suddenly died, would I be happy?” The honest answer was no.
Fueled by their newfound ambitions, the couple set out to do something that would fulfill them and, in turn, many others. Basic Bananas was the result. Their intention was clear: help other small businesses grow through sharing their knowledge of marketing techniques and systems.
The husband and wife team stumbled across Ontraport almost immediately upon starting their business in 2009. Although they had very little money from the business at that stage, they invested in the software because of an critical need to put a system in place that would stimulate rapid growth.
Ontraport made Christo and Franziska’s dreams a reality by allowing them to scale their business at lightning speed and manage that growth with ease. Currently, they run their programs in 13 global cities — with plans to expand further. Whereas four people attended their first workshop, they now have no problem filling 500 seats!
They do it all while living the flexible, independent lifestyle they dreamed up just a few short years ago. With some hard work, good ideas and the help of automation, this inspiring duo has fashioned for themselves a better business and a better life.
As Christo puts it, “Personally I prefer to spend my time surfing than chasing loose ends and cluttering my mind wondering about whether people have been followed-up with and are looked after, so I let our automation friend (Ontraport) do the follow-up. Unlike a human, it never drops the ball.”
The Triumphs
Started running workshops in 13 cities across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the U.S.
How Ontraport Got Them There
Sales Force Automation
For the Basic Bananas team, a streamlined sales process keeps the team running at max efficiency. Their automated sales pipeline delegates the appropriate tasks to appropriate team members — and automated follow-up does the rest. Not only is downtime of their sales team practically non-existent, but the reps are also speaking to the right people. Sprinkle lead scoring into the mix and not a single lead slips through the cracks.
“Menial tasks are automated within Ontraport, so our team spends their time working on the most meaningful tasks, which make the biggest impact and has the most fulfilling outcome.”
Because they run tons of events, Christo and Franziska built a Sequence within Ontraport to engage their traffic, register people to their events (including collecting payments) and send automated reminders. Dubbed “the excite sequence,” this sequence is designed to energize leads about the upcoming event and to encourage them to tell their friends about it too. The best part: The Sequence can be duplicated and tailored to any event. The work is already done for them!
“Sequences with more than emails — Rules, Tasks, etc. — can transform the day-to-day of your business. Sequences may seem like a simple thing, but I think most people only scratch the surface with what can be done within a sequence” says Christo.
Sequences with more than emails — Rules, Tasks, etc. — can transform the day-to-day of your business. Sequences may seem like a simple thing, but I think most people only scratch the surface with what can be done within a sequence.
Automated list segmentation — a key player in the business’s sales and marketing funnels — is just one of many reasons Christo and Franziska can just pick up and go anywhere, knowing Basic Bananas is in good hands.
Products
Basic Bananas is renowned for its broad array of educational products including face-to-face marketing training, online programs, consulting, live workshops and two physical books. As such, they need to be able to create and price new products on the fly.
Using Ontraport, the Basic Bananas team is able to launch new products to hit the shelves — digitally speaking — in just a few clicks. These products, created on the fly, can be added to any web page, adjusted in price, and even customized to include a payment plan or free trial which is ideal for any promotion or evergreen product model.
Discover how thousands of businesses have grown using Ontraport.
