LeadBoxer: Lead & Customer Intelligence

We talked to Cralan Deutsch on how LeadBoxer helps businesses identify their most qualified leads & customers and insert valuable insights into their sales workflow and he had the following to say about it.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Cralan Deutsch: We’re doing well, although The Netherlands just entered a second lockdown as of 15 December 2020, and my kids are slightly disappointed to be sent home from school during the fun end-of-year festivities. They said they won’t miss getting up in the dark to bike to school though.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded LeadBoxer.

Cralan Deutsch: Three founders started LeadBoxer in 2014. We entered a tech accelerator, obtained funding and started developing according to LEAN. We met in Eindhoven in the ’80s and ’90s, and this is our third endeavor. 

My background is diverse. I have degrees in anthropology and International Project Management. My studies have enabled me to communicate/translate complex ideas. This comes in handy when bridging the distance between developers and Business Intelligence goals.

How does LeadBoxer innovate?

Cralan Deutsch: We started by innovating based on what we ourselves thought was useful. We quickly shifted to innovation led by paying clients. Client-driven innovation and development (roadmap) is a sort of fail-safe mechanism that forces you to build things people really need.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Cralan Deutsch: When the coronavirus first hit all the deals we had in the pipeline died a shuddering death. Unexpectedly a new wave of deals came in. We deliver services – measure engagement and identify B2B Buyer Intent to digital businesses. Because the coronavirus is causing an increase in online activity, we see continued growing interest in our services.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Cralan Deutsch: We decided to keep our two offices even though we are working from home. Perhaps not a “difficult” decision, but one with financial considerations. I could say that we have learned how to work remotely, but we have been working remotely for fifteen years, a team of ten spread across four countries. For example, we already knew that it’s much better to keep the video off during scrum, etc. The video channel gives you a lot of information you don’t really need. It distracts from the tasks at hand.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? How do you project yourself and LeadBoxer in the future?

Cralan Deutsch: Good question. We ask each other “human” questions. In other words, we share something personal at the scrum. The Agile scrum review process ‘what went well what didn’t go well’ helps. In terms of the future, as we are growing, the future is effectively the product we are now building for several corporate clients.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Cralan Deutsch: Our competitors are the old school lead generation tools – leadfeeder, lead forensics, and marketing automation tools like HubSpot. We are more effective because we combine all types of measurement. By combining email and newsletter measurement with website engagement, we are able to identify the actual individuals on a website. No more ‘random’ business cards. IP lookup is so 1990’s. We are better because we integrate and build custom solutions, actually inserting ourselves into the workflow.

Your website?

https://www.leadboxer.com/