Southern Gentlemen Catering is a Dallas-Fort Worth catering company that specializes in corporate events and events for large organizations like churches. Jonathan used to hold his lead follow-up together with Zapier and Trello, and whenever he stepped into operations, bookings slowed down. He knew money was falling through the cracks, he just didn’t know where.
Now he runs BaseCloud CRM by talking to ChatGPT through the CRM connector. He can ask it to send personalized texts to every client in negotiation, and it leaves out anyone who opted out and flags who was already texted yesterday. He knows every lead is being nurtured, and he knows when it’s safe to shut the computer for the day.
“It has changed my life. I have so much more time.”
Transcript
It has changed my life. I have so much more time.
I own Southern Gentlemen Catering. We are a local DFW catering company that specializes in corporate events and events for large organizations like churches.
I think saying "managing" is a bit generous. I would use Zapier and Trello to pretty much duct tape the best solution I could together. But it was still hard to nurture customers. It was almost impossible to stay on top of it. I would often have conversations with my wife that I knew money was falling through the cracks. I just didn't know where.
I got into a sales cycle where I would have to hop into operations, which has nothing to do with the CRM. But I'd have to hop into operations, and because I was busy, bookings would decrease. It would slow down because nobody's booking. Then I'd book a bunch more and have to go back into operations again. And the CRM almost nurtures them for me.
I would say the MCP, the AI integration. It's really relieved a lot of my day. I used to sit down and click away on the keyboard trying to find information about clients and see where they're at so I could nurture them. Now I just open up ChatGPT and have a conversation. I really don't even put down my cup of coffee.
I was showing someone today how powerful it is, and they were shocked that I could just open ChatGPT and say, "Look at all my clients in negotiation and send them personalized texts." And that's it. The AI went in and created personalized texts, left out people who opted out of texting, and then sent those texts out for me. It even went as far as to prompt me: "These 3 clients, you already texted them yesterday. Maybe you should wait." It just keeps me on top of things. It helps me nurture customers, not overwhelm them, not spam them.
Very easy. BaseCloud does my marketing as well, and I've used big box companies and done it myself in the past. And I can tell you that dealing with them is difficult. It's like having a young kid that's just using AI and trying to stitch it together. You're definitely just a number.
Last night I said to ChatGPT, "Are there any more action items, or is everything really not urgent? Would this be a good time to check out for the day?" And it told me what was left in action items and said, "No, there's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow morning. This would be a great time to check out." So I shut my computer and hung out with my wife and my kids.
I don't feel like I have to push harder because I know I'm doing everything. I know that I'm contacting every customer. I know that I'm nurturing every lead.
I used to say it to my wife all the time: "I can't keep track of all this. I know I'm letting money fall through the cracks. I know that for a fact. I just don't know how much and where it is." And now I don't have that feeling, because I know that if they choose not to go with Southern Gentlemen Catering, it is not for a lack of effort and communication. It simply isn't, because we are staying top of mind.
I would recommend BaseCloud just for clarity and peace of mind. Now I know that every client is being managed. I know where they're at in the sales pipeline. I know how they've been communicated with. I would use you guys just because it frees up bandwidth.
