How a Web Development Agency got 2X More Leads Per Month with GigRadar!
Young and Reckless to Agency Owner at 23
The rise of freelance platforms like Upwork have given opportunities to talented freelancers around the world. Max Radko, a 23 year old web developer from Ukraine, grabbed his chance by the horns and, after years of grinding, launched his own Upwork Agency, while most people his age still finishing up university.
When reflecting back on those early days, Max discussed how challenging it was to handle the entire lead generation process individually, stating:
At the time I started, I didn't have any kind of management system or any person who was responsible for it. So everything was on my shoulders. I've worked as a lead gen, pre-sale manager, sales manager and as a technical guy at the same time.
We imagine that his workflow looked something like this:
When discussing how long it took him to make the transition from freelancer to agency owner, Max mentioned:
I would say it was around two years that I've been freelancing before I got started with my own agency... We've already been working for one year and continue to grow our team.
One trip around the sun later, IT Squad has already generated over $80,000 in Revenue on Upwork! With such amazing results in a very short amount of time, we had to dig deeper and extract some golden nuggets from the brilliant young mind.
The Keys to IT Squad's Upwork Success 🔑
Earning 80k on Upwork in a year is no easy fit, so we had to found out more about his best practices and tips for incoming freelancers. When discussing advice for writing proposals and bids, Max stated:
Start your proposals or bids from the high-end and if possible find the client's name. It's a great personalization tip. Also, it would be nice to say hello in the client's language. So it could be “Guten Tag” or “Hola”. It's also a kind of a personalization, which in 2024 has a crucial role in your bids.
Although not complicated or seemingly groundbreaking, this tip really helped them secure way more lead replies at favorable rates. When asking about the contents of the actual proposal and what's important to pay attention to, Max mentioned:
Try to be very specific with your proposal. Don't write: "I do web development." Be more specific like: "I develop e-commerce websites in the health and beauty niche." This will make you appear more unique when the client will be choosing from different offers who also will send him the same things. Also, your bid shouldn't be too long, but at the same time, it shouldn't be too short. So try to match the length of the job post and send your bid approximately in the same length.
When asking about the best way to deliver the CTA in a proposal, Max stated:
Finalize it with a "let's jump on a call." The bid shouldn't be just an article. Your bid should have a clear goal and ideally, you should have a call with your lead. Afterwards, it will be much easier to consider him a lead when you have a personal talk with him because if you are just chatting with him in DMs, you're just a name who may not even be a real person, or at least some think so 🤖
Lead Generation Before GigRadar 🤦
When asking Max about the lead generation process he had in place before learning about GigRadar, we learned that he hired multiple people for various parts of the lead gen funnel. Specifically, he noted:
We've already hired a lead generation manager who has been filtering job posts and sending bids. Then we hired a pre-sale manager who was pitching them to start the communication in Google Meet or inside Zoom. And also as a second step of our sale funnel we’ve hired a sales manager who has been together with me hopping on the last calls before signing the contracts. And that was the workflow we had.
Although it sounded well-structured and organized, when asking whether or not the workflow was effective, Max stated:
I won't say so because any kind of workflow needs optimization and we realized that. That's why we actually found GigRadar and started using it.
Making the Switch to GigRadar 🪄
Max had heard about GigRadar thanks to Top Rated Club, a popular Ukrainian business community filled with IT specialists. Some members had already been using the software and gave it a lot of praise, which piqued Max's interest and incentivized him to give it a try.
When asking Max about the impact on key metrics like lead reply rate, he noted:
When we were doing manual bidding, the lead reply rate (LRR) was around 5 to 7%. But, since we've launched GigRadar and tested different hypothesis, we've increased our average reply rate to 15%. So from time to time, it was 12%, but sometimes it was also 20%, 25% at max. So just depending on the specific niche or the specific filters that we have been using for, but on average it increased by 2-3x than we had before, thanks to GigRadar!
When asked why he thought there was such a massive rise in reply rate, Max noted a couple of factors, specifically stating:
So the response rate time from when the job was posted was also was very high with GigRadar. It was around 9 or 10 minutes. When we were bidding on our own, it was around 2 hours. Also, we can't bid 24 hours per day, and GigRadar can do this!
IT Squad's Business is Booming 📈 💸
IT Squad's strategic use of GigRadar has not only streamlined their lead generation process but also reinforced their unique position within the web development niche. By focusing on their area of expertise and leveraging GigRadar's automation capabilities, they have gained a serious competitive advantage in their niche!
When inquiring on GigRadar's overall effect on their business growth, Max highlighted that:
In July of the past year, we've increased our team like two times because we had so many jobs after we started using GigRadar. So I would say it was a big boost for our own agency and team. So we're really happy that we found this friend, GigRadar, and it has really supported us in our growth.
Max's Truth Bombs on GigRadar 💣
When asking for some final thoughts regarding GigRadar and it's value for Upwork Agencies, Max noted:
Try to maximize your proposals, rates and so on with GigRadar because it's a really powerful tool. But, I'm not gonna say that it will start working after one day. You need to play around with it, try different hypothesis, different filters and so on. But one day I believe everyone will find their ideal workflow with GigRadar. And yeah, hopefully one day each of you will become a Millionaire :)
Final Thoughts: The GigRadar Effect
IT Squad's story is more than just about business growth; it's a narrative of adaptation, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of efficiency. With GigRadar by their side, IT Squad transformed the challenge of lead generation into a strategic advantage, setting a new standard for freelancers and agencies on Upwork.
As IT Squad continues to thrive and expand, their journey serves as an inspiration to many on Upwork, proving that with the right tools and a forward-thinking approach, the possibilities are limitless.
Radko Maksym CEO IT Squad
Hello, guys. My name is Max, and I'm the CEO of IT Squad, a Shopify development team. I started using GigRadar seven months ago, and this tool has increased my sales by three times.
Previously, we had a 5% to 7% reply rate on Upwork, but after these guys joined our team, our sales increased by 17%-20%.
This is an incredible increase for us. So, I want to thank these guys and hope to continue our collaboration with all of their new tools. Thank you, and bye-bye.
