When it comes to veteran disabilities, the road to achieving benefits is anything but smooth. Consulting firm Veterans Valor is out to change that, one veteran at a time. By aiding individual veterans with the VA claims pre-filing process, the firm is committed to helping maximize eligibility for VA disability benefits.
Launched two years ago by John Paul — a combat-disabled veteran with personal VA claims experience — along with his military colleagues who appreciate the complexities of the VA claims process, Veterans Valor has already made a notable impact and experienced astronomical 600% growth. John attributes much of that growth to Copper, which has helped them streamline client engagement and rapidly scale their processes to serve more veterans in need.
Discovering the right tool for rapid growth
From the outset, John knew his team would need a robust tool for managing their client records and communications. Plus, with his aggressive growth plans, they needed to get something in place sooner than later.
Initially, the team experimented with Sendinblue (now Brevo), but the team found its features lacking and they struggled to navigate its interface. They also briefly considered Salesforce, but quickly realized it was too costly and complex for their needs. “Time was of the essence for us, and we couldn’t afford extended periods of training and onboarding,” says John.
On their list of criteria for the perfect client relationship tool were:
Seamless integration with Google Workspace
User-friendly interface
Adaptability to their client workflow
Cost-effective platform
Since Veterans Valor relies heavily on Gmail, Google Calendar and the rest of the Google Workspace suite for daily operations, native Google integration was their top priority. During their search, Google recommended Copper — and they were excited by its possibilities.
After giving Copper a trial run, John and his colleagues were impressed by the platform’s ability to complement their existing tools and workflow.
Enhancing client engagement with Copper
Following a short implementation period facilitated by a Copper onboarding specialist, Veterans Valor had their entire client workflow up and running inside the platform. The easy-to-use interface helped the team get up to speed fast.
Three key team members use Copper daily for operations management and tracking their clients end-to-end throughout the VA disability claims process. They use the Pipelines feature to closely monitor the progress of each client’s claim. Their main pipeline, called Claim Assistance, tracks clients that are submitting both primary and secondary claims, and moves them through 30 clearly defined stages, from Consultation all the way to Claim Complete.
Since Veterans Valor takes a very hands-on, consultative approach, knowing when a client moves into a new pipeline stage is critical for their team to stay on top of follow-ups and keep the process moving forward. “Our pipeline is our whiteboard in a way. That’s what really sold us on Copper. It gives us a precise and visual reference to track our clients’ progress efficiently — so we can stay on top of their needs seamlessly throughout the process,” John says.
Other top features the team uses include:
Google Workspace integration: The automatic sync of all client emails, files and meetings helps ensure every client record is up to date while minimizing data entry for their small team. Their Client Manager is constantly tracking interactions between the company’s Claims Experts and clients, and with Google’s auto-sync, she can quickly jump into Copper to review communications and double-check that activities are logged accurately in the system so that nothing slips through the cracks.
Copper Feed: John visits this central dashboard inside Copper daily to help him keep track of follow-ups and recent activity. He’s able to easily see what’s in play and whether any current claims need his attention.
Together, the team uses Copper as their central hub for client engagement tracking and to monitor claims progress through their established processes. And with so many external parties involved throughout the stages — from medical record review to Veteran Benefits Administration submission, VA doctor’s appointments and more — Copper keeps all team members on the same page and their attention focused on delivering an ideal outcome for each veteran.
The numbers: Driving growth with Copper
Since integrating Copper 10 months ago, Veterans Valor has experienced an astonishing 600% business growth. From a modest beginning with around 15 clients, they’ve expanded their clientele to over 150 while increasing sales by 7 times in their second year alone. The best part is, they’re already on track to surpass these numbers within the first six months of 2024. And with more employees added to the team, Veterans Valor is poised for rapid growth.
Looking ahead
As 2024 unfolds, John and his team are excited about the potential of further leveraging Copper’s capabilities to serve their clients better. Additional features they plan to explore include:
“We’re truly grateful for Copper’s role in our growth and efficiency, and we look forward to further success and expansion with this indispensable software by our side,” says John.
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