Boxing is big business. With Linq Blue, everyone answers this fighter’s call.
By J.R. Williams at Linq
The pro boxer Ben Stanoff moved from Australia to Las Vegas in 2018 with a dual citizenship — and not much else.
“I had a mattress topper as a bed,” he said. “We used the heavy bag as a couch, and my TV was sitting on top of a Home Depot box.”
The middleweight, who won each of his last three fights by knockout in the first round, spent several years coaching on the side.
“I was able to feed myself, pay my rent, and focus on training, and that’s all I used it for,” he said.
The hard work paid off in those three wins, and more people signed up to learn under Stanoff, who trained under the super middleweight champ Caleb “Sweethands” Plant. Stanoff was the champ’s sparring partner when Plant trained for his recent title fights.
Before long, Stanoff realized he could make his way in Vegas with his own gym. In 2022, he founded Nemea Boxing west of the strip. Business was good, but there was an issue: When someone booked time on the website, Nemea’s CRM, GoHighLevel managed by Gym Launch, immediately sent a text message introduction. Then, gym staff would call the prospect. The text messages went out as green SMS messages. No one replied.
When they dialed, the number was labeled “SPAM LIKELY.” No one answered. Stanoff and his team turned to something they knew would work: Texting from their personal iPhones. When leads saw the blue-bubble iMessage, they knew a person was behind the text. But personal texts got lost in a stream of leads, and nothing made it back to the CRM.
Enter Linq Blue.
Blue ignites engagement by integrating blue-bubble iMessages seamlessly with leading CRMs. Users routinely see double the response rates of standard SMS, leading to more leads, more business, and dramatically increased engagement.
Because all iPhone users communicate every day using iMessage, there’s no learning curve for the sender or the recipient. That means higher-quality conversations, and outreach with intention. Linq Blue is full-featured iMessage: High-quality attachments, typing indicators, read receipts, group chats, emoji reactions, and more.
Nemea Boxing sends its automated texts with Linq Blue: “Hi, it’s Ben.” Now, when he calls, “SPAM LIKELY” is replace with “Maybe: Ben”.
Everyone answers.
Implementation is plug-and-play with no changes to existing workflows. If SMS is required for legacy A2P 10DLC campaigns, standard SMS can coexist alongside Linq Blue.
Implementation was hands off for Nemea. Linq worked with the vendor handling CRM integration for the gym. Communications switched to iMessage in a matter of hours.
“The setup was very easy,” Stanoff said. “Having it that simple definitely allows us to call more and get more leads in the door.
Stanoff said there’s not much daylight between boxing and business.
“Professional fighting is the ultimate entrepreneurship,” he said. “Unless you’re a star out of the Olympics, you have to make your own path. You figure it out. No one’s telling you what to do. That’s boxing, and that’s the gym business, too.”
For more information on Linq Blue or to activate a new account, schedule a consultation as soon as today with an Account Executive at https://linqapp.com/s/linq-blue.
If you already have Linq service, contact your Account Executive or Customer Success Manager by text, email, or phone call. Find their contact information in the Linq app, in your inbox, or email contact@linqapp.com to reach us. During normal business hours, we typically respond in under one hour.
