Danielle Ross's team has a nickname for her: the detective. For the lone sales rep covering a territory that stretches from Pensacola to Panama City, the title fits.
For years at Jan-Pro of Northwest Florida, Ross spent hours prospecting on Google Earth and driving around a spread-out market hoping to uncover potential accounts. She'd walk cold into buildings, ask for the right person and often hear the same thing: Find the owner. That would send her back to Google, scrolling through websites that rarely had the right contact.
"It was a lot more manual work, just relying on Google (and) Google Earth," Ross said. "Those are only beneficial as much as you put into it."
Panama City is five hours round-trip from Pensacola. A cold-call day there meant a lot of time lost.
That's why she was thrilled when Jan-Pro signed with Convex in December 2023. Convex is a commercial prospecting platform that gives contractors AI-powered property intelligence — filtering buildings by type, size and location — along with contact data and buyer intent signals, all in one place.
Two years in, Convex has accounted for 26% of Ross’ leads and generated $125,000 in retained annual contract revenue — with only one lost customer.
"(Convex) has paid for itself," Ross said.
Every Lead Is a Clue
Ross makes Convex part of her daily routine — it’s often the first thing she opens.
"I'm a salesperson — leads are like gold to me," she said. "When I pull up Convex and see that there might be one or two potential leads that I didn't even know existed in my territory. That right there is extremely beneficial."
The platform gives her a few ways to find them:
Daily leads: A dashboard surfaces new prospects each morning based on her territory and target profile. Some she already knows. Others are surprises. Either way, she starts each session with a list.
Map and list building: Ross filters commercial properties by type, size and location, building targeted lists by industry or county. Before an afternoon meeting, she'll drop the address into the map and identify nearby accounts to visit on the way.
Contact intelligence: When a gatekeeper says the building owner handles janitorial, Ross goes straight to Convex. "You scroll down, there's the owner of the building," she said. "I can't tell you how many times I've used that feature."
To date, Convex has driven 21% of Ross's proposals and 18% of her signed agreements, she said.
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Working the Whole Territory
Convex makes Ross’ detective work that much easier. It even extends beyond her own pipeline.
When a franchise owner recently lost accounts through no fault of her own, Ross went to work. She pulled the owner's current account list, dropped the addresses into Convex's map and started clicking on nearby buildings — getting company names, contacts and details directly from the platform.
"This new account is literally a half mile down the street from your one account," she told the franchise owner. "Here you go."
That's the version of Convex Ross uses now — not just for her own prospecting, but for the franchise owners who call her when they need more work.
Ross is clear-eyed about what Convex is and what it isn't. Not every lead becomes a proposal. Not every call gets answered. But that's sales.
"When you're in sales and you keep hearing ‘Nos,’ you have to focus on the positive things and find the little things that are going to motivate you," she said. "With me, Convex is that little thing. Instead of dreading phone calls, it's: 'Let's get into Convex. Let's find some new business. Let's do this.'"
For Ross, that motivation is everything. Convex doesn't close deals. She does.
"For a salesperson, getting Convex would be the ultimate gift," Ross said.
