Who is Dale?

Meet Dale Backus, CEO and Founder of Ohsnap!

About Ohsnap

Ohsnap is an innovative phone accessory company launched in 2019 with headquarters in Apex, North Carolina. In addition to its signature phone grip, Ohsnap makes sleek mounts, stands, and chargers that make life with your phone less of a hassle and whole lot more awesome.

Dale’s Journey

After selling his previous company, which made high-end on-set cinema monitors for film productions, Dale wanted his next entrepreneurial venture to focus on something he was passionate about. “I’m a product designer by trade,” he says. “I wanted my next business to align with my love of product design and fall within a category that I was using every single day.” He directed his attention to phone grips, which he saw as a “white space” area lacking in options for consumers but full of opportunity for creative innovation.

Founding A High-End Phone Accessory Company

Dale launched Ohsnap in November 2019. About his decision to make high-end phone accessories, he says, “I liked the profile – it’s a small product that you can pack a lot of innovation and design into.” The fact that he’s a regular user of Ohsnap phone grips has contributed to the brand’s success. “So many people get into a business that they’re not really a customer of, or part of the demographic they serve,” he explains. “You can be successful, but it’s harder and takes more effort.”

The company has grown rapidly over the last five years, Dale notes. “We invest heavily in a dynamic in-house marketing team and think we’ve cracked the code on what makes a product like this desirable.” In addition to selling direct-to-consumer, Ohsnap is starting to move into retail nationwide.

The Team at Ohsnap

Headquartered in Apex, NC, Ohsnap has a core team of 20 members who all work in-house. Dale breaks down the company structure, “We have 5 product people, 4 to 5 marketing people, 4 people working on finances, ops, and supply chain, and 2 full-time salespeople handling the retail setup.” An in-house manager heads the customer support team made up of 6 to 7 international agents.

An In-House Office’s Impact on Work Culture 

Dale believes Ohsnap’s in-house office fosters a strong work culture across the company. “You get a positive vibe with a cross-pollination of ideas and hallway conversations that prompt you to be aware of what other people are doing.” He’s not against working remotely, however, and understands that flexibility is needed to fill certain roles with specific skill sets. They recently hired a Head of Supply Chain – the first full-time remote member who is also an “integral piece” in the company.

Hiring New Members

In addition to the required skills for the role, Dale looks for people who are curious with an aptitude to learn. He’s currently using these criteria as he interviews for a graphic designer. “We’re looking for someone with a deep skill set in not only graphic design, but also has familiarity with video editing and post-production.” While hard to find, Dale is patient and believes there’s someone out there who loves the craft of creativity enough that their hobbies align with their professional ambitions. Other key qualities include an enthusiasm for technology, good communication skills, and a personality that gets along with the rest of the team.

The CX Philosophy at Ohsnap

Balancing Marketability and Usability in CX

Ohsnap’s CX philosophy is rooted in making products that people love while offering solutions to their problems. Dale elaborates, “It’s a paradox – there’s this balance between marketability and actual usability. You want to make products that you can market well, that resonate with people, and that they want to buy. But you also must deliver on all the promises that you made to make your product so desirable.” Ohsnap’s signature phone grip has a lot of promises to full fill considering the ever-expanding landscape of smartphones and accessories. Leaning into his product design and engineering background, Dale is focused on making a “one SKU fits all” that meets customers’ expectations for usability. “While difficult, it’s the part of the job that I really like,” he adds.

The Evolution of Customer Service

Heading his previous company, which made high-definition field monitors for photographers and videographers working on $5 million a day shoots, ingrained within Dale a strong sense of value for customer support that carried over to when he Ohsnap launched after a successful Kickstarter campaign. After sending the product out, they learned that it had a failure point and was breaking. “We also made the mistake of going global, which meant that we had to bake in the costs for shipping internationally, we could have gone dark right then,” Dale notes. Instead Ohsnap fixed the problem and redesigned the product on a quick turnaround - every customer was serviced and shipped a replacement. A bad experience can be turned into a lifelong customer with great service and clear communication, Dale believes. 

Innovation and Adaptability

Dale maintains if you enjoy what you are doing, you should have a deep curiosity to pay attention to what’s going on around you. This is especially important in the tech sector, he says because “a lot of times, there are great insights and ideas to gather and build on.”

Fostering Innovation Through Vision, People, and Curiosity

Asked about what fosters innovation at Ohsnap, Dale breaks his answer down into three interrelated parts: vision, people, and curiosity. “Having a leader with a clear vision of what they are trying to do on a macro level is step one,” he says. Relentless focus with the willingness to delve deeper into problems leads to discovery. “We’re doing things with the phone grip that no one ever considered. The harder you look, the more nuggets you unlock.”

Building a company of like-minded and passionate people with unique perspectives and backgrounds is critical for innovation. Dale is very fortunate for the talented team he has now. “We make room for everyone to feel safe voicing their opinions and foster every idea, no matter how left field, with a good amount of receptivity,” he notes. 

Know Your Industry from Top to Bottom

Keeping a pulse on the tech industry is imperative for success. Dale maintains that most big innovations in technology result from looking at previous innovations from other sectors and categories with curiosity. To prove his point, he references the iPhone and says, “All the components already existed. They just put everything together in a beautiful package with great software.”

Business Growth and Revenue Strategies

Investing in People Leads to An Efficient, Growing Business

For Dale, reinvesting back into his company has been an easy path to take. He elaborates, “We’re trying to grow something big and meaningful here. People is the #1 lever you have in any business. I’d rather reinvest money into good people.” It’s been incredibly satisfying for Dale to build the company person by person, taking Ohsnap to the next level with each new hire. “That’s where the magic happens. You end up with a team of talented and passionate people. As the founder, you get to step back and say, ‘wow, this machine just runs and doesn’t require me to run around with my hair on fire all the time.”

Scaling During Peak Season

In addition to peak season during Q4, Ohsnap has a spike in sales when a new product is launched. “It’s a matter of understanding when your seasonality is,” Dale says. “Then planning around that and making sure you have all the needed resources.” Busy periods and new products result in more inquiries from customers. Part-time and flex agents are hired to ensure they can serve customers efficiently.

Growing Customer Retention Through Communication, Product, and Desirability

At Ohsnap, customer retention comes down to fostering relationships with customers, meeting them where they are, and communicating in some cadence that new and desirable products are being offered. Ohsnap is finetuning a roadmap to strategically spread new product launches throughout the year in a way that makes sense for both the business and customer journey. By doing this, the company aims to sell accessories, not just the phone grip, to customers and ultimately raise LTV. On balancing the marketing apparatus and product apparatus, Dale says, “It’s a symphony of communication, product launches, and giving the customers what they want.”

Advice For E-commerce Entrepreneurs

Dale’s advice to aspiring E-commerce leaders is to do diligent research on the category you choose. He explains, “Choose an area where there’s white space, meaning there’s an opportunity in the market that is being underserved, then see if there is a way to latch onto a market that is growing.” He also stresses the importance of passion, curiosity, and making products that interest and benefit you.

A strong team is also crucial to having a successful E-commerce business. “Focus on the team. Learn how to find, retain, and incentivize amazing people,” Dale recommends. He’s offered ownership to Ohsnap employees, which has created a work culture where everyone cares about how the company is doing. “Alignment with your people is important. Otherwise, you’re just going to get 9 to 5 punchers – there’s nothing wrong with that, but you can only expect so much.”

On branding, Dales emphasizes investing in great media strategy. “The power of media is undeniable,” he maintains. “It can say so much without you having to say it. Learn how to speak the language of media, or bring someone on your team who is.”

Tech Stack

Shopify