Redefining Resolution: How Christina Salvo's Marketing Disrupted the Divorce Industry

Jordan: Christina Salvo. She started a divorce and mediation service with humble beginnings back in 2020. Since then, she’s helped thousands of couples across Australia with their divorce or their separation. And we’ve been alongside Christina for the ride. So last week, I thought it was a good chance to sit down together in her Melbourne home and discuss what’s made her business such a success. In this podcast, we focus on things like her service offering, her audience, her work ethic, and also the automations that she’s built in the background with her CRM.

Jordan: Hi, my name is Jordan McFadyen. Welcome to the Marketing Mindset podcast. This podcast is designed to help you navigate this cluttered world of marketing and help you challenge to move away from random acts of marketing towards planning intentional marketing strategies.

Jordan: So, Christina, let’s talk about Simple Separation. It kicked off three years ago now.

Christina: Yeah, we launched in 2020, in July, actually. And we started working with you in October 2020. So it’s nearly been three years that we’ve been working together.

Jordan: It has. So, interesting business, for people that don’t understand Simple Separation and what you actually do. Can you give us the real quick rundown of the process?

Christina: We’re a divorce separation service. We help people separate online. We help them with their financial settlements, with their parenting arrangements, with their child support arrangements, their divorces. We help them online and we do it for a much cheaper price. So we do it in a way that is very cost-effective, because we have a very efficient process. And what we try and do is organise it in a way that you don’t need to go outside of our process. Everything’s included. It’s a bundle, and it’s one fee up front that is affordable.

Jordan: And there’s a few things, if I think about, because obviously I know the business quite well, there’s a few things that I think about that work really well. And you’ve just pointed on one of them. And that is that you’ve got a really clear, unique selling point against your competitors. Is that something that you went in knowing pretty clear what you wanted to achieve? And then how did you even find that in the first place?

Christina: I have been through my own divorce, and I found it extremely expensive, and I found it unnecessarily antagonistic and stressful. So I really felt that there had to be a better way. And I researched the market, and I researched what the options were out there. And I really looked at the parts I liked and the parts I didn’t like, and then constructed my own version of how I think things should be. And I tried to do it in a way that would be accessible and affordable to the mass market, to most Australians, not just the wealthy.

Christina: Because at the end of the day, if you can’t afford to separate, you may be eligible for legal aid, but the majority of Australia aren’t. And to go through lawyers and go through courts, you need to be quite wealthy. So what happens to the rest of the people? How do they separate? And sometimes people don’t know how to go about it. So it takes years before they even decide to separate, just because they’re so overwhelmed. So I wanted to create a product that was simple to understand. Simple brand, Simple Separation. And we wanted to support them through the process, so it wasn’t a stressful experience, financially and emotionally.

Jordan: It was really interesting. So that’s the first part. It’s that USP in that product, and that was based on personal experience. And then I think that the other thing that you do really well is that there’s a really clear audience. And I think that’s something that we’ve worked together on, has been trying to identify what marketing is really going to attract that core persona. So who is that core person?

Christina: Yeah, well, look, there’s a large market. 40% of people separate. So we wanted to work out what part of that market we would be most appropriate to serve. Obviously, if you’ve got couples who have got domestic violence, they’re hiding assets, one party’s under duress or anything like that, that’s not our market. That’s when you probably need litigation, and you need divorce lawyers and barristers. You may have a very complex set of affairs, such as trusts and businesses and so forth. So there is a market there for the lawyers and for the barristers to be able to help those people.

Christina: We wanted the rest of Australia, which is really people who’ve got one or two properties, may have a caravan, may have some shares, they’re employees, they’re everyday regular Australians who want a fair settlement, and they’ve got an idea of what they want, but they just don’t know how to go about it. And they need help in making their separation legal, but fair. So we help people who are both committed to a process, to staying out of court, people who are negotiable, people who are amicable, low conflict, but want a fair outcome. Not people who are trying to drive their motive and are not negotiable and fixated. Those type of people are probably more suited to going through the courts.

Jordan: This is the other interesting thing that I find with you and this business, is that if you read it on paper, it’s been three years. You have now been featured everywhere, TV last month.

Christina: Yeah, so I was asked to go on the Morning Show, Channel 7.

Jordan: So, if you look at it from the outside, it looks as though obviously it’s been a heap of success, but I’m guessing it’s not all smooth sailing, yeah? With testing, you’ve got your clear USP, you’ve got your clear audience, but there’s clearly still testing involved with actually trying to find and reach those people and build the business.

Christina: I don’t think that ever stops. We had a process that we thought was quite robust and quite good to go out to market with. But since then, it’s changed so much. It’s an ever-evolving process, where you’re constantly tweaking and you’re constantly reviewing and testing and working out how you can do it better. So I’m constantly looking at how I can provide more value to our clients. How can I do things differently that’s going to make our clients even more satisfied? So that’s an evolving process.

Jordan: Yeah, and I guess it’s even with the content that you’re reaching people out with, because if we have a think about your marketing, your Google Ads, there’s Facebook, you’re doing LinkedIn, you do a lot of PR, there’s your own personal brand that you’re building. There’s a lot of different things that you’re trialling and testing, yeah?

Christina: Yeah, we’re doing a big campaign with Mamamia starting September. We’ll be trialling sponsorship of podcasts. We’ll be doing things like lots of advertorials. We’ve tested TV, we’ve tested lots of different things, and we know what works and what doesn’t work. And you’re constantly testing, but you need to test to know what works and what doesn’t, and it’s okay if it doesn’t. You just don’t do it again, and you focus on the things that do work.

Christina: But I never, ever stay still. I’m always trialling different media, different messaging, trying to work out. I’ll be going to the Gary Vee, Gary Vaynerchuk, marketing, what is it, a big conference next week in Melbourne, and if I can get one thing from that, then I’ll be rapt, and I’ll implement that. So, I like to execute what I learn very quickly, test it and work out whether that’s going to be part of our strategy moving forward or not.

Jordan: The other interesting thing that I think with the businesses is, like you say, you are testing and looking at things all the time. Even if we think about this morning, we spent time just playing with numbers and having a look, and we learned a little bit more around what states were doing better in terms of some advertising, or are we able to get a better cost per acquisition cost in a certain area? Because you need to be aware of those numbers too. But I’m guessing that’s a core part of what you are focusing on, yeah?

Christina: Yeah. I think the thing that I focus on the most is my metrics. I look at my metrics every day to see how we’re travelling, and whether that be how many people have hit our website, to how many people have booked in for a call, to how many people have been converted into clients who are going to use our service. And then where did they come from? What states were they in, and how many clients did we need to serve before we actually were able to have one join us? Was it one in five? Was it one in four? Looking at those metrics daily and trying to improve them, and looking at how I can constantly improve those metrics, is key. And I can tell within a day or two very quickly if things are working or not.

Jordan: What’s your appetite for risk?

Christina: I would say that I probably have more appetite for risk than most people. I’m willing to try things, but I’m willing to pull things very quickly too. So I’m happy to try, and really research it and then try it, but then be able to pull it, where I think a lot of people may try it, but they don’t measure it quick enough before it’s too late. So I think you need to be able to pull it and have that conviction to do so.

Jordan: The other big thing that we talk about a lot is how we can automate things and make things easier for you. This is a discussion we’re just having at lunch, around how much work is involved with setting up a business like this. I know I get emails from you at random times in the evening sometimes. So there’s a lot of work that goes into it. It’s not all a straight road, yeah?

Christina: Yeah, it’s not linear. It’s not perfect, but it’s hard work. At the end of the day, I grind every day, but I love what I do, so it’s not a grind to me. It’s one of the joys of my life, is how to improve my service, how to make my workplace better for our staff. How do we attract more people? So it’s just something that I love doing, so it’s not a grind, but it’s a commitment, and it’s discipline, and it’s putting in the hard yards.

Christina: I was working my first year, I was doing everything from the strategy, the marketing, the accounting, the bookkeeping, answering the consults, doing the mediations, doing the whole thing. So I was prepared to work 14-hour days for a whole year. That’s what it took. So I did that, and that really gave me a very good indication of who the clients were, what are the bits that I don’t like doing, what are the bits that I do like doing, what do I want to focus the business more on? When I first started, we were more focused on parenting, and now it’s changed to financial settlements. So our core business is financial settlements.

Christina: So really, unless you do the hard work and you’re actually there touching the client, pressing the flesh, in it with your hands dirty, I don’t know how you can do it any other way without knowing them. And then once you find people, you know how to guide them and lead them, because you’ve done it yourself, and you know how you did it. And if someone’s trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you know that’s not the truth, because you’ve served a thousand clients yourself.

Christina: So that’s probably, I think, something I’ve always been prepared to do, is really work hard and then work smart, by getting people to be able to then continue doing that, because obviously I can’t work 14 hours a day for the rest of my life. So now I’ve got really, really good people who really believe in what we do, and they love what we do, and they’re trying to help me improve it as well.

Jordan: Since you’ve got your hands dirty, you’ve learned about the process, use the CRM, and the entire business is literally built out of your CRM, yeah? From people coming into the website, completing the quiz, they go into your different stages, so that you can see kind of where they’re at, so that your team understand where they’re at. And if they don’t book a consult, they’re getting automated emails and things like that, yeah? So tell us about that process, about building that out over time, because I know from firsthand, it’s a beast now, but it has been a process.

Christina: Well, you and I have both worked on that three times a week for three years, right? We put a lot of work into the back end of our workflows. You spend a lot of money to attract a client, and how do you keep that client engaged, and hopefully that they’ll stay with you? So nurturing that enquiry is crucial, and how you do that, it takes a lot of testing, and a lot of coming up with content, and a lot of work that we’ve put into this.

Christina: So we have, I can’t tell you how many workflows we have, depending on the type of client that we’ve attracted and where they’ve found us, whether they’ve subscribed to our website or whether they made an initial call, received a quote, but they will all have their own individual workflow. But that’s crucial. It’s not just advertising and getting an enquiry and that’s it, and providing a quote. It’s the whole process that goes before it and after it and during. And once they are a client, what happens during that? There’s also workflows within that process as well.

Christina: And then when they’ve completed, what do we do after that? What else do they need? What feedback do we require? What other services may they need? For example, now that they’ve got their orders in place and their agreements in place, are they sticking to them? Do they need some sort of parenting coordinator to be able to help the parties ensure that they’re following those orders? And so it never stops. People need wills. They don’t think about their wills, that they could be potentially at risk. They don’t update their will. All their super could go to their ex-de facto partner if they don’t update their will.

Christina: So it’s a massive amount of work. You’ve got to start somewhere. And the point is it’s never perfect. It’s always about improving, and near enough is good enough. And next week you’ll improve it, and you’ll improve it. A lot of people are waiting till things are perfect, and they never get started.

Jordan: I was just going to say, it’s not one of those things that you kicked off the business three years ago with these fully fledged workflows and automatic emails being sent out and everything kind of working. It’s just a thing over time. And I think it goes back to what you said before, around you were willing to get your hands dirty and figure it out, and actually essentially be in the trenches there for a bit, to actually learn about what the customer likes, what type of communication style they have, the best way to communicate with them.

Jordan: Because you’ve got a really niche audience that are going through a pretty emotional time. So there’s different ways that you need to communicate to them and get them the support they’re kind of looking for you. So I guess that’s one of those interesting things that you’ve built out over that time. And I always think it’s interesting as well that you do get quite a few enquiries each day, and the team are kind of working with consults. And sometimes, I don’t know how you feel about it, but the ease of knowing that there’s emails being sent right now to clients at different stages, and it’s just done. It’s just kind of, you’re working. And then I guess we test it and see what’s actually helping serve those clients best, yeah?

Christina: Exactly. I mean, I don’t send emails. I don’t answer calls. I don’t do any of that anymore, because I’ve got a great team, and I’ve got a great system behind it that supports the team. But clearly, sometimes I want to be able to press the flesh and just see how it’s going, and I’ll pick up a phone and speak to a client and do some training, and then I’ll find something else I don’t like or that I need to improve, and that will be improved as well. But the whole thing is to be able to scale or to grow. You can’t be doing everything. You need to be able to create a system that is a bit of a set and forget, and have really good staff as well.

Jordan: And so what’s the aspirations? What’s the big goals? Because obviously you’re doing something right at the moment, based on everything that we’ve discussed here today around having that unique product, that gap in the market, clear messaging, a good persona. You’re aware about what other services in the courts are doing. So you’re aware of everything. What’s next?

Christina: I think I would like, when people are separating or have a friend who is separating, that they are thinking more about what’s the best pathway, and have Simple Separation as part of one of their options. I would like it to be that people are thinking, whether it’s us or whether it’s another group, it’s not just go to your local lawyer. Let’s not just do that. Let’s actually think about the pathway, because the pathway you choose could really make or break your separation, and how your children will cope, and the type of co-parenting relationship you have.

Christina: So my goal would be that people go, okay, I know someone who’s separating, my sister’s separating. Have you tried Simple Separation? Because they are about respectful, peaceful separation, and helping you get through it so you can preserve your co-parenting relationship. That would be the dream, is that people actually don’t just think, I’ve got to go to a solicitor. But they’ll speak to their partner and go, why don’t we together go to Simple Separation, where they can help the couple, not just the individual, help us both find a fair, peaceful way to separate.

Jordan: It’s said too much, but it’s kind of like disrupting the industry, essentially, without being too cliché about it. This is essentially what you’re doing here.

Christina: I guess it’s not something that I think too much about. It’s more of a dream of mine that people will separate… I mean, I went through a very difficult separation, and I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through. So to have people actually find a way to separate peacefully and move forward as quickly as possible, that would be great. It’s good for mental health. It’s good for people’s, for their hard-earned cash, preserving that. So I think it’ll help people. So that gets me excited, making a difference.

Jordan: This has been a really insightful chat. It was interesting to kind of learn a lot of the stuff I know that I know, because we’ve been working together for so many years. And I think the other point to say is that we worked together for a few years before even meeting face-to-face. The first time we met was literally two years after originally meeting on Zoom.

Christina: It’s been fantastic. I mean, people say, oh, who does your marketing? I’m like, oh, I work with a guy in New Zealand. New Zealand? I’m like, well, why not? I feel like we have a great relationship, great working relationship, that it doesn’t matter if it’s on Zoom or whether it’s face-to-face. It just works.

Jordan: No, well, we appreciate it. And I really appreciate your time, because I get asked a lot about you and your story. Everyone sees what you’re doing as really inspirational. It is serving a really good need. And from a business and marketing level, just absolutely killing it. So, congratulations on that. And we’re looking forward to continuing to work with you.

Christina: Thanks, Jordan. Likewise.

Jordan: And if you want to learn more about Simple Separation, about the work they do or anything like that, you can go along to their website, simpleseparation.com.au, and you can find Christina on LinkedIn or any other social platform as well. If you ever need to get in touch with me and the rest of our team, donebynine.com is where you need to go. If you want to find any of our previous podcasts or resources, just literally go to donebynine.com. You’ll see at the top the podcast link, and you’ll be able to download all the previous episodes, all the different resources that we’ve been able to share over the past few months.

Jordan: And look, again, thank you so much for joining us on hopefully what has been an insightful look into a really successful online business. And we hope to see you next week on the Marketing Mindset podcast.