Gopher.co.nz

Gopher.co.nz is an online business directory started by two Dilworth School old boys, who got sick of watching Kiwi money being siphoned offshore by massive international corporations who have little or no interest in the prosperity of New Zealand businesses. Recruiting only the very best staff who reflect their own values - young, entrepreneurial and dynamic - John Campbell and BJ Sveistrup are born salesmen who want to help New Zealand business benefit from their skills. That way everybody wins.

"We use our business skills and experience to work proactively to generate leads and increase conversions for our customers – we make sure you get found on the internet so that you can get more customers," says John. The team at Gopher.co.nz believes fervently that an online directory should not be a passive monolith that sucks up all your cash and then sits around like a squatter doing nothing. Unfortunately there are a few such providers around.

"We saw what was going on," says John. "We saw New Zealand companies being stifled by international monopolies that didn't do anything for them. Seeing the opportunity for ourselves and our customers, we set up a business with a borrowed computer and the telephone book. We thrive on speed, continuous learning - especially from our experiences - and action. It's what we want and it's what we want to achieve for our customers. That's why we bend our considerable sales and technical skills to achieve good sales for Kiwi companies."

It's a recipe that has achieved extraordinary success for Gopher.co.nz and its clients, making the company the fastest growing, completely New Zealand owned online directory in the country - and the value doesn't end there. "This is the age of internet dominance but there is so much crap out there. Millions of different fluffy opinions on what works and what doe not. I like to think of it as the 'tyranny of the geeks'. Gopher.co.nz works because we bring traditional sales skills and technology together to create a simple, but effective formula, to help companies that list with us get more customers. To be successful in anything you have to understand human nature," says John.

Gopher.co.nz is a very rewards focussed company that understands its success depends on the success of its customers. Both have been entrepreneurs since the age of 14 after they met at Auckland's Dilworth School, which offers full residential scholarships to promising boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. BJ finished university while John left to get his education at the cutting edge of business - a sales job in telecommunications. "My sales education started there," says John. "I was fortunate to be mentored by a consummate businessman and salesman. He's one of the reasons we started Gopher.co.nz - today it's the number one online business solution in New Zealand. We're very proud of that achievement."

Gopher.co.nz offers customers a simple, easy, professional way to get online, get found and win more customers - all through just one consultation over the telephone. "The beauty of it is the customers who come through Gopher.co.nz are ready to buy. You can't beat that."