Watch our Masterclass |
Reduce Cash Flow & Working Capital Issues Without Pissing Off Your Sales Team!
Recording Available
11 AM PT / 2 PM ET
Not offering 'buy now, pay later' is a critically missed opportunity in SaaS and Tech companies. Many customers want your product but can’t pay upfront.
Founded in 2019 by Joe Brown, bootstrapped DearDoc has scaled from a one-person startup to a team of 150+ serving 4,500 medical practices nationwide and supporting ~55,000 daily patient interactions. By staying independent and self-funded, DearDoc has built a sustainable model where growth comes directly from customers, not outside investors.
The journey began in early 2018, driven by the need for a HIPAA-compliant AI chat solution for healthcare. Joe's innovative AI chatbot, created to automate patient inquiries and integrate seamlessly with medical records, revolutionized patient engagement, scheduling numerous appointments even during off-hours.
From its inception as a simple AI chat product, DearDoc has evolved into a comprehensive practice growth platform, empowering thousands of doctors to enhance patient conversions, improve retention, and streamline practice efficiency.
As a bootstrapped company, DearDoc initially funded growth by requiring annual upfront payments. This ensured cash flow but limited flexibility for SMB buyers, who often preferred monthly billing. The team hypothesized that offering monthly terms while maintaining annual commitment would both accelerate new business and improve retention.
To test this theory, two sales representatives offered the monthly payment option over a few months. The results were significant—both reps increased their new ARR by over 200% simply by allowing customers to pay monthly. The results highlighted that forcing annual upfront payments was potentially limiting DearDoc's growth.
However, staying bootstrapped also meant DearDoc couldn’t roll out this model across the entire sales team without a way to collect cash upfront and manage risk. They needed a solution that preserved their independence while unlocking flexible terms for customers.
Integration of a BNPL solution translates to growth only if the team behind it is exceptional. Of all the options we considered, Ratio was the quickest, sharpest, and most effective in solving challenges.
As a bootstrapped company, DearDoc had no outside investors to rely on for cash injections. They needed a financing model that would let them scale sales without compromising independence. Ratio Boost delivered exactly that: a way to let SMB buyers pay monthly while DearDoc collected the full contract value upfront.
By embedding Ratio Boost directly into their quoting process, DearDoc’s sales team could present monthly or quarterly payment options at the point of sale. Buyers gained flexibility, while DearDoc received the total contract value at signing. This eliminated the need for steep prepay discounts and removed “budget timing” as a blocker—two of the biggest friction points in their SMB sales cycle.
Ratio manages billing and collections on DearDoc’s behalf, meaning the Finance team sees near-zero DSO and reduced risk of defaults. Reconciliation is simple, with clear reporting on advanced contracts and customer payments. For Sales, the experience is seamless: the quoting workflow they already used simply gained a new payment option.
The impact has been transformative. With Ratio Boost, DearDoc can close deals faster, protect margins, and scale revenue without taking on debt or raising outside capital. As Founder & CEO Joe Brown puts it:
“Ratio’s platform allows us to close deals in minutes. Sales and Finance love the all-in-one platform from proposal to cash. With Ratio we will 2–3× ARR this year, while collecting the cash upfront.”
Integrating Ratio Boost has significantly transformed DearDoc's operations, driving notable growth in sales, improving sales efficiency, and uplifting team morale.
The introduction of flexible monthly payment options has resulted in:
The sales cycle has also been drastically shortened, with calls that previously took several days now averaging just 30 to 45 minutes. This newfound efficiency has allowed the sales team to focus on closing more deals and booking additional meetings.
An unexpected advantage of Ratio Boost has been the consolidation of multiple processes—such as proposal creation, agreement management, payment collection, and contract signing—into a single platform. Previously, DearDoc relied on a cumbersome, multi-step process involving Stripe, Braintree, PandaDoc, DocuSign, and other tools. This fragmented approach often caused friction, delayed deal closures, and led to lost opportunities. Ratio Boost has replaced all these tools, allowing reps to share a single payment link via email or Zoom chat, enabling customers to comfortably enter their credit card information and sign the agreement on the spot.
Over six months of using Ratio Boost, DearDoc has not lost a single deal because of the fragmented sales process. In fact, the streamlined process has led to a 10% increase in closed deals.
Ratio Boost has proven to be more than just a sales tool; it has reduced sales cycles, increased deal velocity, and streamlined the entire sales process, positioning DearDoc for sustained growth—and 3x sales this year alone.
As DearDoc continues to experience the benefits of Ratio Boost, the future looks even more promising with the upcoming innovations.
Ratio is set to introduce Ratio Copilot, an AI-driven tool designed to optimize pricing and packaging recommendations based on historical data and customer demographics. Sales reps can use these data-driven recommendations to create compelling offers and ensure that each customer receives the best package for their needs. The ability to match customers with suitable offerings will boost conversions and strengthen customer relationships, leading to long-term growth for SaaS and technology companies.
It enables businesses to offer flexible payment options to their customers while receiving the full contract value upfront. The platform seamlessly integrates with existing CRM systems, providing an all-in-one solution for managing proposals, payments, and agreements. This reduces friction in the sales process and accelerates business growth.
Led by experienced tech entrepreneurs and experts in SaaS and finance, Ratio enables SaaS and technology companies to leverage recurring revenues for new financing without diluting equity or losing control by offering two products:
With a $400 million credit facility, Ratio redefines the global subscription economy.
