Automate sales proposals for Supervision

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what's happening and Andy here I am joining today by Tim from sales chain how are you Tim I'm doing very well Andy thanks for having me thanks for being on it is great to see you I am in Rochester you look like you are at headquarters up in uh somewhere in Connecticut I am in Waterbury Connecticut Waterbury Connecticut we've been up there we were up there what was it earlier this year or late last year I can't even remember it's been a while now we had a nice little tour of your facilities a little tour of the town so um always great catching up with you uh before we get too far into it maybe just give me a little bit of background who who is sales chain what do you guys do thanks Andy well sales chain we are a business workflow automation platform that is purpose-built serving the office technology sector and so we are proud now to be celebrating our 20th year congratulations some of the some of the biggest and best uh dealers out there so you um you guys have some software I would have killed for back in the day when I was selling copiers and uh uh 20 years 20 years um you were you were you're a little late for my my career I've been out of it a little longer than 20 years at this point so I couldn't have actually but um Andy I'd be happy to sell it to you now yeah well we probably could use it so so you're not you know a lot of people know you as a CRM right um you uh you guys you basically help the sales force sell so why don't you tell us a little bit more about um why you're not just a CRM and what more you guys do and then I got some questions that you know you've had some announcements and some things that we've talked about that that are coming up that I'd like to chat with you about so tell us about the CRM and what you do for sales you know for sales teams around the country exactly well Andy it's a good question and the reality is is that we are CRM is we're a lot more than CRM and maybe a better way of saying it is CRM means a lot of things to a lot of different people what we do is as you said we help people sell stuff but selling stuff today is different than what it was 20 years ago you know 20 years ago a CRM was an electronic Rolodex that helped people keep track of contacts and their schedules today with the complexity of the products that are being sold and the you know complexity of the marketplace um serving we entail you know customer relationship management we have a suite of a product that that comprises is comprised of CRM yes order and and proposal pricing catalog and pricing management document generation uh integration with all of the leasing companies so that uh products and services can be financed we're helping people sell not just copiers but copiers and printers and managed services and it products and document management and scanning Services all in one platform that bundled platform so that companies can operate more efficiently instead of having two sales teams or three sales teams working in three separate sets of systems they can work in one and and then commissions and workflow all or a part of our platform so that dealers vars managed service providers whatever they call themselves they can operate more efficiently knowing that they have a platform that works for them but also integrates with the software products that they're using like e-automate and connect wise is integrated with the partners that they utilize whether it be you know Ingram Microtech data cynics and so forth and they're leasing partners so you know what my my feelings my my experience with the CRM back in the day was you know very very basic and it was just here's who you need to call this week this day here's who you what you talked about last time we didn't have any of these capabilities or if we did I didn't know about them I don't think we did this was you know 25 years ago at this point um and I think it was act a.c.t if you remember that one that was the one we used back 2.0 uh I think is what it was back in the day but there was no proposal writing tool there was no pricing there was no so so these are and you yeah Andy it looked like this exactly that was the tool and it was the tool that is still the tool yeah well I mean but that's where it starts right but you have to get it into a system and then once you get it into this system you guys give these guys the you guys give the rep uh the ability to pull down pricing to pull to add so can they configure equipment can they so how did the pricing get in there and how does it build how do they build these proposals that's exactly let's think okay back in your day or or back yesterday in a lot of people okay let's say they're a Canon dealer they're they're getting spreadsheets and pricing sheets from Canon right and they're giving it to their sales people in the form of printed PDFs printable PDFs or spreadsheets right they're getting lease rate factors from their leasing Partners so they're getting printed you know promo sheets with the end of year uh lease rate factors and terms and products right and so today and they're using a pencil or a spreadsheet most a lot of these guys have internally built spreadsheets right that's what we used yep and then and then now I just got off the phone call with one of my one of my dealers and with regards to used equipment and they have another internal document spreadsheet on a share drive or something that lists the used equipment that might be available okay and the sales reps are trying to put all this together manually and then haphazardly in most cases producing individualized proposals so the consistency that the company's owner wants to present to the custom to the marketplace is thrown out the window their own proposal and so forth and then handwritten lease documents that get incompleted or not not completely filled out that the operations team now has to go back in and figure out how to fix either with the customer directly or with the sales person so that manual process is not possible today in the re in the marketplace that we're in the efficiencies that these dealers whether you're big or small your your competitors are more efficient that's the reality of this okay we priced to give you a perspective what I'm talking about here is we priced year to date 1.4 billion dollars worth of orders in the office technology space this year you guys individual sales people priced 1.4 billion dollars worth of closed orders in your system wow okay it's amazing and that represents about 83 not that I'm counting but about 83 and 923 document packages wow okay and this is all sorts of stuff this is not just coppers it's copiers and printers and um Solutions we released this year we've been busy this year okay for the first time we are coming to Market a company is bringing to Market a true bundled solution platform what is that let me tell you so today if you're a successful office technology reseller who sells k n or sharp or something yep and you want to get into the IT business okay you're either going to build it organically or you're going to buy somebody that sales team those people that are successful by the way have a sales team who sell I.T and support it their down the street reps may may refer or may uh bring those people in but copier guys are not traditionally selling I.T they bring an I.T specialist in so that what they're doing is they're running the it sales team on a separate system they have a separate CRM system they have a separate deal pricing system they might be using Auto task I'm sorry um quote works or connectwise sell or spreadsheets and then there's no coordination between the two and so the business is saying okay I've got a customer in my copier CRM I've got a customer in my it CRM I've got a customer in connectwise manage or Auto task I've got a customer in e-automate and none of them are matched up So and I've got people that I'm paying to type all this information in manually yeah so what we have done for the first time is we have brought to the market a single platform that supports The copier the print guys the service guys the it products guys the document management and scanning Services guys and the telephony people all in one sales tool set so they can price they can do their CRM functions they can price and document deals we are displacing the um quote works and and and the connectwise cell type products so that everything can be done in one system and then we have a bi-directional integration to connect wise and to e-automate better than anybody so that that common customer is is is established in our system and we can share it now and put it into the relative systems whether it's connectwise whether it's the automate whether it's HubSpot or evolved for marketing and we're bringing all these people together into a cohesive technology structure so these Integrations right I mean they've you've been doing them a long time you mentioned you showed me um Forza and all covered and uh some great America just some with the leasing companies when you were there you had all these uh Integrations that you were working on but the one that I think is is really interesting going forward is the one you just mentioned connect wise and mentioned a couple other good ones there as well but um that's like the Golden Goose right now that's the area that you know I feel like all the dealers are either looking at or they're already using and working with with those guys or in that you know heading in that direction um how long have you guys been connected with them and integrated with them and what does that bring to the table obviously you know you don't have to use these separate systems um but how does this facilitate a copier dealer maybe getting into maybe making it easier for them to get into uh selling manage managed Services it's a really good question and and what differentiates us that's really the question what differentiates the way we do things from our competitors we all have competitors and you know and I think that what we do that's different than everybody okay is we build purpose-built software we build everything we're not relying on you know uh someone a third party to build a bolt-on to my base product in order to sell it we build here in the United States all of our own software so the Integrations to connect wise can be comprehensive it can be wide and it can be deep and it can be flexible so I was for example I was just on the phone with with a customer who I took off one of our uh from one of our competitors recently and the management team was asking for these things and they're like we have a spreadsheet over here and I'm like listen we want to customize our software so that it meets your needs so you can get rid of these spreadsheets so these Integrations that we have control over we're able to customize them for people so absolutely the deep and wide Integrations that we have to connect wise are better than anybody likewise with e-automate and be our flexibility is what makes us different and makes us more responsive now do a lot of your dealers already have that you know are they already utilizing that integration is this something that they're just starting to learn to explore is this um how much are they really getting into this because my question is you know how far along are they in in really selling managed services I think that people are just scratching the service the surface of the opportunity to be quite Frank with you I think that some of these folks um are are well along the way yeah we've got some leaders sure products and I.T Services I think that almost all of them will tell you they want to be better they want to do it better I think that there's some fundamental um um capabilities and that need to be developed and we're working on some of those uh to help the process along I think that the fundamental the integration of the of the selling process the bundled selling process is was a big flaw that we have been able to resolve okay because the teams aren't working one you know it's interesting you know I I was very very large companies going live with our product here uh first week of January and they have a very significant print a print and copy and they have a very significant I.T business and the two have have operated separately yeah they're like different companies yep yeah like different companies but as we're you know onboarding them you know the I.T business leader is like um you know we're not sure we want to be this closely tied to the copyrights you know we want to do things and I'm like okay that's fine we'll do it your way but have it be integrated and then yeah and he said well and I said let me ask you something the owner of the business okay owns your it business and owns The copier business right and he said yeah and I said do you think he wants you to be more integrated not necessarily changing what you do but integrated so that you can create a balanced process and he's like yeah and I said so let's do it and he agreed so it's it's an evolution it wasn't possible to work as one before now it is and we're really proud to call connectwise a very good partner and they're helping us as we go along to make sure we do it right and to push us a little to make sure we do do it as best as possible well this is this is the direction that everybody is either going or needs to be going from from what you know from what the from what all they they I know let's say I guess um and all the oems and all the vendors are pushing them in that direction as well so let's let's look forward you know we're at the end of the year here we chatted recently and you alluded to some you know being very busy and what can you talk about coming forward that we have yeah what are we looking forward to in the next few months from you guys um I mean we are so stoked right now and our team is working you know overtime we're trying to hire and what we're trying what are you hiring what are you hiring let's see we're we're looking for trainers uh we're looking for project managers and we're always looking for developers I mean right we always look for the diamond in the rough for developers I mean those are always tough folks but we've beefed up our sales we've beefed off our marketing we're really looking for some trainers and some uh on Project managers and and so forth um that will help us to better deploy more effectively more efficiently more comprehensively to put our product has changed a lot Andy and and our business has to change with it in terms of you know we used to kind of look at it and say we're going to implement a system no it's not like that anymore we're implementing a a platform that has different components you have to be able to speak I.T and you have to be able to speak print and you have to be able to speak commission so we have Specialists now that have to play that role of saying okay Mr the finance department in Sales Management let's derive and understand the details behind the commissions program and how it relates to print and how you pay commissions to it and manage services they're different and so we and we need to bring all those together so that it works as one for next year I mean listen we're closing out 2022 we I expect we're going to be well above 30 35 growth by the uh a month that's amazing the investment you guys have made since um I guess right you know right around the time we started working together and you know you would just added a few people on um but and then you added some more and now we've added some more again and the growth just in the you know 12 to 18 months since we've been together is it's been noticeable so um you've kind of gone from you know just you doing it all being at all the shows being everywhere to uh you know when we see your team everywhere we see Kim we see Matt now we're seeing Colton um so the growth has been has been really just amazing to watch but it's funny I gotta I have to argue with them to be able to go to shows anymore though I bet you do but you know 35 growth you can't you can't argue with it that's a that's a in a at a time when it's you know it's tough to grow right I mean the dealers are are really busy trying and their heads above water and we're on projected we're we're we're we're we're projecting it we're going to do even better next year okay unreal because we all year for the last year we have been focused on on building that bundled platform with the it products I.T services and so forth we have now in beta our new MPS and total cost of ownership tool okay so remember we're a competitive we're in a competitive environment we have to take competitors out in order to take competitors out we have to replicate functionality and the one thing that we didn't have was a TCO tool so that's in beta now I'm really stoked about that we hope that by uh the end of the year we'll be finished with the beta program um we've got an awesome new used equipment platform coming out it's really a project we started with one of our customers and we just it's growing and growing to help dealers manage that um that how much more effectively to sell used equipment the integration to e-automate keeps getting better and better and better yeah so really streamlining that um that process and we're going to be coming to Market in the first quarter um with a whole new platform serving an entirely really focused on the managed service providers and I'm really excited we're going to be making that announcement next quarter so and and back to your point these are all modular components right and so a dealer might be using you know this part of the software this part of the platform but there's all these other pieces that when they get into manage servers if they're not there yet or when they get into document management some of these other peripheral Industries uh you're you're there you're already connected you already have the ability to support them with that so very very cool um just real you know really amazing software for a dealer and and what I love about it is and there's really just not a lot of options a lot of dealers you know will use something um you know more generic and and kind of built for everybody a sales force type of uh choice but when you look at what you guys do it's you know this is 20 years of building software to help copy your dealers to help Imaging dealers and now manage services resellers right so it's specifically built and there's not a lot of options out there for somebody who's really hey understands what dealers do I mean it's you know it's one thing when you when you build a CRM to support every kind of sales company that's fine and those are great tools that's up here but when you want to get down granular nitty-gritty when you want to integrate your leasing you know you're like when Great America has a change in their their their leasing prices or some of the others you integrate with like that's all automated right that that automatically changes and nobody has to go in and redo anything your team doesn't have to update pricing it just happens right you just you said something earlier that I want to uh expand upon for a second because you know that the parties that are in the marketplace the oems and so forth they're seeing the the need to do this Automation and this integration too whereas they never wanted you know for for 15 20 years we couldn't get the oems on the phone to talk to us okay and but I will tell you now a with covid and the efficiencies and the supply chain issues that the dealers are getting squeezed so tightly that they have to be more efficient also with the development of our it platform for products and managed Services we've now demonstrated the necessity of Integrations because Ingram Tech data cynics supplies Network Clover uh supplies Network we have real-time Integrations with all with all of these companies I remember that chart it was dozens we built it okay we're not relying on anybody to do this we've built it with them and so now whereas on The copier side I have four people that do nothing but manage catalogs and pricing for all of our customers and it's a burden I was on the phone with one of the top Canon dealers in the country yesterday talking about this problem because they're getting so many credits and so many pricing and it's a very manual process I will tell you now the oems are coming to us and they're open to discussions to say okay how can we make this process more efficient for this because I show them what we're doing with you know listen Canon's got what 38 000 skus in their catalog yeah okay I'm getting what 18 million skus in the it products catalog we can't do that manually right so we have to automate it so I so now all of our customers are coming in and saying if I can do it automated over here why can't I do it over here with you Mr you know Konica Cannon Rico or whoever the OEM is right so I think they're changing too same thing with the leasing companies yeah leasing companies and you know they can't afford to to type data in anymore okay they don't want to build systems because you think about it if I'm if I'm a top dealer I've got at least three to five financing Partners right so if every one of these financing Partners is building a portal for reps to go in and submit credit applications if I'm a sales guy do I really want five logins or do I want a button on my sales chain system where I'm building the proposal to just say submit the credit app it's a heck of a lot easier to hit a button and and and the finance companies are realizing that they don't want to pay people to have to build these platforms either and so again I think it's you know e-signatures and so forth you know the list goes on and on in terms of the benefits yeah yeah it's um it's it's an excellent platform for anybody who's you know in our world it really is and and it's really fun to kind of watch you guys expanding your reach because you know I know the integration starts with you trying to bring you know that connect wise uh that MSP catalog into our world but really what I'm I'm waiting to see is you you moving into their world and you know the opportunities for for the resellers on that side that could use a software that's got all this integrated you know skus and everything's there at the push of a button it's just that it comes right up on your screen and pricing's there and you know your floor is there and had announcements for next quarter all right well we'll keep that one benefit we'll be waiting for that yeah what I love is that as a company me okay we're energized right and we are excited you know with Matthew my son Matthew coming into the business he has really energized and and we were at the uh we we did a couple of it shows at the end uh end of the uh year and and you know he's young he's hip you know what I mean and he's like Dad this is this is a very different Marketplace we need to move here and and he's like you know we we can really be ourselves here because we're young and and we're entrepreneurial and uh so the MSP space is going to be an interesting one for us I think it's going to be exciting we're not forgetting about where uh where we are now for 20 years but that's going to be exciting and I think it's going to be really good to bring those groups together Tim this was awesome always great catching up with you thanks so much for uh for chatting with us today any last shout outs to anybody before we sign off hey shout outs to you thank you so much for all the work that you do in the evening thank you the information that you bring out there and I want to say Merry Christmas to everybody yes merry Christmas happy Hanukkah and happy New Year and just thanks for making 2020 to a wonderful year and we are really looking forward to the close and we're looking forward to next year well congrats on your record year and and and we'll see you around the other on the other side there great seeing you Tim thank you