During an interview on Industry Analysts’ What’s Happenin’, Kim Young of SalesChain discussed office technology and copier dealers and what the future has in store for them.
Here’s a short clip of the full interview, which can be seen here.
Click here to learn more about SalesChain’s office technology CRM platform.
SOURCE Industry Analysts Inc.
Full Transcript
what’s happening Andy here I’m joined
today by Kim Young of sales chain how
are you Kim I’m doing great how are you
I am awesome it is great to see you
um we visited you about a year ago up in
your offices in uh in Connecticut and I
thought you know it’s kind of a good
time of the year to check in Show
seasons are starting up and let’s see
what’s happening with uh with with sales
change so first off what maybe just a a
quick background whose sales chain what
do you guys do and then tell us what you
do for them sure uh sales train is a
business workflow automation tool for
the specifically focused on office
technology dealers and and that’s a
mouthful but you know we’ve got
everything for the front end of the
dealer workflow sales reps sales Ops
everything you know CRM cpq links to all
the other vendors out there so
um I am the VP of sales for sales chain
and have been with them just over a year
now and and have thoroughly enjoyed it
very nice now sales chain isn’t
something that’s brand new to our
industry although it is specific to our
industry right so you guys last year you
celebrated 20 years I think that’s was
last year the 20th yep that’s right um
so 20-year anniversary Tim started this
company a long long time ago and you’ve
grown from just a very small little
operation to
um how big are you guys now what what’s
the size I saw a really nice number that
they wanted me to ask you about so I’m
asking how did you guys how did you guys
do last year you know we did great we
had substantial uh both Revenue growth
but also employee growth we we were
definitely a vsb and and I’m gonna say
we’re still in SB
um you know but but moving in the right
direction and and you know well over 35
growth as far as our customer base and
revenues and and close to matching that
with our employees
um it’s it’s it’s awesome actually yeah
the number I I saw earlier 25 five
percent employee growth so you guys are
exploding you had um I mean you had a
pretty full office when I was up there
when we were there Jake and I were out
there last year and so to add 25 on to
that I imagine you’re adding more
developers coders things like that right
um you added a marketing person we’ve
been working with golden now for the
last few months so
um it’s been kind of kind of neat
watching you guys grow over the over the
last year uh one number that did jump
out at me was was the
when you look at the the number of
orders that are placed through your
system we’ll back into this but
1.3 billion dollars in I was gonna brag
on that if you haven’t brought it up oh
I’m definitely going to bring it up and
you can brag on it so tell us about that
number 1.3 billion dollars in orders
from copier dealers so that’s really all
you all you work with in this channel
office equipment dealers right yes and
so your system is software that they use
let’s back up and then we’ll talk about
that number so your system it’s ECM
um it’s it’s it’s ECM it’s uh what is it
it’s content management it’s um it’s CRM
specifically that’s the main thing right
is is it’s organizing like a sales team
at least that’s what it started as it
organizes your sales uh your sales team
and everybody gets on the same page you
can build
um I remember in the demo one of the
cool things I saw as an Excel is rep
building proposals and you know if I’m a
RICO dealer or a sharp dealer or a
whatever deal or HP deal or they had
configurators where I could literally
build the machine on my screen it would
add cost to it and everything so but
back up and just give us what exactly do
you guys do for for dealers how do they
use you
sure I mean we really actually started
believe it or not when Tim founded the
company 21 years ago it was in the
leasing space to automate leasing he was
working for GE Capital when he came up
with a thought that that needed some
improvement so we actually didn’t even
start in the CRM World we’re put in that
bucket because it makes the most sense
because it’s such a front-end system if
you will but it’s full business workflow
automation it’s it’s CRM it’s it’s
integration into all the industry
standard marketing tools out there but
it’s also then full cpq like you said
um you know it it dealers can do
everything from one place and the cool
thing about you know our product is we
continue to evolve as you know you
mentioned office equipment dealers and
that’s Imaging that’s the Imaging space
Etc and it’s what we’ve done and we do
well we’re all the way we don’t even
stop at cbq we go all the way through
really quote to cash and even paying out
reps commissions modules so we are all
things workflow to the life of of the
sales process within an organization
does that make sense yeah yeah so so
it’s great for a sales rep out in the
field because it helps them run their
their day right it helps them keep their
customer base organized it keeps their
proposals
um organized and having a consistent
flow uh consistent feel from all the
Reps throughout the company right
everyone’s proposals I remember when we
were doing this before we had tools like
this everybody’s proposals looked
however they wanted them to and because
some were good but some you know some
needed some help and and so if you know
it’s a good way as a business owner for
you to have some consistency on what
your reps are presenting
um it’s also a good way as an owner
right you get you get some insight into
what they’re doing their activity levels
uh tell us about that so from a
management standpoint how does um how
does your tool help them with that well
so here’s where we went in 2022 just to
back you up just a teeny bit you know
we’ve you mentioned office equipment and
imaging is still such a core for the
dealer space obviously right but right
we all we do is this space as we
mentioned a couple times so as we saw 20
you know the crazies of the last couple
years hit and really since I’ve been on
board it’s been as big a ship I think is
from typewriters to email right and and
these dealers are they’re going to
survive and they’re gonna Thrive and in
doing so they’re moving themselves into
office technology not office equipment
that’s my opinion and and and we’ve
moved with them so we now have a bundled
solution selling approach where reps
either different reps are the same reps
within every dealer does it different
right but bottom line is you can see one
single view of your customer whether
they’re IT services whether you’re
selling them water whether you’re
selling them car chargers for their
parking lot not just copiers and all the
things MPS all the things that go along
with copiers document Imaging you know
production all of that but all the rest
of it too so we are now not an Imaging
space tool we are an office technology
dealer space tool and we allow Cloud
management one single view of their
Customer because we have the cpq tool
and implemented into it we also like
allow the management to see accurate
forecasting and so it’s one single view
across all aspects of their business
with accurate forecasting which helps so
much with you know the trickle down all
the way back into the ECI and you know
Erp systems and inventory and everything
that goes along with it
well you so you integrate into all that
stuff the ECI and a lot of um a lot of
other partners uh out there Great
America leasing companies right so
that’s our space but you’re you’ve
mentioned you’re moving into other areas
and so what are you doing in in these
other areas in managed Services is the
big one I think you’re you guys are
heading towards if I remember correctly
right so you started attending
um some shows last year you’re attending
some shows this year
um and have you started integrating into
some of the systems in in that space yet
so attending the shows really is is
appropriate once you’ve got the product
to show at the shows and that was I
would say our biggest you know besides
our people which which I’m so proud of
so yeah and I want to get back to that
at some point but
um I’d say our biggest technology
um shift really is two things
Integrations and Partnerships with other
best-in-class vendors in the space but
then it also developed into a bundled
solution and that bundled solution means
we integrate into whatever our customers
need us to integrate into right and I’d
say connectwise manage was the first and
biggest we’ve done in that in that Arena
but people are also wanting front-end
stuff like ring central for click to
dial right inside the tool so they can
track things from a marketing and a
activity tracking standpoint more
quickly and easily there’s industry
specific as well as non-industry
specific marketing tools out there Zoom
info HubSpot evolved office Dominic
controli stuff right and the need to
integrate into all of those things for
Imaging but also for the I.T space is
what we did in 2022
very exciting very exciting so it’s
great I love it and and your year was
huge we talked about that number before
let’s bring it back up now that we’ve
got a better understanding of what you
guys do for the dealers so
of of of all the dealers that you you
have I don’t know if you’re allowed to
say how many are with you or not but um
those guys those companies processed uh
1.3 billion dollars in orders right and
so that’s an enormous number is that a
record for you guys I think it is the
biggest yet and it will be beaten by
this year easily because of the number
of onboardings we had in the second half
of the year so wow pretty exciting stuff
our our growth on the onboard did a
bunch of really exciting new customers
and so it’s only February and you’re
going to have a record year in 2023.
that’s right that’s not bad that’s not
bad so what do you attribute to this why
um why all of a sudden explosion in in
growth for sales chain where you know
it’s been here for 21 years a lot of
companies have been using it for a long
long time but over the last you know 18
months it’s really it’s really taken off
what what um what investments other than
obviously you coming on board what are
some of the the key Investments that you
guys
all you and then also what else might it
be no
you know honestly I believe that
so let me let me close it this way I
believe that dealers buy from people and
companies that they know and trust yes
you have to have the technology we’ve
proven that our technology is just
phenomenal it’s truly Best in Class out
there for what they’re what these
dealers are looking for to run their
business as well and while you said it’s
a great tool for the sales people I
wanna I wanna say that I was just on a
prospect demo this week and I’m like you
know what guys this is actually more
impactful to sales Ops and to the people
behind the scenes supporting the sales
people than it is even them and and it
depends on the dealer when that you know
which which it impacts more but this
tool impacts them all but the dealers
the owners they buy from companies they
trust and from the people that they
trust meaning delivering on their world
and giving the right customer service
and I really believe that our messaging
and more than our messaging are
revamping in the last two years has
caused the attention to gain in the
marketplace
um hang on one sec
sorry so we’re covering from a cold you
have to forgive me when I talk about it
happens so
you know we one other one of our
challenges really has been to get the
message out there
we are completely revamped reorganized
and we’re firing on all cylinders since
about 2020 and we’ve continued that
process by hiring more people as we’ve
already discussed so you know that being
the case what we had to do is get that
message out there using people like you
having Matt and you mentioned Colton on
board these are great things and um have
really helped us get our message to the
market about just how different we are
every company goes through ups and downs
especially when they’ve been around for
20 years right
and and we are in the best absolute
we’ve ever been in and it’s just being
reflected by word of mouth in the market
so you know looking at that and then we
we take a look at um the year you had
and it was it was awesome right you had
great growth you guys were at all the
shows I mean I saw you I felt like I saw
you everywhere that I went you were at
all kind of BTA shows some of the other
major conferences
um so you’re you’re really investing in
in the BTA Channel clearly
um yeah with the traditional dealers and
you’ve got a lot of success there which
and and you know I think that builds on
top of it where you know there’s a lot
of peer groups and a lot of these guys
talk to each other and when one starts
using you another one
um often notices you guys so looking
ahead to 2023 you know you’re already
predicting a record year but what are
you excited about what do you have
coming up
um what shows are you guys going to be
doing and and you know what what’s
what’s the big deal for uh what’s
happening with sales chain in 2023 yeah
2023 is on track to match the excitement
of 2022 I think there’s
um you know tons of new features not
just the bundled solution and continue
to Integrations but we’re going to start
2023 out with a bang this weekend we’re
having our release 8.3 push to the
market and it is I’m going to throw out
there it’s the biggest product released
in our company’s history
um we we have implemented listening to
our customers as we do so much and how
we grow our product we are implementing
a used equipment desk that is gonna be
so beneficial to so many customers out
there
um we are updating we have even more
updates to our user interface because of
some of the developers we hired in 2022
are focusing on that as well with many
new screens we’ve improved our security
we have Azure SSO now
um there’s just the list is long
exciting from the features and updates
standpoint to our product and that’s
just this month so I will tell you that
one of the areas that excites me a lot
too is what we’re doing internally as a
company
so in 2022 this growth you have to make
sure that as you grow you’re still able
to
meet your commitments and deliver on
what you promise and you know when you
grow sometimes there are times it goes
like this when you’re getting there and
um in in 2023 actually this month we’re
implementing brand new tools internally
for our own digital transformation we’re
moving away just like we are spreadsheet
Killers for our dealers right we’re
doing the same for ourselves and putting
Tools in place for statements of work so
we have very accurate onboarding fees
and onboarding processes we’re putting
in a brand new project management tool
for onboarding that we’ll be able to
share out with our customers and make it
all automated and also for customer
special projects but then on top of that
we’re putting in a place of product
management tool to better track our
product development and our roadmap and
make sure that our improvements are
tracked in in a workflow that makes
sense so all those things together we’re
doing our own digital transformation so
we can we’re set up to continue this
growth into the future with leveling
this out right you know I mean so yeah
that’s probably the most exciting it is
it is amazing to hear all the what all
the stuff you’ve been working on and
what really strikes me is just that not
that you’re introducing new stuff but
that you have to go back to all of these
current customers right and explain to
them that your solution now does more
and now you have to retrain re you know
so it’s not like you just get to come
out with a new version and keep moving
forward it’s you know go every time you
come out with something
um and you have to
re-distribute re I don’t know just
rehash it with everybody go through each
of your dealers each of your customers
and explain to them that the new the
enhancements the new benefits how they
use them
um what a tremendous undertaking that
must be so
um this new version when did you say
that’s coming out or has it come out
already it’s pushing this weekend we’re
really excited about it so right on the
versus good timing for this interview
yeah exactly so other things I know
we’ll be seeing you guys at some BTA
shows obviously will be down in
Asheville doing our are now our annual
um golf outing um
that was that was a great time last year
we were down there we had some some
great dealers down there
um joining us Dex and UTech and and uh
so you know hopefully we’ll do another
uh little mini golf outing and some
dinner afterwards just like last year
um what else any other shows that you’re
going to be at anything coming up sooner
sooner than than that I know
I’ll be in Orlando I’ll be in um we’re
going to the sharp dealer meeting I we
are going to yeah we we’ve made a full
commitment to the CDA meetings this year
and
um hopefully even going to be in Houston
for the bpca so we’re definitely very
committed to the BTA but um has some
other user groups we like to work with a
lot as well well BTA is just sort of
that that Central core to everything
right but then those user groups they
are those peer groups are fantastic and
CDA I think it’s probably probably the
supposedly as the biggest dealers and I
I guess I agree with that so that’s a
great great group to be in front of yeah
I had some real good success there in
2022 and I’m looking forward well if you
have success with one of them they tend
to you know once they once they once you
leave the room they they often talk
about you so
um and if you have somebody who likes
you that that’s very very helpful in
those those in those meetings so
um this has been awesome this has been
really great catching up with you I look
forward to seeing you at BTA in a few
weeks and uh and uh good luck rolling
out this new uh this new version 8.1 was
that what it was 8.1 8.3 8.3 I’m already
behind so 8.3 coming out uh this weekend
good luck with that I hope it goes
smoothly any last shout outs that you uh
you have for everybody before we wind
wind down
um just looking forward to seeing
everybody and both dealers and partners
and continuing to enjoy getting to know
y’all so thanks Kim Young this was great
good seeing you and we will talk soon
take care have a good one