Vertex Computer Systems was founded in 1989 as a product development
company, but by the turn of the millennium, Ganesh Iyer realized his
company had to transform to survive the
dot-com bust.
“When we got into the information technology services industry in late 2001, it
was a mature industry, and we were not
the first ones on the block,” says Iyer, co-founder and CEO of Vertex. “We could not
differentiate ourselves by size, so we
would differentiate by service: What’s the
type of customer focus we bring to
the table?”
Today, the firm provides software
development and support services
to Fortune 2000 customers. The
Twinsburg-based company also has
development centers in Cincinnati
and Hyderabad, India, and Iyer
now manages 70 employees. From
2004 to 2006, the company’s revenue grew nearly 67 percent.
Smart Business spoke with Iyer
about how he’s grown his company
by making sure it doesn’t go
beyond the tipping point.
Q: How can other CEOs grow their
companies like you’ve grown
yours?
A couple of things had to be in
place for us to grow. We call it our
four pillars, and we emphasized
those aspects of the company: the
customer-centricity of our service,
the quality, the time factor and the
cost aspect. These were the four
things that we were going to bring to the
table and differentiate ourselves from our
competition.
It is shown not only in the company’s
growth but in how we achieved the
growth. We have had close to 98 percent
customer retention in the last two years. It
shows that the customers who have been
buying from us are continuing to buy from
us, and they like what we bring to them.
The other key metric is, we either sustain
or increase revenue year after year. That
means customers are happy with what we
do, and they continue to retain us as a service provider.
You have to define internal metrics to track and follow. Revenue and profitability
are good metrics but those will come automatically if the other key metrics are on the
right track.
Q: How do you determine your key metrics
and begin tracking them?
If you don’t know your metrics, then you
really don’t know your industry. There are
industry groups that are available to help;
join one of those groups and see what
makes other people successful.
Then, take a look at your differentiators.
Those are metrics that are unique to you as
a company. You need to develop metrics so
you can track them, even if it is not an
everyday, formal thing.
I started reading a book, ‘The Tipping
Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference,’ by Malcolm Gladwell. Follow
your metrics, and make sure they don’t go
beyond the tipping point where it pushes
you down the hill. There is a point beyond
which it can be destructive, so you have to
watch those things.
Being proactive is what I preach to the
company; it’s looking ahead. Are you going to fall into the pothole and then try to get
out, or are you going to find the hole ahead
and work around it?
Q: How important is your tagline: Service
without boundaries?
We are in a service industry. We don’t
own a product, so 100 percent of our revenue are things we do for our customers.
What we bring to the table is the expertise
that surrounds the services we provide.
We have a customer-centric person — an
account manager — who is responsible for
delivery to the customer. That person
can call the shots with regards to whatever is needed to make sure the customer is satisfied.
This particular person is the face of the
company so the customer doesn’t have the
frustration of dealing with so many people
internally in the organization. There can be
way too many channels of communication
so you have to streamline all that stuff.
We have dedicated account managers
who are geographically close to the customers. The face time provides the comfort
factor. You are building the relationship, and
ultimately, people buy from people. Account
managers provide a comfort factor that
there is a real person behind this project
who is looking after the customer’s need.
Q: What advice would you give other CEOs
trying to grow their companies?
Think about what differentiates you from
the competition. What is the special thing
about you that will make the customer buy
from you or use your services?
There are two things you need to do.
First, you need to make sure your customers and vendors understand what your
differentiation is. And second, your employees need to understand how you are
differentiating yourself, so whatever they
do in their day-to-day activities, they internalize it.
Also, a tagline is central, and it cannot use
flowery words. You have to truly believe it,
and it has to reflect what you’re executing
every day. If you can do that, it can become
part of your core, and you have a chance at
being successful.
HOW TO REACH: Vertex Computer Systems, (330) 963-0044 or
www.vertexcs.com