When real-time data went mainstream, here's how SalesVu remained relevant

by Kelly O'Halloran
June 20, 2017

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Today, small business owners expect the ability to access real-time sales reports from software providers.

But in 2007 — the year Austin company SalesVu launched — that wasn’t quite the case.

“It was a pretty big deal to be able to pull up sales data in real time,” said Jarod Stirling, COO of SalesVu. “Very few companies had that functionality. If you wanted that data from your restaurant, you’d have to wait a week or wait for a manager to print it out.”

As a result, the company grew swiftly, attracting a steady flow of organic, inbound domestic and international leads.

But all good dreams must come to an end, and like most hot tech patterns, competitors soon emerged — pushing SalesVu to expand their point of sale solutions.

Fast-forward a few years, and SalesVu now offers small businesses with a full, customizable cloud management solution that supports reporting, inventory, employee timecards, bookkeeping and appointment scheduling amongst other key POS accounting functions. They’ve also recently added CRM tools and branded mobile and web development services to assist clients with their e-commerce presence.

“One way I describe SalesVu to people that makes sense is we’re like an enterprise resource planning system but for small business,” said Stirling. “Imagine you’re trying to start a small retail store, think about all the different software you’ll need — we offer all of it.”

Put it this way: today, SalesVu can help, say, a spa owner securely offer products and gift cards online, with the ability for clients to book and pre-pay for spa services and packages.

Or a winery owner that has partnered with SalesVu can send targeted e-mail campaigns specifically to clients who have purchased a pinot noir in order advertise a weekly wine special.

“You can get these types of functionality from Salesforce, but the fact that you can dial in the marketing to your existing customers, based on a variety of different factors, at this price point in non-enterprise  — no one is doing that,” said Stirling.

Adding to the company’s offerings wasn’t the only change SalesVu implemented. Stirling said SalesVu also began building an outbound sales team at the start of this year to support the company's scaling efforts and pursuit of key partnerships.

“The big focus for us is growth,” said Stirling. “We’ve been building this product for quite a long time and we’ll continue to add functionality and redesigns, but we’re at a point where we think we have a really solid product for a few different industries.”

While the 10-year-old company doesn’t exactly classify as a startup, Stirling said SalesVu has avoided going corporate and flexes a lean, agile environment with about 30 employees.

“We’re like a seasoned startup,” said Stirling. “We’ve never spent too much money on a strategy that didn’t work in terms of growth, and we always make sure our customers are heard so that our solutions are easier to use and feature rich.”

 

Images provided by social media and Shutterstock.

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