January 20, 2025 • 28 mins
This episode of CO Pod features an inspiring conversation with John Mullins from Net at Work, where passion for customer success meets cutting-edge construction technology. Discover how this dynamic company evolved from a small software provider to an industry powerhouse while keeping its hometown heart. John shares candid insights about transforming construction businesses through technology, building lasting partnerships, and why genuine relationships matter more than ever in today's digital world. Whether you're curious about construction tech, business growth, or creating meaningful customer connections, this episode offers valuable takeaways for everyone in the industry.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome to another episode of co opod. I'm
(00:04):
your host, Caroline, and today I'm joined by John Mullins
from Network. Sean, how are you doing very well?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thanks for having me on, Carolin, of.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Course, thanks for being here. I wanted to start off
this podcast today and you know, kind of talk about
what you do at Network. So tell me a little
bit more about you what you do? Give me this
spark notes version of who is John?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Sure? So? I work on the sales side of things,
kind of the account management, going out and hunting new
business for Network, with a main focus on the one
of the solution sets that we have on the ERP
space called Acumatica, And with that I tend to focus
on some verticals inside that, mainly construction and a little
(00:56):
bit on manufacturing.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Awesome, how long have you been with netiet Work?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So? I have been selling ERP for the better part
of kind of two two and a half decades and
then fairly new at networks, so just finishing up my
first year.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Awesome. Well, congratulations, that's a milestone.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Let's talk a little bit more about Network. What what
do you guys do?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That's a great question and it's a super exciting company
to be answered. So Network got it's it's start back
in ninety six, and you know, kind of everybody needed
to have some sort of a software vendor, some sort
of a company that was out there. Network went one
step beyond that and did not just want to be
a solution provider because those are a dime a dozen. Hey,
here's your product, here's your widget, go take it and
(01:41):
run with it. So Network wants to kind of come
along and find companies to partner with from the entire
ecosystem of software. So whether it's looking at ERP, it
could be looking at payroll, could be looking at HR solutions,
could be fractional CIO, you know all of those things.
So anything technology related to that company is dealing with,
the Network wants to come alongside them and work with
(02:03):
them in the journey to figure out what's going to
be the best solution for them overall.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, I do. I want to talk about the founding
a little bit. So you said it was back in
ninety six. Why did they create the company? What was
the need for that?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So the two partners got started basically with one ERP
solution to go out and you know, I don't know
how much you were your listeners know. But obviously most
ERPs are sold through what they call a value added
reseller or a VAR you know, And so they jumped
in as being a VAR for one of the ERPs
that's out there, you know, on the stage front. And
then they decided they didn't want to just be seen
(02:38):
as as kind of yet another solution provider for an ERP.
So it was how do we differentiate ourselves in a
difficult landscape, a difficult marketplace and provide value to our
customers the entire time, not just let me sell you this.
Let me see how fast we can work and get
our circus to leave town and then we can go
from there. So really really exciting. So they got their
(02:59):
start as an RP vendor and then grew from that
both through organic growth and through acquisition to make sure
they had kind of an entire ecosystem to bring into
the market.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well that's awesome, I mean, you know, being in business
for that long, it's really a success and it's really
something to celebrate.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And they're still very active. These are not owners who
have kind of you know, they could have stepped away
a long time ago, I'm sure, but they are still
you know, running our calls. They're still very active. These
are people that if you you know, if clients have
issues or concerns and they want to escalate it to them,
they do not want to step away, so which I love.
I think it's fantastic for owners to stay that actively
(03:39):
in touch with the business and that actively involved, even
with all the success they've had over the last several years.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, and it also definitely probably helps with you know,
the workplace morale. It just it makes everybody work more
when you see the top dog in charge.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Kind of that mentality of you know, they don't feel
that they're above doing, you know, any of that work,
which really right, it trickles all the way down to sales,
to support, to the implementation team, to product management to
all the way through. These are people who kind of say, hey,
these guys are in the trenches with us on a
daily basis. They're out there, you know, living the by
(04:14):
the same things that they're asking us to live by,
and it makes it very very compelling to work here.
And I think our clients see that because they realized
that these aren't people who were, hey, how much money
can we ring out of a company? How much money
can we can we generate? And what's the revenue for
this company? What can we squeeze from them? So all
of those things kind of line up really really nicely.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah, leading by example definitely.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
And I know so I know you guys, are you know,
really involved with Acumatica. Can you tell me a little
bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
So Acumatica, for those that don't know, was the ARP
that was founded in two thousand and eight. There was
a group of people who had actually created a previous
ERP that they had sold to one of the larger
vendors that's out there. They wanted to come back and
fix some of the things that they felt that they
had missed in their first iteration. They create great software,
but there were some things that they kind of thought, well,
(05:04):
no one else in the marketplace is really doing some
certain things with it, you know. So they created Acumatica
and they kind of have created what we view and
what we think is next gen ERP. They wanted to
create something that would only be sold and implemented through
a partner network, but they wanted to make it micro
vertical focused. They wanted to be very very clear and transparent.
(05:25):
They even have like a ten point bill of rights
for ACUMATICA users that includes things you know, like you
should have clear and accurate pricing, you should have availability
to have ongoing training at no additional cost from the
publisher themselves. Super rare in the marketplace to see.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
That super rare, but almost seems like a necessity, right, Yes, it's.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
One of the things where which is why the big
reason that I jumped over to get on board with
networking with ACUMATICA because I'm looking at these things saying
this is the way that people expect to be treated
these days, and they deserve to be treated exactly. Yeah,
very very excited from that standpoint. And one of the
verticals that they created inside the solution is for the
construction industry. So they have built things that are intrinsic
(06:08):
in the software. And what does that mean for the
end user. In the old days of ERP, they kind
of sold you a lump of clay. You worked with
a partner, the partner charged you while they molded that
lump of clay to fit your business, and if your
business ever pivoted, ever changed, ever anything, well that clay
had hardened. You had to break that clay apart and
pay to redo another lump of clay ACUMATICA came along
(06:30):
and said, we're going to create a very specific solution set,
one of which will be for construction. The end user
gets fantastic software that's written and supported by the publisher,
not by someone who's gone and done the custom work
in between. And it means a better implementation, a faster implementation,
because obviously, once you make the investment in a new
(06:50):
erp or a new software, you need that ROI, you
need that system working for you so you can get
out there. And it means, you know, ripping hours out
of the project. You know, you're not having to pay
to have a company come along and say, now, explain
to me what you do, how do you do it,
Where do you do these things? So it's really really
an elegant design that works perfectly.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah, and we all know how much businesses change and
how they change so frequently that you know, this type
of solution is just it works and it works so well.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You're right, it's you know, and I think COVID exposed
a lot of flaws in otherwise successful businesses, specifically on
the software side of things. It was well, we got
used to doing a certain way. We had this siloed
system and that siloed system, but we had humans that
could go in between. Well, when the humans couldn't show
up to work, when they couldn't do things, or you
need to be competitive, as you know, lumber prices were
(07:41):
going through the roof, and then you know, coming back
down to reality and all those things. Then it was well,
how do we make sure that we're maximizing the revenue
that we have what we need to do that through
technology because we can't just continue to throw warm bodies
at it.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, COVID definitely had its pitfalls, but it also I
feel made us aware to so many things that we
didn't think about before.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah, it's it's been an interesting time, especially, like I said,
in the construction marketplace, not an area that's really sprinted
to embrace the latest and greatest new technology. You look
at well, and that don't mean that's an insult. You
look at some sectors, you know, banking, finance, they're always
going out and having the latest and newest, and sometimes
at a bit of a detriment. Construction has been very slow,
(08:22):
very steady, very so to have you know, some things
come on that kind of forced you to re examine
your business and the solutions that you're putting into your business.
I think is a good thing overall for everybody.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
We definitely are a little bit more of a slow
burn industry, but once we get there, we're there, that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And then also I think correct me if I'm wrong,
but you guys were Partner of the Year with Acumatica.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So we've been fortunate enough to win that award, you know,
Partner of the Year, runner up, Partner of the Years.
So over the growth and the expansion with the ACUMATICA team,
we're the largest acumatic partner in the North American marketplace,
you know. So it's really really exciting. And that means
that we have a deep enough bench for our end
users to not have to wonder, Okay, well we're gonna
(09:06):
have to you know, I'm dealing with a small mom
and pop company, but they're gonna have to go out
and hire an offshore resource or hire someone that it
may not be around for a long term. They may
not be able to support the product or the things
that we do. So all of those warriors go out
the door. So it's really really cool to be, you know,
kind of recognized by Acumatica for what we bring to
the table as a value ed partner.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yes, and then you guys will also be at their
conference in January correct.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Correct the Acumatica Summit which is coming up at the
end of January and als Vegas.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Yes, yes, well definitely I'll see you there, So I'm
really looking forward to that.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Awesome. Yeah, that's Those are always a good time and
it's nice to kind of see the touch points that
Acumatica has, the things that they're they're thinking about then
and they're listening to the end users for some of
the things that they make into the solutions. So it
should be a lot of fun. It's great experience.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, let's kind of switch gears here a little. But
you know, one of the things in the construction industry
that we're struggling with now and have been struggling with
for a while or as you know, labor shortages. So
you know, what does network do to get in new
talent and retain the talent that they already have.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Leveraging technology, if we can get rid of three people
that are having to support Excel files and shared documents
and sheets and repurpose those people so they can go
out and do more work for the end users on
their companies. Then we can have a software solution that
comes along behind that. Or when someone gets ready to retire,
you might not have to fill that position as quickly
because you have a solution in place that can handle
(10:36):
the workload that maybe two or three people were doing
five ten years ago. With net atwork, we are constantly hunting,
you know, for best and brightest. You know they're out there.
We'd have to find people from the industry itself and
maybe they've worked for someone and they want to make
a bit of a career change or a pivot. Those
tend to be fantastic for us to go out and
(10:56):
so not always looking for, hey, I've got fourteen years
of ACUMATICA experience, and because those people may jump from
partner to partner to partner, and that's fine, there's a
role for that and that and that's great, you know,
but it's also looking at the people who come along
and say, hey, I've been in the construction industry for
a while. I was a project manager, you know, at
a mid tier builder or a larger builder or a
custom home builder, or I did you know something like that,
(11:19):
And now I want to make a pivot. I've used
this product, I think it's great. You know, so they
kind of come over. So we're we're always on the
lookout for that, you know that the people who are
kind of trying to figure that, well, where their next
place is going to be and where they can make
an impact for this industry.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I feel like it's always so important. You know, we're
facing all these challenges, and some people think I just
need a warm body, but you know, more than just
a warm body, it's so important to find that right person,
that right fit ri and.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Then you know, the network makes a tremendous investment in
that right fit. You know, not only from the Hey
we're going to interview a ton of people. We're going
to narrow it down, narrow it down, narrow down, and
pick the candidate that we like. But then it's okay.
You know, some companies kind of day one you come
on board. Here's your laptop, you know, here's a cell
phone allowance. You know, go get money, and if you
don't get money, then you know, come back. Obviously, you know,
(12:09):
we're all still out there trying to do what we
can from a deal standpoint and from from revenue creation
value creation, but Networks goes with a, hey, let's be
very slow, let's be diligent. Let's invest in the people
that we think are going to be a good fit
for us culturally and a good fit for the verticals
that we sell, and make sure that they understand the
products that they're selling, they understand the needs of the business.
(12:29):
And then beyond that, Acumatica does the same thing as well.
Acumatica has you know, kind of badges that you go
out and earn, so you go through and you become
sales certified or project manager certified or customer support certified.
So it's not just us saying, you know, we at
network are going to invest, but then we're going to
kind of allow you, why you're a network employee, to
(12:50):
go out and earn these certifications from Acumatica to make
sure that you really are an industry expert and a
solution expert all the way through.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
And those are like courses that are provided from acumaticut.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So so you know, if you're a partner in the ecosystem,
you can go to the Acumatica portal, you can log
in and then you can become you know, kind of
certified in these things and they're very Some certifications are
you know, watch this video and then you can tick
the box and we'll give you the yes. You know,
you know not to put a thumb drive into your laptop.
You have the the you know, the IT certification. Not
(13:24):
the case of Acumatica. These are pretty labor intensive. A
lot of work goes into it. You actually have to
do things, you know, where you're recording yourself as you're
describing some of the solution sets and then you send
them off to Acumatica for grading. All the way through
it was you know, to be true, true, truthful and honest.
When I came on at Network, I went through all
this training, all these things. And again, I'm a guy
(13:44):
who has you know, two decades of ERP experience, and
one of my first tests, you know, at Network, it
came back and it's like, hey, you got a seventy two,
and we want you to have an eighty five in
order to pass this test. And that's a little bit
of a gut check. You know. I'm not used to failing,
but I'm not used to getting these low scores and
I'm you know, kind of like, oh, yeah, I really
need to make sure I truly understand things. I can't
(14:04):
just sprint through and try to, you know, be bluff
my way through. I have to be an industry expert here.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So those are definitely not the kinds of classes during
COVID that you would take where you can just chat
GPT all your little answers.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Right, Yeah, exactly. It's not something you watch, You turn
on the video, you let it play at two time speed,
and you come back to click the next button. Not
the case at all. It was clear your calendar, clear desk,
focus because there's going to be some some pretty heavy
lifting involved at the end of these things.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah, and that's it's really incredible to have those kinds
of programs to you know, we really want our industry
experts to be industry experts.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
It's incredible to have a company and a publisher that
both put the content out there and then are willing
to sit there and say it's more important for us
for us as a company to know that if you're
out there representing Acumatica and representing net work, that you
know what you're talking about. So when you tell the
customers these things, when you're telling talking to a construction
company and you say, yes, Acumatica is you know, project
(15:02):
management capabilities are going to be fantastic for you to
go through and do some job costing and have your
employees inner time against things that you you have that
confidence to have to have that kind of a discussion
with someone rather than I think it'll do this, or
maybe we'll do that, or you know those types of things.
I think that that our you know, our customers have
become kind of lifelong partners with h They appreciate that
(15:23):
because you know, now when we go to talk to
about some of the other things that network has not
just the acumatic aside, but but perhaps some of the
other services said, they're saying, Okay, these guys are you know,
they truly understood one facet of my business, so I
should probably listen to them about something else down the
road as well.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Building that trust between right, you know, network and your customers.
I think that's that's something that you guys do very
very well and something I've noticed just as an outsider,
is everything you guys do with your customers is about
the customers.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
It is It is a and that comes from the
top down. I think that's why the founders are still involved,
because they still get text messages from some of the
original customers. They still talk to them on a consistent basis,
so all the way through it's very very cool.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
That's incredible. And then you know those courses we were
talking at Acumatica, do you guys at net atwork, do
you require your employees to take them or is that
more of just a if you want an extra boost.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So you know, Acumatica has an ask from the partners
to go through and have a certain number of people
who are certified in certain badges, and it's their way
to make sure that anyone out there trying to sell
and implement the products is doing it the right way.
Our company is. Then, you know, Network expects the account
you know, executive team to go through and earn the
badges to know that we are certified from Acumatica to
(16:41):
represent the product out in the marketplace today. So there
is an expectation. You know, we use internal training. When
you log in, you can see how many days you
have left to pass a certain class or to take
a certain class, or to earn a certain badge, and
then beyond that, once you earn it, it's not just
kind of fire and forget. You know, these badges have
a shelf life, and if the product changes significantly, if
(17:02):
they put a lot of different stuff in it, then
you have to go back and get re certified in
these things, just like you you would hope that your
doctor or your lawyer has to go to continuing medical
education or continuing legal education, you know, so that we're
always trying to make sure that our team is going
back through and staying current on all the solutions that
are there.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
That definitely makes sense. I would I would want my
team to be up to date on what's going on.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Absolutely, Yeah, that's you're right.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, So tell me a little bit more about the
customer experience at Network. So you know, we're talking about
how you guys are you know, you're really there for
your customers, your customer centric. But say if I was
one of your customers, what would I experience?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You know? So if you're first off, we'll back up
a step. We do things completely differently the most RP
vendors in the sales cycle because we don't want to
get lumped in as a me too with everybody else
who's coming along and trying to say, you know, do
you want to buy it for for X amount? How
about X minus ten percent minus fifteen percent. You know.
It's so we we create content that we can send
(18:06):
out to our customers for them to digest when it's
convenient for them on the sales cycle, not just a hey,
what's fire up to two hour meeting, we expect you
to absorb everything. But but after that we're going to
provide you lots lots of content for you to digest.
We're also going to create kind of a back and
forth area. So obviously we're a technology company. We leverage
technology as you'd expect to create some landing pages. So
(18:29):
our prospects who are involved in the sale cycle can
send us information. We can look at timelines we're working
with them off of when do you expect you to
go go live? Hey, here's all the work that's going
to be involved if you want to go go live
by July fourth, you know, so we need to have
these things done at certain points in time so there's clear, transparent,
you know, dialogue both ways where they're pushing back on
(18:50):
us saying oh we need to do this, or a
headcount has changed or all of that. You know, once
they decide to kind of partner with a lot of work,
go through and implement we continue to use those exact
same you know, landing pages and documents that we used
in the sales cycle, you know, in the implementation cycle.
So that means that there's not a big loss from
sales to implementation in terms of the knowledge transfer, because
(19:10):
all the knowledge is stored, it's all there for everybody
to see. So just because the teams have changed, the
sales team isn't doing the implementation, but all the data,
all the DT touch points help knowledge is all there
for them to see, including all of these very fluid,
you know sws. So if we're in the midst of it,
then there's going to be a delay. You can clearly
(19:31):
see why the delay occurred. Hey, we told you you
had to have x, Y and Z done and were
for us to move on to this next stage and
you didn't get these things done, and that's fine, but
there's going to be an implication for that. Or hey,
you guys flew through that. You got that done way
faster than we thought. We can actually remove some hours
from this project and get you live even faster. So
it really has that buy in, and then beyond that,
(19:52):
our customer support team, you know, we view it as
kind of best in class. They are are our best
in breed. They are. We're constantly going out and doing
net promoter scores. We constantly want to know how we rank,
how do we do? You know, it's important to us
that that the interactions not just in the pre sales
and the sales and the implementation, but then the go
forward is a positive one because, like you had mentioned
(20:14):
early on, business is pivot. Businesses change, you know, and
there's nothing more infuriating from where where we sit at
Network than when someone says, oh, we just bought you
know X, and we sell you know X, or we
sell something you know better than X that does the
exact same thing, and we kind of think, well, we
wish we had known. So so the team is constantly
doing check ins. They're constantly you know, dealing with that
(20:36):
and making sure that our customers are heard over and
over and over again, you know, from from everything from hey,
when's the next meeting, when's the next touch point? Is
there going to be a user group we can get
together with, can I bounce some ideas, you know, all
the way through to just random you know, hey, what's
your playing for the holidays? Or did you watch the
football game this weekend.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
It sounds like a very you know, immersive experience. It's
almost like a king unity. You know, you're not just
signing these people off and saying, okay, here you go,
good luck.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
It's crazy to look at a company that has you know,
and the number you know increases all the time. You know,
pick a number eight thousand customers and they all feel
like they're at a you know, and we have to
be large enough to support eight thousand customers, which you
would assume, you know, we're not going to know who
the customers are. You become customer number six, four hundred
and nineteen. Not the case. It's nuts, you know, I
(21:27):
see it all the time. I get on these calls
or I'm talking to someone who's looking at making a
change from one solution to another, and you know, the
the interaction they've had with our team over years and
years and years. You know, these people that get it,
you know, they they know the kids' names, they know.
You know, this company has grown from a mom and
pop construction company to you know, they have three locations,
(21:47):
or they've gone from doing you know, just residentials now
they're doing residential and commercial work. Or they've pivoted. So
it's just crazy all these stories that you hear, you know,
from a company our size that really has that that
hometown feel.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Yeah, it builds the trust and nurtures their relationship, and
you know, with that trust comes it just the whole
world opens up after you have that trust.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Right that's you know, and we see I mean you
know that the people listen to this the constructions to
realize it. Like you if you if you build something
that's fantastic and you take your time and you do
it right the first time, and you provide value the
entire time as you're doing it, you have now not
just sold a house or a project or a building,
or like you've earned a partner. So the next time
(22:33):
they need whatever it is, you will be the first
person they reach out to because they know these people
did excellent work for a fair price and they stood
behind it the entire time, and heaven forbid, if something
went wrong, they stepped in and they immediately fixed it,
you know, And that's kind of the philosophy that network
has as well.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
That's awesome. That's that's the goal. I would say, that's
hashtag goals. We're going to go that route now, I have.
I have some kind of fun questions for you. They're
probably the hardest questions I'm going to ask you today.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I'm nervous.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Personal? Forgive my backstory more than people may need, but
been happily married for many, many decades. My wife asked me,
I need your opinion on something, and my opinion apparently
was not the opinion I was supposed to have, so
at that point in time, she said, you know, and
I sat her down and said, why don't you just
ask my approval on things rather than my opinion? Different word,
very minimal word, but so so in terms of that that,
(23:35):
I think that was the last time I was ever
asked my opinion. I was just asked my approval on
where we move or if we get a dog or
those kind of things. Professionally, I think that the number
one thing that I learned early on was, you know,
it's more important to listen than to talk. You know,
I think understanding what someone is saying, you know it
(23:56):
is a lot more of value to it than just
you know, Okay, great, I know you're in the solution,
You're you're looking for a new solution set. I don't
really want to hear why. I don't want to understand
your business, I don't want understand your problems. I'm just
going to start throwing the solution set at you. And
I think a lot of people who sit in similar
seats to mine, you know, in other places, probably go
(24:17):
that route with Hey, we know we have the greatest
mouse trap. I really don't want to hear why you
need it. I just want to show you this. So
I think professionally, it's understanding your prospects and your client's
needs and really listening to what they're saying, you know,
with kind of what the issues may be, and even kind.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Of getting to know them on more of a personal level.
Once you understand there's there's a real person in there
behind that business. You know, we're not all just numbers
and excel sheets. You know, there's feelings and emotions there
and understanding that can help the business in so many
different ways.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Oh yeah, you're one hundred percent right.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
This one's going to be an easy question. I promise.
If anyone's looking to find you or find more information
about net work work, how can they do that?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
You know, first off, you just go to the website Network.
You can google Network, you can find it, you know
all the way through, and there's a dedicated team. But
because you may want to reach out, or you may
have some questions, you may even know what your questions are,
so reach out to the team and edit work that.
There are tons of areas that contact us, areas on
the website you know, all the way through, and you
can find anything you want. You can go to Acumatica
dot com and read a tremendous amount about the solution itself,
(25:26):
or you can go to network and read all about
network and all the things that we do, you know,
all the way through. And then like I said, you know,
I love Acumatica. I think it is a phenomenal product.
But you may not just be looking for Acumatica. You
may have questions about you know, at technology Stack that
you've wrestled for a while or anything like that. So
so please please please reach out to us. We have
dedicated teams that do nothing but listen you know, all
(25:48):
the way through, and can go through and help you
with those things all the way.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Or you can catch us in person and vegas at
the Acumatica Summit.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
That's true. Yeah, it's you know, or feel free to
grab the ACUMATICUS Summit or you know, we list an
area on our website for the events that we go to,
you know, so if you see us at ACUMATICA Summit,
or if you see us at you know, like the
International Builder Show or some of these other shows that
we will have people at, please come by, you know,
and track us down there as well.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah, we'll definitely have all those links for you guys
down below in the descriptions. You can find them easily.
Be able to find John easily, because John, you are incredible,
so full of knowledge and so ready to share it too.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Well, thank you. It's like I said, this has been exciting
for me. I'm fortunate if I you know, the hardest
part of my morning is just getting out of bed.
I get so excited to go to work because I
work with great people, you know, and I work in
a great industry. It's really really fun to deal in
this space.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yeah, I remember the days of not wanting to go
to work, and now I have the same issue you
you do. It's just it's hard to get out of bed.
Everything after that's easy.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
That's right. That's the hardest Part's been your feet on
the floor, and after that it's it's a cake lock.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Actually working from home, trust me, it's it's really difficult
to get from the fridge to my table.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Well, and that's one of you where it's cold outside,
so it's like the nice and warm do I really
want to get And then I'm like, I do, so
let's get to it.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, You're like, oh, man, I have a lot of
stuff to do. I should get started.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Awesome. Well, John, thank you so much for being here
today and really giving our audience a comprehensive view of
nettwork and how you guys work with Acumatica. It's just
it's really great and I know our audience will definitely
love what you have to say.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Well, thank you so much for having me. It's really
really exciting to talk to people who are trying to find,
you know, things to bring to the industry to kind
of peak their attention, which I think that you know, Caron,
you do and you do so so well. So thank
you so much for having us.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah, thank you, and I'm looking forward to meeting you
in person at Acumatica and you know, everything down the
road for all of us together, because this community, this
construction industry is really it's a community and we all
work together and that's how things get done.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
You're right so well. I look forward to it again.
Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Awesome, Thank you guys all so much for listening today.
Tune in next time to another episode of co opod
All right, welcome to another episode of co opod. I'm
(00:04):
your host, Caroline, and today I'm joined by John Mullins
from Network. Sean, how are you doing very well?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thanks for having me on, Carolin, of.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Course, thanks for being here. I wanted to start off
this podcast today and you know, kind of talk about
what you do at Network. So tell me a little
bit more about you what you do? Give me this
spark notes version of who is John?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Sure? So? I work on the sales side of things,
kind of the account management, going out and hunting new
business for Network, with a main focus on the one
of the solution sets that we have on the ERP
space called Acumatica, And with that I tend to focus
on some verticals inside that, mainly construction and a little
(00:56):
bit on manufacturing.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Awesome, how long have you been with netiet Work?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So? I have been selling ERP for the better part
of kind of two two and a half decades and
then fairly new at networks, so just finishing up my
first year.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Awesome. Well, congratulations, that's a milestone.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Let's talk a little bit more about Network. What what
do you guys do?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That's a great question and it's a super exciting company
to be answered. So Network got it's it's start back
in ninety six, and you know, kind of everybody needed
to have some sort of a software vendor, some sort
of a company that was out there. Network went one
step beyond that and did not just want to be
a solution provider because those are a dime a dozen. Hey,
here's your product, here's your widget, go take it and
(01:41):
run with it. So Network wants to kind of come
along and find companies to partner with from the entire
ecosystem of software. So whether it's looking at ERP, it
could be looking at payroll, could be looking at HR solutions,
could be fractional CIO, you know all of those things.
So anything technology related to that company is dealing with,
the Network wants to come alongside them and work with
(02:03):
them in the journey to figure out what's going to
be the best solution for them overall.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, I do. I want to talk about the founding
a little bit. So you said it was back in
ninety six. Why did they create the company? What was
the need for that?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So the two partners got started basically with one ERP
solution to go out and you know, I don't know
how much you were your listeners know. But obviously most
ERPs are sold through what they call a value added
reseller or a VAR you know, And so they jumped
in as being a VAR for one of the ERPs
that's out there, you know, on the stage front. And
then they decided they didn't want to just be seen
(02:38):
as as kind of yet another solution provider for an ERP.
So it was how do we differentiate ourselves in a
difficult landscape, a difficult marketplace and provide value to our
customers the entire time, not just let me sell you this.
Let me see how fast we can work and get
our circus to leave town and then we can go
from there. So really really exciting. So they got their
(02:59):
start as an RP vendor and then grew from that
both through organic growth and through acquisition to make sure
they had kind of an entire ecosystem to bring into
the market.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well that's awesome, I mean, you know, being in business
for that long, it's really a success and it's really
something to celebrate.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And they're still very active. These are not owners who
have kind of you know, they could have stepped away
a long time ago, I'm sure, but they are still
you know, running our calls. They're still very active. These
are people that if you you know, if clients have
issues or concerns and they want to escalate it to them,
they do not want to step away, so which I love.
I think it's fantastic for owners to stay that actively
(03:39):
in touch with the business and that actively involved, even
with all the success they've had over the last several years.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, and it also definitely probably helps with you know,
the workplace morale. It just it makes everybody work more
when you see the top dog in charge.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Kind of that mentality of you know, they don't feel
that they're above doing, you know, any of that work,
which really right, it trickles all the way down to sales,
to support, to the implementation team, to product management to
all the way through. These are people who kind of say, hey,
these guys are in the trenches with us on a
daily basis. They're out there, you know, living the by
(04:14):
the same things that they're asking us to live by,
and it makes it very very compelling to work here.
And I think our clients see that because they realized
that these aren't people who were, hey, how much money
can we ring out of a company? How much money
can we can we generate? And what's the revenue for
this company? What can we squeeze from them? So all
of those things kind of line up really really nicely.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah, leading by example definitely.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
And I know so I know you guys, are you know,
really involved with Acumatica. Can you tell me a little
bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
So Acumatica, for those that don't know, was the ARP
that was founded in two thousand and eight. There was
a group of people who had actually created a previous
ERP that they had sold to one of the larger
vendors that's out there. They wanted to come back and
fix some of the things that they felt that they
had missed in their first iteration. They create great software,
but there were some things that they kind of thought, well,
(05:04):
no one else in the marketplace is really doing some
certain things with it, you know. So they created Acumatica
and they kind of have created what we view and
what we think is next gen ERP. They wanted to
create something that would only be sold and implemented through
a partner network, but they wanted to make it micro
vertical focused. They wanted to be very very clear and transparent.
(05:25):
They even have like a ten point bill of rights
for ACUMATICA users that includes things you know, like you
should have clear and accurate pricing, you should have availability
to have ongoing training at no additional cost from the
publisher themselves. Super rare in the marketplace to see.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
That super rare, but almost seems like a necessity, right, Yes, it's.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
One of the things where which is why the big
reason that I jumped over to get on board with
networking with ACUMATICA because I'm looking at these things saying
this is the way that people expect to be treated
these days, and they deserve to be treated exactly. Yeah,
very very excited from that standpoint. And one of the
verticals that they created inside the solution is for the
construction industry. So they have built things that are intrinsic
(06:08):
in the software. And what does that mean for the
end user. In the old days of ERP, they kind
of sold you a lump of clay. You worked with
a partner, the partner charged you while they molded that
lump of clay to fit your business, and if your
business ever pivoted, ever changed, ever anything, well that clay
had hardened. You had to break that clay apart and
pay to redo another lump of clay ACUMATICA came along
(06:30):
and said, we're going to create a very specific solution set,
one of which will be for construction. The end user
gets fantastic software that's written and supported by the publisher,
not by someone who's gone and done the custom work
in between. And it means a better implementation, a faster implementation,
because obviously, once you make the investment in a new
(06:50):
erp or a new software, you need that ROI, you
need that system working for you so you can get
out there. And it means, you know, ripping hours out
of the project. You know, you're not having to pay
to have a company come along and say, now, explain
to me what you do, how do you do it,
Where do you do these things? So it's really really
an elegant design that works perfectly.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah, and we all know how much businesses change and
how they change so frequently that you know, this type
of solution is just it works and it works so well.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You're right, it's you know, and I think COVID exposed
a lot of flaws in otherwise successful businesses, specifically on
the software side of things. It was well, we got
used to doing a certain way. We had this siloed
system and that siloed system, but we had humans that
could go in between. Well, when the humans couldn't show
up to work, when they couldn't do things, or you
need to be competitive, as you know, lumber prices were
(07:41):
going through the roof, and then you know, coming back
down to reality and all those things. Then it was well,
how do we make sure that we're maximizing the revenue
that we have what we need to do that through
technology because we can't just continue to throw warm bodies
at it.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, COVID definitely had its pitfalls, but it also I
feel made us aware to so many things that we
didn't think about before.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah, it's it's been an interesting time, especially, like I said,
in the construction marketplace, not an area that's really sprinted
to embrace the latest and greatest new technology. You look
at well, and that don't mean that's an insult. You
look at some sectors, you know, banking, finance, they're always
going out and having the latest and newest, and sometimes
at a bit of a detriment. Construction has been very slow,
(08:22):
very steady, very so to have you know, some things
come on that kind of forced you to re examine
your business and the solutions that you're putting into your business.
I think is a good thing overall for everybody.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
We definitely are a little bit more of a slow
burn industry, but once we get there, we're there, that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And then also I think correct me if I'm wrong,
but you guys were Partner of the Year with Acumatica.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So we've been fortunate enough to win that award, you know,
Partner of the Year, runner up, Partner of the Years.
So over the growth and the expansion with the ACUMATICA team,
we're the largest acumatic partner in the North American marketplace,
you know. So it's really really exciting. And that means
that we have a deep enough bench for our end
users to not have to wonder, Okay, well we're gonna
(09:06):
have to you know, I'm dealing with a small mom
and pop company, but they're gonna have to go out
and hire an offshore resource or hire someone that it
may not be around for a long term. They may
not be able to support the product or the things
that we do. So all of those warriors go out
the door. So it's really really cool to be, you know,
kind of recognized by Acumatica for what we bring to
the table as a value ed partner.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yes, and then you guys will also be at their
conference in January correct.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Correct the Acumatica Summit which is coming up at the
end of January and als Vegas.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Yes, yes, well definitely I'll see you there, So I'm
really looking forward to that.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Awesome. Yeah, that's Those are always a good time and
it's nice to kind of see the touch points that
Acumatica has, the things that they're they're thinking about then
and they're listening to the end users for some of
the things that they make into the solutions. So it
should be a lot of fun. It's great experience.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, let's kind of switch gears here a little. But
you know, one of the things in the construction industry
that we're struggling with now and have been struggling with
for a while or as you know, labor shortages. So
you know, what does network do to get in new
talent and retain the talent that they already have.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Leveraging technology, if we can get rid of three people
that are having to support Excel files and shared documents
and sheets and repurpose those people so they can go
out and do more work for the end users on
their companies. Then we can have a software solution that
comes along behind that. Or when someone gets ready to retire,
you might not have to fill that position as quickly
because you have a solution in place that can handle
(10:36):
the workload that maybe two or three people were doing
five ten years ago. With net atwork, we are constantly hunting,
you know, for best and brightest. You know they're out there.
We'd have to find people from the industry itself and
maybe they've worked for someone and they want to make
a bit of a career change or a pivot. Those
tend to be fantastic for us to go out and
(10:56):
so not always looking for, hey, I've got fourteen years
of ACUMATICA experience, and because those people may jump from
partner to partner to partner, and that's fine, there's a
role for that and that and that's great, you know,
but it's also looking at the people who come along
and say, hey, I've been in the construction industry for
a while. I was a project manager, you know, at
a mid tier builder or a larger builder or a
custom home builder, or I did you know something like that,
(11:19):
And now I want to make a pivot. I've used
this product, I think it's great. You know, so they
kind of come over. So we're we're always on the
lookout for that, you know that the people who are
kind of trying to figure that, well, where their next
place is going to be and where they can make
an impact for this industry.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I feel like it's always so important. You know, we're
facing all these challenges, and some people think I just
need a warm body, but you know, more than just
a warm body, it's so important to find that right person,
that right fit ri and.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Then you know, the network makes a tremendous investment in
that right fit. You know, not only from the Hey
we're going to interview a ton of people. We're going
to narrow it down, narrow it down, narrow down, and
pick the candidate that we like. But then it's okay.
You know, some companies kind of day one you come
on board. Here's your laptop, you know, here's a cell
phone allowance. You know, go get money, and if you
don't get money, then you know, come back. Obviously, you know,
(12:09):
we're all still out there trying to do what we
can from a deal standpoint and from from revenue creation
value creation, but Networks goes with a, hey, let's be
very slow, let's be diligent. Let's invest in the people
that we think are going to be a good fit
for us culturally and a good fit for the verticals
that we sell, and make sure that they understand the
products that they're selling, they understand the needs of the business.
(12:29):
And then beyond that, Acumatica does the same thing as well.
Acumatica has you know, kind of badges that you go
out and earn, so you go through and you become
sales certified or project manager certified or customer support certified.
So it's not just us saying, you know, we at
network are going to invest, but then we're going to
kind of allow you, why you're a network employee, to
(12:50):
go out and earn these certifications from Acumatica to make
sure that you really are an industry expert and a
solution expert all the way through.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
And those are like courses that are provided from acumaticut.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So so you know, if you're a partner in the ecosystem,
you can go to the Acumatica portal, you can log
in and then you can become you know, kind of
certified in these things and they're very Some certifications are
you know, watch this video and then you can tick
the box and we'll give you the yes. You know,
you know not to put a thumb drive into your laptop.
You have the the you know, the IT certification. Not
(13:24):
the case of Acumatica. These are pretty labor intensive. A
lot of work goes into it. You actually have to
do things, you know, where you're recording yourself as you're
describing some of the solution sets and then you send
them off to Acumatica for grading. All the way through
it was you know, to be true, true, truthful and honest.
When I came on at Network, I went through all
this training, all these things. And again, I'm a guy
(13:44):
who has you know, two decades of ERP experience, and
one of my first tests, you know, at Network, it
came back and it's like, hey, you got a seventy two,
and we want you to have an eighty five in
order to pass this test. And that's a little bit
of a gut check. You know. I'm not used to failing,
but I'm not used to getting these low scores and
I'm you know, kind of like, oh, yeah, I really
need to make sure I truly understand things. I can't
(14:04):
just sprint through and try to, you know, be bluff
my way through. I have to be an industry expert here.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So those are definitely not the kinds of classes during
COVID that you would take where you can just chat
GPT all your little answers.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Right, Yeah, exactly. It's not something you watch, You turn
on the video, you let it play at two time speed,
and you come back to click the next button. Not
the case at all. It was clear your calendar, clear desk,
focus because there's going to be some some pretty heavy
lifting involved at the end of these things.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah, and that's it's really incredible to have those kinds
of programs to you know, we really want our industry
experts to be industry experts.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
It's incredible to have a company and a publisher that
both put the content out there and then are willing
to sit there and say it's more important for us
for us as a company to know that if you're
out there representing Acumatica and representing net work, that you
know what you're talking about. So when you tell the
customers these things, when you're telling talking to a construction
company and you say, yes, Acumatica is you know, project
(15:02):
management capabilities are going to be fantastic for you to
go through and do some job costing and have your
employees inner time against things that you you have that
confidence to have to have that kind of a discussion
with someone rather than I think it'll do this, or
maybe we'll do that, or you know those types of things.
I think that that our you know, our customers have
become kind of lifelong partners with h They appreciate that
(15:23):
because you know, now when we go to talk to
about some of the other things that network has not
just the acumatic aside, but but perhaps some of the
other services said, they're saying, Okay, these guys are you know,
they truly understood one facet of my business, so I
should probably listen to them about something else down the
road as well.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Building that trust between right, you know, network and your customers.
I think that's that's something that you guys do very
very well and something I've noticed just as an outsider,
is everything you guys do with your customers is about
the customers.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
It is It is a and that comes from the
top down. I think that's why the founders are still involved,
because they still get text messages from some of the
original customers. They still talk to them on a consistent basis,
so all the way through it's very very cool.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
That's incredible. And then you know those courses we were
talking at Acumatica, do you guys at net atwork, do
you require your employees to take them or is that
more of just a if you want an extra boost.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So you know, Acumatica has an ask from the partners
to go through and have a certain number of people
who are certified in certain badges, and it's their way
to make sure that anyone out there trying to sell
and implement the products is doing it the right way.
Our company is. Then, you know, Network expects the account
you know, executive team to go through and earn the
badges to know that we are certified from Acumatica to
(16:41):
represent the product out in the marketplace today. So there
is an expectation. You know, we use internal training. When
you log in, you can see how many days you
have left to pass a certain class or to take
a certain class, or to earn a certain badge, and
then beyond that, once you earn it, it's not just
kind of fire and forget. You know, these badges have
a shelf life, and if the product changes significantly, if
(17:02):
they put a lot of different stuff in it, then
you have to go back and get re certified in
these things, just like you you would hope that your
doctor or your lawyer has to go to continuing medical
education or continuing legal education, you know, so that we're
always trying to make sure that our team is going
back through and staying current on all the solutions that
are there.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
That definitely makes sense. I would I would want my
team to be up to date on what's going on.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Absolutely, Yeah, that's you're right.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, So tell me a little bit more about the
customer experience at Network. So you know, we're talking about
how you guys are you know, you're really there for
your customers, your customer centric. But say if I was
one of your customers, what would I experience?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You know? So if you're first off, we'll back up
a step. We do things completely differently the most RP
vendors in the sales cycle because we don't want to
get lumped in as a me too with everybody else
who's coming along and trying to say, you know, do
you want to buy it for for X amount? How
about X minus ten percent minus fifteen percent. You know.
It's so we we create content that we can send
(18:06):
out to our customers for them to digest when it's
convenient for them on the sales cycle, not just a hey,
what's fire up to two hour meeting, we expect you
to absorb everything. But but after that we're going to
provide you lots lots of content for you to digest.
We're also going to create kind of a back and
forth area. So obviously we're a technology company. We leverage
technology as you'd expect to create some landing pages. So
(18:29):
our prospects who are involved in the sale cycle can
send us information. We can look at timelines we're working
with them off of when do you expect you to
go go live? Hey, here's all the work that's going
to be involved if you want to go go live
by July fourth, you know, so we need to have
these things done at certain points in time so there's clear, transparent,
you know, dialogue both ways where they're pushing back on
(18:50):
us saying oh we need to do this, or a
headcount has changed or all of that. You know, once
they decide to kind of partner with a lot of work,
go through and implement we continue to use those exact
same you know, landing pages and documents that we used
in the sales cycle, you know, in the implementation cycle.
So that means that there's not a big loss from
sales to implementation in terms of the knowledge transfer, because
(19:10):
all the knowledge is stored, it's all there for everybody
to see. So just because the teams have changed, the
sales team isn't doing the implementation, but all the data,
all the DT touch points help knowledge is all there
for them to see, including all of these very fluid,
you know sws. So if we're in the midst of it,
then there's going to be a delay. You can clearly
(19:31):
see why the delay occurred. Hey, we told you you
had to have x, Y and Z done and were
for us to move on to this next stage and
you didn't get these things done, and that's fine, but
there's going to be an implication for that. Or hey,
you guys flew through that. You got that done way
faster than we thought. We can actually remove some hours
from this project and get you live even faster. So
it really has that buy in, and then beyond that,
(19:52):
our customer support team, you know, we view it as
kind of best in class. They are are our best
in breed. They are. We're constantly going out and doing
net promoter scores. We constantly want to know how we rank,
how do we do? You know, it's important to us
that that the interactions not just in the pre sales
and the sales and the implementation, but then the go
forward is a positive one because, like you had mentioned
(20:14):
early on, business is pivot. Businesses change, you know, and
there's nothing more infuriating from where where we sit at
Network than when someone says, oh, we just bought you
know X, and we sell you know X, or we
sell something you know better than X that does the
exact same thing, and we kind of think, well, we
wish we had known. So so the team is constantly
doing check ins. They're constantly you know, dealing with that
(20:36):
and making sure that our customers are heard over and
over and over again, you know, from from everything from hey,
when's the next meeting, when's the next touch point? Is
there going to be a user group we can get
together with, can I bounce some ideas, you know, all
the way through to just random you know, hey, what's
your playing for the holidays? Or did you watch the
football game this weekend.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
It sounds like a very you know, immersive experience. It's
almost like a king unity. You know, you're not just
signing these people off and saying, okay, here you go,
good luck.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
It's crazy to look at a company that has you know,
and the number you know increases all the time. You know,
pick a number eight thousand customers and they all feel
like they're at a you know, and we have to
be large enough to support eight thousand customers, which you
would assume, you know, we're not going to know who
the customers are. You become customer number six, four hundred
and nineteen. Not the case. It's nuts, you know, I
(21:27):
see it all the time. I get on these calls
or I'm talking to someone who's looking at making a
change from one solution to another, and you know, the
the interaction they've had with our team over years and
years and years. You know, these people that get it,
you know, they they know the kids' names, they know.
You know, this company has grown from a mom and
pop construction company to you know, they have three locations,
(21:47):
or they've gone from doing you know, just residentials now
they're doing residential and commercial work. Or they've pivoted. So
it's just crazy all these stories that you hear, you know,
from a company our size that really has that that
hometown feel.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Yeah, it builds the trust and nurtures their relationship, and
you know, with that trust comes it just the whole
world opens up after you have that trust.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Right that's you know, and we see I mean you
know that the people listen to this the constructions to
realize it. Like you if you if you build something
that's fantastic and you take your time and you do
it right the first time, and you provide value the
entire time as you're doing it, you have now not
just sold a house or a project or a building,
or like you've earned a partner. So the next time
(22:33):
they need whatever it is, you will be the first
person they reach out to because they know these people
did excellent work for a fair price and they stood
behind it the entire time, and heaven forbid, if something
went wrong, they stepped in and they immediately fixed it,
you know, And that's kind of the philosophy that network
has as well.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
That's awesome. That's that's the goal. I would say, that's
hashtag goals. We're going to go that route now, I have.
I have some kind of fun questions for you. They're
probably the hardest questions I'm going to ask you today.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I'm nervous.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Personal? Forgive my backstory more than people may need, but
been happily married for many, many decades. My wife asked me,
I need your opinion on something, and my opinion apparently
was not the opinion I was supposed to have, so
at that point in time, she said, you know, and
I sat her down and said, why don't you just
ask my approval on things rather than my opinion? Different word,
very minimal word, but so so in terms of that that,
(23:35):
I think that was the last time I was ever
asked my opinion. I was just asked my approval on
where we move or if we get a dog or
those kind of things. Professionally, I think that the number
one thing that I learned early on was, you know,
it's more important to listen than to talk. You know,
I think understanding what someone is saying, you know it
(23:56):
is a lot more of value to it than just
you know, Okay, great, I know you're in the solution,
You're you're looking for a new solution set. I don't
really want to hear why. I don't want to understand
your business, I don't want understand your problems. I'm just
going to start throwing the solution set at you. And
I think a lot of people who sit in similar
seats to mine, you know, in other places, probably go
(24:17):
that route with Hey, we know we have the greatest
mouse trap. I really don't want to hear why you
need it. I just want to show you this. So
I think professionally, it's understanding your prospects and your client's
needs and really listening to what they're saying, you know,
with kind of what the issues may be, and even kind.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Of getting to know them on more of a personal level.
Once you understand there's there's a real person in there
behind that business. You know, we're not all just numbers
and excel sheets. You know, there's feelings and emotions there
and understanding that can help the business in so many
different ways.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Oh yeah, you're one hundred percent right.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
This one's going to be an easy question. I promise.
If anyone's looking to find you or find more information
about net work work, how can they do that?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
You know, first off, you just go to the website Network.
You can google Network, you can find it, you know
all the way through, and there's a dedicated team. But
because you may want to reach out, or you may
have some questions, you may even know what your questions are,
so reach out to the team and edit work that.
There are tons of areas that contact us, areas on
the website you know, all the way through, and you
can find anything you want. You can go to Acumatica
dot com and read a tremendous amount about the solution itself,
(25:26):
or you can go to network and read all about
network and all the things that we do, you know,
all the way through. And then like I said, you know,
I love Acumatica. I think it is a phenomenal product.
But you may not just be looking for Acumatica. You
may have questions about you know, at technology Stack that
you've wrestled for a while or anything like that. So
so please please please reach out to us. We have
dedicated teams that do nothing but listen you know, all
(25:48):
the way through, and can go through and help you
with those things all the way.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Or you can catch us in person and vegas at
the Acumatica Summit.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
That's true. Yeah, it's you know, or feel free to
grab the ACUMATICUS Summit or you know, we list an
area on our website for the events that we go to,
you know, so if you see us at ACUMATICA Summit,
or if you see us at you know, like the
International Builder Show or some of these other shows that
we will have people at, please come by, you know,
and track us down there as well.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah, we'll definitely have all those links for you guys
down below in the descriptions. You can find them easily.
Be able to find John easily, because John, you are incredible,
so full of knowledge and so ready to share it too.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Well, thank you. It's like I said, this has been exciting
for me. I'm fortunate if I you know, the hardest
part of my morning is just getting out of bed.
I get so excited to go to work because I
work with great people, you know, and I work in
a great industry. It's really really fun to deal in
this space.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yeah, I remember the days of not wanting to go
to work, and now I have the same issue you
you do. It's just it's hard to get out of bed.
Everything after that's easy.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
That's right. That's the hardest Part's been your feet on
the floor, and after that it's it's a cake lock.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Actually working from home, trust me, it's it's really difficult
to get from the fridge to my table.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Well, and that's one of you where it's cold outside,
so it's like the nice and warm do I really
want to get And then I'm like, I do, so
let's get to it.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, You're like, oh, man, I have a lot of
stuff to do. I should get started.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Awesome. Well, John, thank you so much for being here
today and really giving our audience a comprehensive view of
nettwork and how you guys work with Acumatica. It's just
it's really great and I know our audience will definitely
love what you have to say.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Well, thank you so much for having me. It's really
really exciting to talk to people who are trying to find,
you know, things to bring to the industry to kind
of peak their attention, which I think that you know, Caron,
you do and you do so so well. So thank
you so much for having us.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah, thank you, and I'm looking forward to meeting you
in person at Acumatica and you know, everything down the
road for all of us together, because this community, this
construction industry is really it's a community and we all
work together and that's how things get done.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
You're right so well. I look forward to it again.
Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Awesome, Thank you guys all so much for listening today.
Tune in next time to another episode of co opod
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