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Ignore the tech and your early-stage business will fail

In 2023, the survival of most businesses depends on technology.

If you aren’t making the most of the platforms, software, and tools out there, your rivals certainly will – and they’ll have the edge. 

The right tech can drive efficiency, boost productivity, increase sales, supercharge your customer service, all while cutting costs.

It’s never been easier for early-stage businesses to leverage cutting edge technologies, from AI tools to insightful analytics – once these were only available to big corporations with enterprise budgets but now, it’s truly a level playing field.

I’ll give you an example.

I recently helped to reinvent a social enterprise here in Leeds. While it is a small, local outfit, I have been determined to give it all the right tech tools to succeed.

Despite having few team members – and just one delivery driver – Street Lane Bakery is on BigChange. This has been massive for everyone involved, as we now have a process for everything, be that health and safety checks, cleaning, fulfilling orders and more. We are slicker, more efficient, and more able to grow safely – and we offer the same level of service as a much bigger bakery.

Every business owner who wants growth needs to think this way – what processes could eradicate paperwork and give the team back their precious time. Also, what business intelligence am I generating within my business that could help me make better decisions in day and tomorrow?

It goes without saying that every business needs a website and/or social media. Modern companies also need some kind of communication tool, be that a newsletter engine to reach out to customers, or an internal messaging app like Teams.

Accounting software is another tech “must-have”. Today, founders need to spend their time doing high value activities – finding customers, strategising, collaborating… They don’t need to be up all night, hunting through old receipts, while they file their tax return. Especially not now, with Making Tax Digital and quarterly reporting. Providers like Sage, which offer cloud-based tools that you can access from anywhere, are particularly effective.

Crucially, you want all your applications and tools to work seamlessly together. You want to have as many as possible bundled together for easy access and a more intuitive user experience.

Technology will never replace the human touch. I’m a firm believer that all this amazing technology, be it AI, chatbots, or cloud software, they all have their place. However, people want to do business with people. Call me old-fashioned but I believe if a customer has an issue, they want to speak to a person, not a bot. Luckily, the best tech exists to make these interactions easier and more meaningful.

Failing to use the tech tools at our disposal is a mistake – a study by the IZA Institute of Labour Economics in Germany in 2021 showed that a failure to adopt technological innovations was stifling entrepreneurship and the nation’s economic growth. Don’t let slow tech adoption lead to the failure of your venture.

How I finally learned to sleep

In my twenties and thirties, I survived on 4 hours sleep a night. In my forties I would get five hours. During the pandemic, when I was working from home and ditched my commute, I reached the dizzy heights of six hours shuteye each night. My passion for building businesses has often meant that rest has taken a back seat throughout my life.

However, whereas once my lack of sleep was by choice, in recent years, deep, restful sleep has eluded me.

In 2018, I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnoea. This is a sleep disorder whereby your breathing stops and starts overnight. It can be very serious as your brain may be starved of oxygen.

I didn’t take this diagnosis seriously.

I didn’t want to wear a mask overnight. I wasn’t interested in being plugged into a machine. I felt that I could manage very well on my own.

How wrong I was.

I recently went back to the doctor to review my sleep apnoea and it is now much worse. I wake up around 60 times an hour. I only get one hour and 15 minutes of deep sleep a night – the rest of the time, I hover between sleep and wakefulness. 

I knew that I felt tired. I knew that I was struggling to keep my eyes open at times, and that I was more irritable and had a shorter fuse. But I was so used to feeling that way that I had forgotten what a good night’s sleep felt like.

I’m hugely ambitious. I know that BigChange is well on its way to becoming a unicorn. As chairman and founder, I need to be on top of my game, constantly problem-solving and strategising. But you can’t see the big picture when you’re peering out at the world through tired eyes. 

I posted about the importance of sleep a couple of years ago. It’s a topic that fascinates me – probably because I have had so little of this precious commodity in my own life.

To summarise, studies have shown that lack of sleep leads to poorer decisions, more stress, and deteriorating health. Someone told me an anecdote recently about the CEO of Philips banning all employees from doing deals after a long flight. Apparently – and I do not know if this is apocryphal – executives would have to sign a contract saying they would wait a whole 24 hours from landing, to ensure they had a full night’s sleep first.

I believe in the power of sleep because I have recently experienced the effects of a full night of rest for the first time. I finally bit the bullet and began using my sleep apnoea machine. Yes, it’s noisy and cumbersome – but who cares. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I wake in the morning feeling on top of the world. After a few days of good sleep, my waking hours are a revelation. I feel truly reinvigorated. Is this how everyone feels after a decent kip? How have I lived without it for so long?

I still wake before 6am every morning but I have clocked in five hours of deep sleep. That’s four times what I was surviving on previously.

Sleep apnoea is one of the most common sleep disorders on the planet. In the UK alone, it is estimated that 1.5m people are living with it – and 85% of those are undiagnosed.

If you are running a business, you need to sleep. The better the sleep quality, the higher your productivity. So, if you think you may have sleep apnoea, let this be your wake-up call – go and get the test. And if you know that you’re running on empty, cancel your 7am meeting and have a lie in. You won’t regret it.

Chairman’s Spotlight on Andy Patterson, founder of Automotive Group

“I can’t sit still. I’m always on the go and constantly coming up with new ideas.”

Does this sound familiar?

When I sat down with Andy Patterson, the extraordinarily successful serial entrepreneur behind Automotive Group, he talked about his drive – “I really enjoy working,” he told me. “My ideas may not always be perfect, and they aren’t always executed flawlessly but I do it anyway, and that’s how you get somewhere in life.”

I think most entrepreneurs would identify with this statement. I certainly do. According to Andy, success comes as a result of three things: ambition, being open to new opportunities, and embracing change.

Spotting opportunities

Andy’s story is seriously impressive. He spent his younger years working in bars and pubs on behalf of a major brewery. But even then, he had an entrepreneurial flair. “I have always liked cars and I’m good with my hands so when a friend started working for a dent repair company, I decided to try it out.” He wanted to be his own boss, he told me. “I wanted to be in a position whereby if I worked hard, I got rewarded. If I was lazy, I wasn’t. As an employee, it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference how much effort you put in, you get the same result. As my own boss, I was in control.”

He started his first company, Automotive Repair Systems, in 1997. “I was a man in a van, travelling around selling myself to car dealers, leasing firms and the like, taking small dents out of vehicles.” However, it wasn’t long before he spotted the opportunity to diversify. “Customers wanted bumper repairs and alloy wheel replacements,” he said. “I didn’t offer them at the time, but I decided to give it a try.”

The power of ambition

Today, Andy’s company is one of the most successful independent firms in SMART repair, serving customers across England. SMART, which stands for Small and Medium Area Repair Techniques, which means most of this work can take place in under an hour. As a group, Andy’s companies has over 178 vehicles out on the road, with mobile technicians providing services as well as implanted technicians in major car dealerships. The business head office is in Orpington, Kent with a Northern office in Liverpool.

Ambition has been key to Andy’s success, helping him over bumps in the road. “When we started employing people, that was hard,” he recalled. “At one point, we had 10 people, which meant ten times the responsibility and headaches, but I was no better off financially. At that point, I found myself wondering, ‘Why am I doing this?’” He persevered, and today the business employs over 200 people, and Andy’s talented management team have allowed him to step into a strategic role and found other ventures.

Change is crucial

As the business became more successful, the admin piled up. “Our lady in accounts was spending an entire day each week inputting paper invoices into our accounts software,” Andy says. “Our technicians were using carbon copy invoice pads, which were not only producing ridiculous amounts of paper, but they were also creating too many errors.” Incorrect VAT calculations, illegible handwriting, and other human errors meant that 5% of invoices had to be reviewed. It was time to make a big change and modernise the business.

“Since implementing BigChange, our accounts teams no longer spend one in five days on admin input,” says Andy. “There are now rarely any human errors, and we have access to a phenomenal wealth of data that helps us make business decisions based on facts rather than gut feel.”

BigChange has had a big impact on the business, especially when customers have a query. “We no longer have to go to the archive room and sift through hundreds of paper files. We have it all at the click of a button.” The only downside of BigChange? “When you have people on the team who have been using paper processes for 20 years and don’t want to change, that’s a challenge. We tried to downplay the scale of the transition but that’s a little difficult when you’re working with a company called BigChange – thanks for that, Martin!”

Over the years, the business has been through tough times – like when a dealership went bust, owing Automotive Group £35,000; “That really hurt us. I took the hit personally to make sure our people got paid” – but every day, there are little wins that make it all worthwhile. “It’s so satisfying when people are blown away by your service,” Andy says. “When their car looks brand new, and it only cost them £100 when they thought it would cost them 10 times that amount.” 

And with other businesses currently achieving great exponential growth and acclaim across F1 Hospitality, Wine business in Monaco, Other Automotive businesses, along with an extensive property portfolio and more, Andy is proving that his recipe for success can be applied to businesses in all sectors. We wish him well!

Why kindness is an entrepreneur’s greatest asset

I’ve been in business for a long time. Long enough to remember the bad old days. Entrepreneurs were seen as ruthless, money-crazed workaholics, who used the language of warfare to describe growing a business.

“We’re going to kill the competition”

“Take no prisoners”

“Here’s the battle plan”

These stereotypes were perpetuated by the likes of Lord Sugar on The Apprentice and the investors on Dragons’ Den. However, I’m glad to say that, in 2023, the language of leadership and entrepreneurship is very different.

These days, one of the greatest attributes of any entrepreneur is kindness, and the ability to listen and empathise. Great leaders don’t make unreasonable demands, they understand their people, engaging and motivating them to bring their best selves to work.

I was reminded of this recently, by my son Josh, when I was being… less than kind. I’m not perfect, and when life is stressful, I can have a short temper and make too many demands of people – most notably my wife Mandy. I must also remain mindful that my hearing issues also mean I need to try harder than most to be a good listener and understand the nuance in what I’m being told. Josh asked me to be kinder, and he was right. 

A century ago, fear could generate respect. Today I don’t believe that is the case. People respect those who respect them back, showing kindness and consideration.

Even a hard-nosed businessman can’t ignore the studies supporting the kind approach. This Harvard Study shows that acts of kindness make people happier and a happier workplace means greater staff retention, less friction, and ultimately happier customers. A recent survey by Gallup found that being recognised at work reduced burnout and absenteeism, and improved well-being.

But being a kind leader is about more than trying to improve productivity. We should be kind because it is right, because it sets a positive example to others, and because, as the Greek storyteller Aesop once wrote: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

When BigChange’s CEO, Richard Warley, joined the business, I saw in him a great entrepreneur who understood the value of listening. He has always treated people with respect and leads with kindness. We speak regularly and may not always agree on everything, but he always takes the time to hear and consider my point of view.

What does kindness look like in leadership? Here’s an example:

If someone is leaving the business, take the time to ask them why, and say how sorry you are that they have found a new position. Tell them the door is always open for them to come back and wish them well.

Entrepreneurs are busy people with a lot on their plate but that should never be an excuse for being unkind. As the Dalai Lama XIV once said: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. And be kinder than is necessary.”

Your company is a Premier League side

Your company is a Premier League side, and your salespeople are your strikers
 
I like to think of BigChange as a football team. We are top of the league, bringing new talent to the pitch, delighting the fans, and scoring more goals than any other side.
 
We are Manchester City.
 
Bear with me. This analogy is going somewhere…
 
Over the next few months, I want to shine a light on all the departments within BigChange that work so tirelessly to make our business and platform a success. Today, I want to start with sales.
 
To build a successful team, you need a balance of attacking and defensive players. This is the same in business: you need your goal scorers and your sweepers. The strikers are your salespeople. They are focused on hitting targets, driving growth, and maintaining momentum. Your defensive players are your customer service people.
 
Sales sometimes gets a bad rap. I posted about this a few years ago. We are always selling, whether we are leading a meeting, wowing a client, explaining an idea, or even trying to get a better deal on a purchase. I love this quote from Estee Lauder, the founder of the eponymous beauty empire: “I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard.”
 
Great salespeople are extraordinary individuals. They are driven, tenacious and self-motivated. They refuse to lose. The traits are so valuable in business – and in life. I have always invested in a topflight sales team across every business I have founded. My advice to other entrepreneurs: make great salespeople your first priority, not your last.
 
You can have the best product in the world, but without salespeople, who is going to hear about it? Sales drive a business forward. Sales generate cash. Without sales, you don’t have a company at all.
 
I’m immensely proud of our sales aces here at BigChange. They are committed, smart, and proactive individuals. Led by our very own Pep Guardiola, Charlie Bartfield, this team is truly in the Premier League. They relentlessly practice their craft by reviewing performance – just like players who watch reruns of matches. They graduate the BigChange University as gurus, so they understand the platform and features inside out – just like top footballers know the game plan and tactics for a match.
 
We are very lucky to have extremely high retention in sales at BigChange. In 10 years, we have probably lost about three people. I like to think that says a lot about our culture, our remuneration strategy, our incentives, and the way we promote from within.
 
An example of how we do things differently is our generous holiday package, our commitment to the local community and supporting charities, and the fact that we don’t cap what salespeople can earn.
 
Thank you to my Manchester City strikers – you are Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Julián Álvarez, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gündogan.
 
#people #culture #growth #success

Attention! Je viens à Paris

Four years ago, we established an outpost of BigChange in France.

My ambitions for BigChange have always been global, and 2019 was the year that we began expanding across France, Greece and Cyprus. It was an important move for the company, showing our commitment to Europe, post-Brexit.

Now, I’m excited to announce that we are entering the second phase of our French expansion. We are investing in our team, and building out our marketing proposition. Within five years, we will grow the size of the French company 20 times – it could even become as large as our UK business. This year, we will be recruiting more brilliant salespeople, and bringing on partners and resellers to help spread the word.

France is a big country, more than double the size of the UK. This presents unique challenges and opportunities. The sheer size of the territory means that France is home to many small-to-medium-sized businesses, who can really benefit from our technology – especially now, as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.

French companies are innovative and very receptive to new technology. Recent studies have found that French leaders have surged ahead of British and German leaders in terms of digital adoption.

The BigChange platform helps companies of all sizes to eliminate paper and cut their carbon emissions. In France, this proposition hits the spot; 83% of French people think that climate change and its consequences are the biggest challenge for humanity in the 21st century.

As part of my role as chairman, I try to support the BigChange team in any way I can. Growing the French market will be my focus over the coming months. I’ll be spending time in Paris, meeting prospective customers, spreading the word, and driving growth.

I’ve been fortunate enough to do business in France before. I sold my last business, Masternaut, to France’s second largest airport group, Aeroports De Paris in 2009. And I founded the company with hardware bought from French firm Masternaut International. I am looking forward to connecting with old friends on my trips across the Channel – if you’re reading this “mes amies”, drop me a message!

I am a Francophile – I understand the culture and love the people. We have a lot of French people working for us. That’s important when you are hoping to make inroads internationally. You always need local boots on the ground.

I’m looking forward to this next chapter in our French adventure. Who knows – maybe this is the year I finally learn to speak French? Tout est possible!

Chairman’s spotlight on: Jamie Sanders, Director of Barwick Facilities Maintenance

“Just 14 years ago I was an electrician on the tools. Now, here I am, running a company and employing 30 people.”

This week, I’d like to talk about Jamie Sanders. He is someone who embodies all the qualities I respect in a leader: ambition, integrity, and determination. He is a true self-made man, and has created a culture of honesty, hard work, and empathy at Leeds-based facilities maintenance firm Barwick.

Jamie didn’t have the easiest start in life but, through hard work and skill, he has built a successful career, recently rising through the ranks to become the boss of Barwick, which boasts some seriously impressive clients, from Pandora to Stonegate to B&Q. Here’s his story.

“I was the middle child in a family of five. We grew up with nothing, living in a council house. I don’t remember having aspirations back then. No one in the family had ever been to university. I came out of school with poor results, but I wanted to earn so decided to work on site. When I found out that the highest paid trade was an electrician, that’s what I decided to become.

“I was 19 when my first child was born. I was an apprentice, on minimum wage. Then my second daughter was born 18 months later. Becoming a father gave me the drive to better myself, and really knuckle down.

“In the third year of my apprenticeship, the company I was working for went bust. Luckily, the boss there was great friends with Dave Costello, the founder of Barwick, so I got a job there. There was no interview. I just left my old company on the Friday and started at Barwick on the Monday. When I came out of my time, I was soon running teams of eight electricians, helping on major fitouts for the likes of Comet.

“I was there for seven years when I decided to set up my own company. Things went well for a while. I had my own team and was building up a client base. Then an unscrupulous customer failed to pay me £20,000, leaving me and my business high and dry.

“In 2010 I spoke to Dave at Barwick, and he offered me a job as an engineer. Six months later, he offered me the contracts manager position. He told me then that he had always hoped I would take over the business and, today, I am the boss and retain the majority shareholding.

“When I rejoined the business in 2010, all the jobs were handwritten in a book, and highlighted in green or red if they were complete. It was horrendous. I implemented Excel but soon we were juggling four spreadsheets. It was a real struggle to stay on top of everything. When I saw the BigChange platform, I was blown away.

“We started using BigChange in 2021 and now we use almost every feature. It’s got everything we need in one place. Now that we have automated so many processes, I have more time to work on my strategy for the business. Historically, we have always been reactive, and it’s been hard to plan, and we were always chasing cashflow. Now, I have more control over how I want to grow.

“When it comes to being a leader, I’ve had no formal training. I have figured things out on my own and I’m always trying to improve and learn better ways of doing things. I like to support my team, and to give people a chance. I have often taken individuals on when they are going through a bad time. I have had tough times in my life and know the impact that a little financial help – even just a small loan – and emotional support can have. 

“I’m glad that I had the experience of starting my own business – I learned some important lessons during those years. It was an itch I needed to scratch. And I’m incredibly grateful to my wife, Malisa, who has been by my side for 27 years now. 

“I am really looking forward to all we can achieve with Barwick. We have the right people and technology in place, and I’m confident we have a great future ahead.”

Be passionate. Be honest. But don’t be a bully

Be passionate. Be honest. But don’t be a bully

Bullying. It’s a word that’s rarely out of the headlines these days. From Whitehall to the racetrack to our emergency services, it seems that many leaders have a problem with abusive behaviour within their organisations.

I count myself lucky that in all the years I have been in business, I’ve never had to deal with this cultural phenomenon within my team. My businesses have all won awards for being great places to work.

It’s not all luck, however. I pride myself in being very clear about the kind of behaviour I find unacceptable in the workplace. I am a spiritual man, who lives by a set of unshakable principles. I try and avoid extremes of emotion, for example – I am very rarely angry or frustrated. If I do lose my temper, I know to take a beat and remove myself from the situation rather than say something I might regret later. I try to lead with empathy, putting myself into other people’s shoes whenever I can.

I also try and emphasise the positive contributions that people make, taking them on the journey with me. If you make your colleagues feel valued and supported, they bring their best selves to work and there are fewer disagreements.

Of course, you can’t control every variable. There will always be people within your organisation that don’t get on, or rub each other up the wrong way. But the key is to create a workplace culture that makes it clear bullying will not be tolerated and sets out a process for diffusing troubling situations between members of the team.

The world has changed a lot in the time that I’ve been an entrepreneur. It used to be totally acceptable for company bosses to rant and rave at their people (not that I ever did). Leaders didn’t think of team members as equals, but as workers – only one step up from servants really. Bosses were never called by their first names. Humiliation and fury were used to discipline people, creating a toxic environment for many.

These days, it’s all about leading with empathy. You have to adjust your tone and style of leadership for each individual, understanding what might motivate one person will leave another colleague in tears. It’s a lot more complex to be a leader today but the workplace is much better off because of this evolution.

If you want to make sure you eradicate bullying from your organisation, or ensure it never rears its ugly head in the first place, follow these five rules:

Click on the image to read my blog #entrepreneur#leaders#work#empathy#culture#teamBigChange

Are you trying to destroy your business?

Sometimes, I speak to founders and leaders about their businesses, and I’m left wondering: do you really want to succeed?

“I don’t like getting up early.”

“We lost the contract and there’s nothing I can do.”

“We only have two people in customer service, so they are overwhelmed.”

Honestly, what are you thinking?

To be successful in business – and in life – you need to push yourself way beyond your perceived limits. I’m talking about effort, endurance and determination, here.

If you’re the kind of person that isn’t willing to get up at 5am or work late into the night to meet a vital deadline, you might as well shut up shop right now and get a 9-5 job.

If you are someone who takes “no” for an answer and slinks off with your tail between your legs every time a door is slammed in your face, then entrepreneurship is not for you.

And if you aren’t willing to invest in customer service, if you’re anything less than obsessed with making sure that everyone who buys from you feels special, then your company’s days are numbered.

Times are tough right now for many business owners. Costs are high, and we are all battling challenging economic headwinds here in the UK. But so what? During the lifetime of any company, there will be ups and downs. I’ve survived three recessions during my time as an entrepreneur. I’ve seen stagflation, credit crunches, you name it. You can’t control the economy; you can only control your reaction.

Here’s what I’ve learned from running businesses through tough times:

–      You have to work twice as hard

To get through the bad times, you need to put in twice the hours. You have to throw yourself into selling, constantly looking for ways to delight and serve your customers. Even in the deepest recessions, organisations still need to spend money – how can you secure some of that spend?

–      Refuse to lose

If you lose a contract or a deal, don’t think that’s the end of the story. It’s just the beginning. There’s always a way to come back from failure – tweak the package, find new and clever ways to get in front of decision-makers. The important thing is that you don’t quit, and that you truly believe that your product or service is the best solution on the market.

–      Set an example to your people

If you want your team to give their all, you need to be visible, present and engaging. Get down into the trenches, explain what needs to be done, make sure everyone knows what role they have to play, and then make sure you are there to support them.

–      Let technology bear some of the weight

Technology is amazing! There are some incredible platforms out there that can help drive efficiency and help your company survive tough times. I built one of them! BigChange not only helps thousands of businesses across the globe to be more successful, it’s also the platform we use ourselves. We have 400 licences, and use every single feature, from invoicing to job planning.

–      Double your customer service department

In good times and bad, customer service can be the difference between success and failure. In every business I’ve started, I’ve created customer service teams that are double the average size. Put your arms around the customer, make them feel valued and supported, and you’ll never lose a contract.

–      Don’t cut corners

When times are tough, it can be tempting to forget about compliance. That is a big mistake. Don’t avoid compliance, embrace it. Even when your to-do list feels impossible, prioritise health and safety and regulatory compliance. You won’t regret it.

–      Don’t watch the competition

Too many business owners waste time watching rivals. It’s a waste of time! Focus on your product and your customers. Anything else is just a distraction, and you may end up copying a bad strategy, following the competition down a blind alley. You are your own competition. Try and beat your own personal best, every day.

Strong start to 2023 for BigChange

It’s a tough trading environment out there for many business leaders. The UK has successfully dodged recession. There’s a lot of uncertainty out there, which is having an impact on wider business confidence. Among BigChange customers, however, I’m glad to say that the mood is positive. They are continuing to grow, create jobs and innovate.

This is one of the best things about being part of a company like BigChange. While we are acutely mindful of the economic pressures, we can be confident our technology helps companies and leaders to thrive despite them.

This is why, over the past three months, we have continued to boast extraordinary growth, welcoming more new customers than ever before. We have become the trusted partner for ambitious businesses across the UK and beyond, helping them to navigate these testing economic times. Here are some of the highlights from Q1 2023. 

The secret is out

New customers are joining us in droves. New contract wins in the first quarter of 2023 are up by a third on the previous year. We won £9.65m-worth in new contracts during the period, welcoming 120 new customers. We are now on course to hit a new customer acquisition record in 2023, forecasting 500 new customer wins across the year.

A technology for all

The BigChange platform is sector and size agnostic – whatever the business, we can help drive efficiencies and provide a springboard for growth. This has become even more evident this year as we welcome a diverse portfolio of customers to BigChange. From Mobile Mini, the UK’s number one supplier of storage containers and site accommodation, to leading maintenance firms GEM Environmental and H20 Nationwide, to French electrical specialist J2 Group France, we give leaders across multiple industries the edge they need to grow in turbulent times.

Growing the team

We are now a team of 269 colleagues based in the UK, France, Poland, and Ukraine. This first-rate team is helping us to grow our footprint across the world and we are now a leading player in France, Cyprus, Australia, New Zealand the US, and Canada.

Staying relevant

As our customer portfolio grows, we continue to invest into our product. I’m delighted that Release 23.02, which landed in March, has been very well received. We are rolling out our new business intelligence dashboards across all our customers right now. The new and enhanced group job functionality is already adding value and we are looking forward to delivering a new overview page for group jobs. All of our high-priority product development ideas were gleaned directly from our customers, and we are proud that we can quickly and efficiently turn their dreams for the platform into reality.

Your success is our success

We only do well if our customers do well; it’s a virtuous cycle. That’s why we are so invested in customer success. Over the last three months, we have conducted three BigChange Success Forums, bringing customers together with our executive team, product managers and customer success team to check out our latest product roadmap. These interactive working sessions really help to drive value for our customers, and inform our next move.

To make sure that customers are taking advantage of the full complement of BigChange features, we have completed nine live customer webinars across topics ranging from our new business intelligence dashboards to the new-time-and-money-saving route optimiser.

Keeping in touch

Communication is everything to us here at BigChange, which is why we launched our revamped monthly newsletter in January. This fact-packed mail-out helps customers stay up-to-date on all the latest news around our product, events, and people.

The team here has completed over 250 face-to-face customer visits so far this year, and it has been brilliant to get out and about, bringing additional value to the BigChange community.

BigChange held its latest Success Forum at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in Reading a few weeks ago. A big thank you to all the amazing customers who joined us at the event – your feedback is so valuable. These events are a fantastic opportunity to hear all about BigChange’s vision and plans for 2023 and meet us in person.

We’re really looking forward to hosting you again over the coming months. Join the BigChange community and come to an event near you.

📆 11th May at Etihad Stadium, Manchester

📆 7th June at Villa Park Stadium, Birmingham

📆 5th July at BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

Alternatively, we are hitting exhibitions all over the UK this year. In April, we’ll be at HVAC Live, the Fire Safety Event, and ELEXSHOW, so come and visit our stand if you’re attending any of these. 

I’m really proud of everything we have achieved so far this year and the whole team is focused on maintaining this incredible growth trajectory across 2023. As we grow, we never lose sight of the customer – our service levels remain best in class. This is exemplified by the performance of our RoadCrew Customer Service team, which retains a Customer Satisfaction score of 4.5 out of 5! There are many challenges out there right now but we pride ourselves on championing the entrepreneur. You can read a bit more about the impact we have made in our customers’ lives here: https://www.bigchange.com/platform/case-studies/

Here’s to a bumper Q2 and the best year yet for BigChange and our customers.