EDGE Business Systems was seemingly doomed from the beginning. After all, the metro Atlanta dealership is orchestrated by four type-A salespeople—Josh Salkin, Rick Duerr, Cha Holmes and Rich Simons—with no entrepreneurial leanings or previous experience in running a business. Heck, they can’t even purchase a box of paper clips without tussling like rabid raccoons. While Salkin points out it can yield “the most well-vetted paper clip decision in history,” it does little to inspire confidence that such a quartet can reach consensus on forward-driving initiatives more significant than ordering lunch.
The operative word is “seemingly.” What these gentlemen have been able to accomplish is quite impressive. In just 10 short years, EDGE has leveraged its relationships with Xerox and Canon to eclipse the $20 million mark in annual sales. At a time when hardware growth is prohibitive, the opportunistic dealer has grown its machines in field substantially, filling the role of a true partner in the face of faltering competition. Organic growth is complemented and accentuated by the opening of a new office in Athens, Georgia, in 2021 and the acquisition of North Georgia Business Machines in Dalton earlier this year.
This foursome boasts experience—130 years between them in the Atlanta marketplace. They spun out EDGE in Roswell, Georgia, after working together at IKON Office Solutions and Docuteam. When their former employer was bought out by a manufacturer, they decided to go their own route and construct the proverbial better mousetrap.
EDGE markets itself to new employees as the “anti-corporation” running counter to the negative connotations associated with the corporate machine—spreadsheets, reports and conference calls. The idea is to give the reps and other client-facing functions the opportunity to spend more time in the field and less time in meetings. The EDGE family of 55 employees is making the most of its time with one-hour weekly training sessions that include vendor tutorials and roleplay. They need to know not only the talk tracks but also the pain points being felt throughout the industry, which means knowing how to answer the hard questions about pricing and availability.
Partner Specialties
Each partner boasts a strong vertical acumen: Salkin has years of experience in the legal sector, Simons has strong links in the health care space, Duerr is entrenched in the education market and Holmes thrives in the non-profit community. This includes years of calling on the same companies, being involved in vertical associations as well as participating in the local chamber of commerce. There’s even a suite at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to host clients for Falcons football and United FC soccer contests.
As Simons is quick to point out, sales performance among EDGE teammates is hotly contested. “The four of us are very competitive and always hustling each month to see who’s going to finish on top,” he said. “Now with several sales teams, there’s even more competition in the stack rankings, with several reps growing their assignment and making the annual president’s club trip.”
“We take a tremendous amount of pride in what we do,” Holmes remarks. “In the end, it’s about ensuring all our clients are getting the best service experience possible. That’s something we’re passionate about.”
Beyond the Box
Coming out of the pandemic, it would’ve been easy to take a performance mulligan. But while many major metropolitan areas were lethargic in returning to pre-COVID performance, Atlanta was quicker to bounce back. The partners resisted the urge to implement draconian cost-cutting measures at the onset.
“We didn’t make any modifications to how we do business. We just decided, as owners, we’re going to take it on the chin,” Duerr noted. “We’re going to take care of our employees, we’ll take care of our customers and not do anything to deteriorate the client experience. It’s the opposite of what many of our competitors have done.”
Thus, it comes as little surprise that EDGE capitalized on the resurgent Atlanta market during the past 18 months. The dealer increased its MIF in dramatic fashion, and its service annuity is 20% higher than the previous best in its 10-year existence. Machine retention, Salkin notes, has long been a priority for EDGE, and that’s been attained simply by looking out for the best interests of the client, regardless of whether they want new gear or opt to extend existing unit deals.
In terms of declining clicks, while COVID accelerated the trend, Salkin believes the key to EDGE’s expanding MIF is pairing its best-in-class hardware along with software from Canon uniFlow, nQ Zebraworks and PaperCut to implement meaningful solutions that help clients meet necessary business objectives.
The ace in the hole that makes it all work is EDGE’s product specialist, who the owners agree is the “smartest guy at EDGE.” The personification of a swiss army knife, Matt Park has industry experience as a rep, manager and product specialist. Responsible for production print, software and display boards for the company, his brain effortlessly transitions (sometimes in the same meeting/demo) from one product to another—all with calm expertise.
“Matty is the quarterback of all my large deals,” Duerr remarked. “We know there’s more to the story than MFPs, so I make sure to bring him along. He always asks just the right questions to help the client discover the bigger picture. Then he works with us to formulate the correct recommendation and demonstrate the technology.”
“Our value proposition is more sophisticated than just a box and service. And when you can point to success story after success story, it provides confidence to your clients,” Salkin added.
Interactive Excellence
With so much uncertainty surrounding the future of the office at the height of the pandemic, companies were hesitant to sign contracts on new devices. The immediate focus was the health and safety of the team, especially if they needed to come in the office. EDGE’s AV partner is 22 Miles, a local company based in Duluth, Georgia, that specializes in digital signage.
“We already had a solid partnership with 22 Miles on interactive capabilities, and they were able to quickly pivot their technology to include a temperal sensor,” Holmes noted. “This allowed employers to discretely check temps in an automated manner and alert staff if someone entered with a fever. It even worked as a virtual assistant when many employees were functioning remotely.”
This product launch gave reps a new talktrack and even opened some doors to prospects not familiar with EDGE. Fast forward to 2022, and EDGE has helped clients further leverage this device to track things such as packages from carriers, visitor entry checkpoints and even broadcast digital signage displays.
Speaking of solutions, EDGE has cultivated substantial growth in interactive technologies. The dealer partnered with Clear Touch for its line of interactive displays. Salkin once viewed the product as a glorified TV, but EDGE now sells hundreds of boards a year, yielding several million dollars annually from clients in search of collaborative solutions. This technology is often a can opener for prospects not in the market to discuss their copier fleet.
“Business has changed,” Salkin said. “With hybrid work schedules and fewer in-person meetings, this is the perfect complement, enabling users to share content, connect wirelessly and record meetings. It’s a powerful product!”
Here they Grow
Acquisition is providing another growth vehicle. EDGE’s first official M&A deal—North Georgia Business Machines (NGBM)—took only a month to complete. The dealer, based in Dalton, Georgia, had been looking to sell, and EDGE was eager to grow its footprint. The partners jumped in the car and met with the ownership team at NGBM to learn more about the business and its strengths, and to find out what the incumbent owners were seeking to accomplish as they exited the business. There were a lot of similarities in providing exceptional service and being immersed in the local community.
“It was apparent early on there was significant synergy between the two organizations,” Duerr noted. “Not being a private equity-based group looking to gobble up machines in the field, we wanted to retain talent and keep a consistent presense in place for their client relationships.”
EDGE’s owners felt it was important to retain local sales and service reps with strong area ties to maintain solid relationships while bolstering growth in areas such as software, display boards and production print. The integration process was fairly easy thanks to EDGE’s amazing admin team, which worked overtime to import all contracts into the system. Post-close, each partner will visit Dalton to meet the new clients and help facilitate the transition.
The move was complementary to EDGE’s 2021 organic opening in Athens, and the dealer hopes to announce another acquisition in the not-too-distant future. There’s already a plan to open in another new market as early as the fourth quarter of this year.
“This is absolutely going to happen,” Simons said of the future expansion. “There are plenty of opportunities throughout the Southeast, and we’re highly interested in expanding our branches with what we feel is a repeatable business model. But it’s got to be the right opportunity.”
EDGE believes the combined push of MIF growth, software, expansion and organic opportunities will lead to at least $5 million in added revenue as 2022 winds down. Expanding beyond-the-box conversations will lead to those more eloquent conversations with decision makers. Positioning talk tracks around software and solutions—with the nimble qualities of a local, independent provider willing to address pain points—will further deepen relationships with clients.
Making an Impression
Giving back to the local community also ranks high on the dealer’s priority list. Several employees are involved with non-profit organizations such as Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Each Christmas, EDGE has a toy drive benefitting Toys for Tots, and employees fill up the lobby. As the company continues to grow, the partners feel it’s prudent to make a bigger impact. Each time a new deal is sold, EDGE contributes to a fund that’s presented to a different non-profit each quarter. Some are local clients or other organizations that have special meaning for employees. This ensures that as EDGE does better, it’s making a bigger impact to help others in need.
Employee relationships are important to EDGE. The dealer hosts a quarterly business review (QBR) breakfast to provide team members with full visibility into its financial and performance metrics. Employees of the month for sales and service are also recognized. The value of these meetings took on greater significance during the pandemic, as team members were keen to learn more in-depth perspective—and ultimately, gain assurance that head counts wouldn’t be reduced. Each partner also takes the admin team to lunch as an opportunity to catch up and talk about their families.
Another fun event that’s become a tradition over the years is the summer cookout potluck. Employees work the grill, play cornhole (bean bag toss) and get a chance to catch up, which helps strengthen the bond of the workforce. It’s a chance for sales, admin and service to mingle in a social setting. Things move at such a fast pace and everyone’s family is growing up fast, Salkin notes, so the picnics help keep employees attuned to each other’s lives.
With 2022 shaping up to be a rousing success, the QBR’s tone is more relaxed and bullish on the future, which makes for happy conversations around the Starbucks coffee machines gracing the office. These guys love the Atlanta market and all it has to offer, and they’re determined to ensure EDGE gets a bigger slice of the pie.
“Atlanta is growing and attracting so many new companies,” Salkin said. “People are moving here in droves, and we feel as if we have a strong, repeatable business model with infinite growth opportunities. But we don’t want to grow too fast; we’re trying to scale the right way and continue to deliver the high level of service and support that clients have come to expect from us. We want to win, but at the same time, we’re having fun and taking care of our employees. In the end, that’s what truly matters.”
