In his early days, David Lynch was a hockey player, which makes a lot of sense. He has the steely gaze and square jaw of a punishing defenseman who could clear the net front and mix things up with opponents to set the tone of a contest. Hockey, like other sports, dictates that in order to be successful, a team requires individuals who play specific roles necessary to produce desired outcomes—not unlike the recipe for excelling in the business world.
Hockey players are renowned for talking about the players in “the room.” It’s seemingly in the context of the locker room, but really it’s about the culture and the ideology embraced by members of the organization. “The room” can be a fragile thing; it requires consistency and like minds, and any additions/subtractions to the core of the team can prove disruptive to that chemistry. Thus, as he has risen to become COO of Repeat Business Systems (RBS) in Albany, New York, Lynch is mindful of the makeup of his team and their willingness to buy into what RBS is trying to accomplish. In that sense, Lynch is proud of the championship-caliber culture he has helped foment.
“I love the team here at Repeat, we have a management and leadership team that has been in place about six years without any real shifts,” said Lynch, a 2023 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “Teams win the Stanley Cup [in hockey] because they have mature teams, not by bringing in last-minute player rentals that you hope will push you over the top. I try to relate this to business life every day. If I’m going to remove somebody from their position, or change/promote anyone, I think about how it will benefit Repeat in the long haul and help get us that win. I think that that mentality, coming from a sports organization, has helped me go a long way at RBS. It’s very much a team.”
While Lynch’s hockey career may have centered on physicality, it’s his intelligence and propensity for embracing and achieving industry benchmarks that have enabled RBS to enjoy considerable growth in profitability since his arrival in 2009. Although sports may have been slow in realizing the value in analytics, Lynch has long been a student of benchmarks and the roadmap for identifying, strategizing and executing on accepted parameters for success.
The numbers bear this out: behind Lynch’s guidance, RBS’ managed IT flourished to represent 20% of the dealer’s business. Along the way, the dealer’s service operations’ gross profit billowed from 35% to 55%, meeting the industry standard. Spearheading profit margin improvements by working intensely with service and sales alike has greatly strengthened RBS’ financial position, and he provided guidance for 10 of the organization’s acquisitions.
Ideal Culture
But numbers don’t tell the entire story, and this is where “the room” comes into play. “Our culture is awesome,” Lynch noted. “We don’t have any drama or divisive individuals, and I think I’ve contributed a lot to the atmosphere here. I’m not going to create a lot of drama, nor am I going to micromanage people. We don’t have people rushing to get out the door on a Friday afternoon; I often need to kick people out at 5 p.m. I listen to other people’s ideas; we don’t have a suggestion box because the door is always open.”
Let’s fill in the gaps from Lynch the defenseman to Lynch the numbers/performance guru. Injuries prompted him to have back surgery and effectively end his quest to play in the NHL. While recovering from surgery, Lynch worked with his father in the insulation materials business as he pondered his next move. A recruiter helped him land a role with Glens Falls Business Machines (later acquired by RBS) as a service technician, then he later joined an IKON Office Solutions branch, where he became educated in the benchmarks surrounding first-call efficiency and other standards.
Lynch later took a service manager role at Eastern Copy, a member of Xerox’s GIS chain, and later Metroland Business Machines. These were truly formative years; along the way, he gleaned knowledge from industry stalwarts such as Todd Johnson, Paul Mosley, Don Lewis, Pete Diamond and others who had cultivated successful models.
“Todd Johnson has provided me with a lot of consultation over the years,” he said. “Todd and Jerry Newberry accomplished a lot with Global, and I always wanted to be like them and get to their level when it comes to understanding the industry.”
Lynch was set on his current path not long after meeting John Schwab, an outsourced network administrator, who was making a solid living as a freelancer. The two joined forces to found DRJ Computing, serving the network administration needs of SMBs. RBS’ President and CEO Dawn Abbuhl wanted to start a managed IT division and had known Lynch from networking events. Lynch and Schwab were hesitant to sell, but Abbuhl’s persistence led to RBS acquiring DRJ Computing.
It didn’t take long for Lynch, who came on as service manager, to get working on RBS’ service profitability, and he incorporated a model that entailed 32 different benchmarks. It took about four years, but RBS was able to hit the model’s standards. That was followed by getting the administrative department’s expenses down, and the attention turned to righting the ship for sales. While Lynch didn’t have a background in the discipline, he did have benchmarks that provided a roadmap.
The 2022 campaign was a successful one for Lynch and RBS. The company had emerged from the pandemic largely unscathed. RBS became an HP dealer and is gaining a foothold in the world of color production. There’s a better grasp on understanding profitability from the sales perspective. RBS is active on the M&A front, and Lynch is taking a role in developing the next-generation leadership at the company, as well as grooming his own replacement as he transitions toward retirement age.
Looking Ahead
Working on gross profit and helping to build RBS’ “war chest” will consume much of Lynch’s efforts for the balance of 2023, as he seeks to meet and exceed benchmarks. “The succession part is a big deal,” he said. “I’m 55 now, and I’ve got to teach some skills to people in their 30s. That’s a challenge for me because I want to see this next generation succeed.
“And hopefully,” he added, with a smile, “they’ll want to keep me on for a couple more years.”
Not surprisingly, Lynch never relinquished his love for hockey. He coached three youth teams to New York state championships and another to a national title at the Squirt (11-13 year olds) level. He gave up coaching after his son, Justin, suffered his second concussion and left the sport. Today, Justin Lynch is a Washington, D.C.-based writer and researcher who spent four years in Sudan, covering that country’s failed attempt at installing a democratic government. He co-authored a book, “Sudan’s Unfinished Democracy,” and is a frequent contributor to CNN, Fox and other news networks.
As for the elder Lynch, he and his wife, Linda, have been married for 24 years. They can be found on the canine agility show circuit with their three Australian shepherds. He also loves cycling and enjoys trekking along a 33-mile loop from his house that crosses through a state park.
