Video: Navigating Shifting Client Budgets With GreenBean IT

hey Channel insiders welcome back to channel Insider partner POV your source for untapped opportunities and unfiltered opinions in the it Channel all to help you make Better Business decisions I'm your host Katie boso my guest today is Zach King vice president of green bean it a managed service provider based in the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas Zach shares how his team has figured out how to provide consistent service to clients with inconsistent finances like churches he also explains one of the most important things his favorite vendors do to earn his trust and ongoing partnership hi Zach how you doing great Katie how are you I'm doing well thank you so much for coming on today I I realize we're like a quarter into the time that we've had and we've just been talking the entire time so I already know this is going to be a great pod I have to tell the first time the story of the first time that I met you which we were at a conference and I won't say which one because I told Zach I was doing an interview with him and just kind of talked off the cuff I need a snack and I need a quiet place to sit to edit and Zach was like follow me into the VIP section it's true and and and now that you say that it does seem uh a little bit uh scary for you to sort of trust somebody that you just met to be like hey follow me but uh yeah I mean you're still alive so it all worked out yeah it was an event where the majority of people there are probably the most trustworthy people you ever met because they have the most passwords in the world in their brains this is true so I wasn't very worried about that yeah well Zach let's talk about green bean it tell us a little bit about your business what are some of the solutions and services that you focus on greenbean it we are a managed services provider uh we've been around in our current form since 2016 most of our clients are small businesses uh with 20 to 200 employees es uh and really we we like to call ourselves problem solvers um everybody you know has their differentiators and we feel like being a problem solver really is one of those things that our customers uh need from us on a day in day out basis uh whether that's help desk or projects you know they need somebody that when they come to them with a problem they'll get a solution uh and so that's what we like to think of ourselves as problem solvers no matter whether it's you know technology or anything else that we're facing a lot of our clients fall into one of three verticals it's usually either construct uh or Finance or healthare um we have some clients who do none of those we have manufacturing um we have some other sort of Specialties a lot of nonprofits as well um but you know word of mouth is usually how a lot of those clients hear from us and so they usually fall into sort of one of those three verticals there a lot of them seem different on the surface but in reality their challenges are really all the same when you get down to it and so that's why you know we're able to um Service Such a wide variety of businesses is that their needs are really all the same even though their businesses or their organizations on the surface look different well let me ask about one particular vertical that I saw on your site because it really ignited me right away to say hauh I don't know what an organization like that might need differently so churches I mean I I hear they have those in Texas what are some of the differentiators and some of the unique challenges that you run into when servicing churches in particular what do they need sure so churches are unique in a couple cple of ways um number one is that you know there's their source of funding right their money uh is completely dependent upon you know in most cases the generosity of the public um there's not a product right there's not a service that they're selling um there's no real great forecasting in some cases and so budgeting is always the number one challenge with our church clients um the second one is that sometimes there's a mix of both volunteers and staff uh and so you have both paid and non-paid people who are contrib in to um you know the team that's there and so that can be challenging at times because you you know you may have a volunteer who's there for six months and then they're gone and then a different volunteer is in there and and they're responsible for things and so trying to really craft solutions that keep their budget in mind but also a longevity that um will Outlast any volunteer or any person who's there or not um can be a challenge sometimes uh and really for a lot of our church clients what has changed for them specifically since covid is the fact that a lot of them are doing things like live streaming a lot more zoom and teams and other things that they never really anticipated being a part of their organization and now it is and so the demand for technology for them has increased as a result of that so tell me how do you deal with the the funding situation the financial situation knowing that it's not you you can't always plan for it to look the same year-over-year does as a service come into play there how do you deal with that to still make it consistent because you're running a business too yeah so that's a great question you know most of the time what we're looking for first and foremost is is there a vendor or a or a technology solution out there that does cater to nonprofits churches whatever it may be because oftentimes they either have special pricing or they may have special benefits for them so that's always number one um and then number two is really to give them options to say here's a good better best and you know they might have the funding for good but not for better and then they have the choice to go to their donors their constituents say hey we'd really like to implement this uh and so you know that's where uh just being able to be flexible and try to work within the means that they have really is important to us you know and we try to Discount some of our fees when we can for those because you know they're helping people that we will never be able to help or reach directly and that's really important to us is to really help those who are reaching out to others in a specific way way and so you know we do what we can to sort of work within those means to still deliver them the best that we possibly can within some of those constraints are there any vendors right now that you're a big fan of due to maybe the solutions that you're innovating on top of or just the way that they keep up with your business to say hey what do you need how can we help uh or ones that are just awesome to partner with do you have any at the moment that you're saying those guys and gals are doing a really fantastic job sure um unfortunately the list of ones are doing a fantastic job is small um and then the ones that are doing an okay job and they're sort of you know a necessary evil in some cases um is sometimes uh more of the case of what we deal with there one of our vendors uh scale Computing that we've been with for uh over nine years now um just came back from their conference recently uh and there's really a lot that they're doing that demonstrates that what they say um is actually what they intend to do and I really think that's the biggest thing for us when we're evaluating vendors is okay here's what they said now does that match up with how the sales operated how the support operated and any facet of the organization is what we're looking at there they really are uh one of our favorite vendors because every interaction with them lines up with that and when any technology solution um is that consistent it's just refreshing because we're not still looking for the skeletons in the closet right we're not still looking for the gotas of okay they said this but what's going to happen when I actually deploy it or what's going to happen when I actually install it you know am I going to have egg on my face in front of my customer um you know because you know the salesperson sold me a bill of goods and now it doesn't really deliver on what they said um and so yeah scale is is probably at the top of that list specifically although I'm not getting paid for this endorsement there we always try to endorse the vendors that we really feel like have our back you know they really do have our best interests in mind that aren't just trying to make a dollar at any cost I think that goes without saying for any business too and no matter what line of work you're in if you say what you're going to do and then you do it it should be the norm and not the exception unfortunately uh but it's exciting to hear that there are still people out there doing that so good to know let's go back to talking about some of the customers that we're seeing in this space are there any Trends whether it be challenges opportunities that you're seeing come through the customer space right now are your clients coming to you with any similar issues and saying how do we fix this or they come into you saying we're overwhelmed with the choices yeah I think that a lot of businesses are facing a lot of the same challenges right now which is rising costs um challenges with hiring and so our challenge is really understanding what can we do in a practical way to help them get through those Chan challenges to maybe to a time where they're not facing them or completely help them pivot or shift in their business where they're able to now see things in a different way and so you know with with um cyber security uh is one of those that everybody knows that they need but really doesn't love implementing it doesn't love you know paying more just because you know there's a threat actor out there who may be targeting them but really AI is one of those other things that can provide and impact and supplement you know um any organization that is having Staffing challenges the challenge for us as as technology providers is really being able to show them in a practical way you know where they might be able to use different tools um Integrations that they're not today that would help them to either like I said get through this the hiring challenge that they're in or they may completely pivot their business and go you know what this has changed things for us so dramatically that we're not even going to try to hire for that position anymore uh we're just going to you know utilize this particular tool now as a part of you know the way that they operate and so you know there's so many people who are in um this predicament worldwide uh the challenge for us really is how do we really get through a lot of the fluff um and just some of the marketing speak with some of the vendors to get down to the nitty-gritty of you know what can they actually provide dayto day as a value to our customers that can be demonstrated an easy way because our customers are our customers partially because they don't understand technology at least to the extent that we do and so that's what we're looking for is to say if the average user can understand how this solution can provide value that's the one that we want to put in front of the customer first um because talking over their head and you know making them feel dumb honestly um is never a great solution uh and it's usually our job as the technology provider to cut through all that to say show me how this is going to help my customers out is security a concern for you knowing that we're in the AI boom in 2024 at the moment and how are you kind of combating that that side of it as well yeah I think security is a big concern with AI um you know both from the perspective of how threat actors can use it to their advantage right to accelerate their ability to cause damage quickly which is really scary and then the other thing is really just with you know our customers and trying to educate them on the challenges that they're going to have if the AI is accessing their data or if they're inputting you know personal data into that system there because a lot of times these particular AI tools are not coste effective to run on premise uh and so the the customer has to be able to understand those risks and and to be able to weigh that against you know the cost of a breach versus the cost of bringing that solution inous and I think that's going to be changing over time as more and more organizations are willing to you know either pay for something uh but the reality is that most often what is free actually costs us the most because we're having to give up some level of privacy right or we're having to give give up some level of control over the data or how it's used and that's usually the number one challenge that we have is getting people to understand that particular scenario of you got it for free but it actually will cost you in the long run and so when we're able to do that now it really shifts things where they're not as um sort of careless uh about how they use AR they're very cautious about it because they realize they wouldn't just give that information out over the phone to somebody who just called up and said you know can you tell me this and but the AI companies aren't necessarily going to tell you that they just want widespread adoption there and it's really our job to help our clients fully understand what it's like to use some of these tools and like you said the cyber security portion of it is usually number one it is interesting in this country where our laws lie I think we're only realizing now just how much we've been giving away for free without being notified that we're doing it because companies don't have to so interesting to see where that conversation goes within the next 12 to 18 months uh so moving on from there and speaking of cyber security I know that green bean it is sock certified can you talk to me a little bit about your differentiators uh that being one of them I'm sure sure so uh for those of you who are not aware uh the sock uh attestation uh is technically under the aicpa so it's very interesting because sock is is service organizational controls and really we decided to do that about seven years ago because there were certain clients that we had that were getting audited and instead of just asking you know the customer the questions the auditor was also asking us questions about us how you know how how do we store their passwords you know how do we protect their organization and so we decided to sort of have a self-inflicted wound and do this ourselves um and really it's about controls and about how do we make sure that certain um things are implemented like you know least access in other words if somebody shouldn't have access to something we don't just give it to them by default and so we feel like it's a big differentiator for us because we're not aware of another MSP our size who has had that particular designation for as long as we have there's lots of larger organizations that have it um but none that we're aware of that are our size and so we feel like it is a demonstration to our clients that we really try to take these things seriously and so much so they're willing to put you know our money where our mouth is and have a third party come in to really attest to a lot of those things it's something that we're very proud of wrapping up here Zach I'd love to know is there a success story that you can tell me about or point to of when people go what is green bean it and how do you do what you do best what do you like to point to to say this is a story that really shows what we're made of sure so um you know one of those um was a few years back but we had a vendor who on the surface it seemed like what they needed was very simple and really what they needed was they needed quite a few desktops um replaced but it was in different locations in different parts of the country um and so as we thought about it we proposed a solution to them and they accepted it and it really wasn't until after we finished the project that I understood deeper about why they actually went with us on that project because you think about just you know desktop Replacements it's really not um rocket science it's typically not you know that tricky but we quoted it um a certain way because there was a there was time travel involved things that would take us away from the office so as I was talking to the project manager after that was completed it was a couple hundred desktops over the course of a few months um we had to you know do certain things in a certain order so as not to disrupt their business operation as we were doing this he asked me a question he said do you know why we picked you for this particular project and I you know of course said you know the smiling face he said no do you know why and I said I I really I hadn't thought about it but I don't he said was trust he said anybody can replace desktops not everyone can be trusted to be in the merchandise room with hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise when no one's watching and be trusted to just do the task of just replacing a simple computer wow and that impacted me so deeply because I didn't wasn't even thinking about that I was simply thinking they have a problem I have a solution and it really came down to um a deeper truth that trust accelerates things Zach you've been in this game for a while you've seen The Good the Bad and the Ugly of the industry you've seen The Good the Bad and the Ugly of what your customers the choices that they can make uh when you're on board and how you have to mitigate some of that some of those issues any advice that you have for the the next generation of it solution providers out there I think back for myself of what do I wish someone had told me you know earlier on uh in my career and just sort of understanding the landscape of Technology none of us gets it right overnight we all struggle um and we all struggle in very similar ways and find other people who are willing to talk about their struggles as much as they are their successes because often times we will hear others only talk about their successes and not their struggles and that's challenging because if you're just starting out or if you're just venturing into this you can't relate to that because you're still struggling to try to figure out certain things and so there are lots of great peer groups out there and things that will get you into an atmosphere where people are willing to share with you and to help you understand you know how they overcame some of their challenges uh because some part sometimes the challenge is just knowing that you're not alone and when you know that you're not alone in that and you have other people that you can call on that is so valuable I'm not always at the mercy of my own best thinking because a lot of time I'm wrong and I need someone else to tell me that sounds great on the surface but here's the thing that you're not considering and I need that perspective and so most people are willing to help out when someone says hey I'm new and I'd really like to understand how I can be successful please tell me you know what's worked and what hasn't worked for you lots of people out there are willing to do that and I think anyone who only talks about their successes and not their struggles is either delusional or lying and the second part of that is take the time to to say thank you take the time to be grateful take them to lunch say I'd love to pick your brain for an hour what's your favorite restaurant can I take you to lunch just pick your brain I'm new and I'd love to be able to hear from you ask lots of questions when you do that you will uncover such valuable information that may have taken them 20 years to uncover and it took them 20 minutes to give you that value um over lunch and then when you can pay it forward right give back to the same people who are going to be coming up behind you because that's what we all need this has been such a pleasure to talk to you if we want to learn about greenbean it if I'm a customer out there saying I've never heard of you and now I have I want to go find out more where can I go you can go to greenb it.com you can go to LinkedIn you can find us there um there's even a couple YouTube videos out there of some other interviews that I've done uh but yeah we none of them as great as this like none as great as this none of the interviewers as great as you thank you so much I hope to have you back in the future and can't wait to talk to you then yeah same here thanks to Zach for joining me today and thank you for being here check out all episodes of Channel Insider partner POV on Channel insider.com or watch on our YouTube page @ Channel Insider news and Trends you can also listen to the podcast version of every episode on your favorite podcast listening platform like apple podcast and Spotify don't forget to like subscribe and follow wherever possible to never miss an episode if you'd like to get in touch with me partner POV channel insider.com is the email I'm Katie boso and I'll see you next time n

This transcript was generated automatically from the video's captions and may contain errors.