Company earns the 2006 Vision Award from Constructech Magazine
It’s an age old expression: Build the better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your…Web site?
That’s what happened to Vancouver-based Event 1 Software, but the proverbial mousetrap was something company owners James Coyle and Mike Newland practically tripped over.
Event 1 started in 1998 as a software consulting firm, helping controllers in the construction and real estate management industries tailor their book- and records-keeping software based on their individual needs. To do this, Newland and Coyle created "made-to-order" integration software that linked Sage Timberline Office, the industry standard in filing and bookkeeping, with Excel applications.
"People were happy to pay the money to get software that will do exactly what they want," said Coyle, "but there were two problems with the service. There was very little technical support for the software we were creating and every time a customer wanted something new, they would have to hire an outside source."
Coyle said the company solved those problems by phasing out their custom products and creating standardized software in 2001. The first big product designed to integrate with Microsoft Excel was called Forecast. Originally a custom program, it was showcased as a general product with a price tag of $2,495. Coyle said the better mousetrap analogy took hold at a 2002 trade show, where he showcased the newest product, called Office Connector.
"I was giving five-minute demonstrations of the software at the show and people were buying it before I was done," Coyle said. "It was shocking. And that indicated to us that there was a huge demand from people who needed to have a faster way to mine data from Excel. That proved the concept for us."
Unit sales for that year hit 100, Coyle said. The company sells its products exclusively through licensed downloads from the site. The newest product, Office Connector, cleared 1,000 sales this year with a unit cost of $1,295.
Coyle said the company decided to stick with the demonstration method as its chief sales tool; potential customers are invited through sales reps and through a link on the company Web site to use the product.
"We give people a demonstration and then let them use it with their own data," Coyle said. "Everybody who makes a buying decision has already used the product. Those are the two things that have really driven our sales numbers up."
Newland said the key to their success is that operators can capitalize on their existing knowledge and software to better manage their projects.
The popularity of Office Connector has also earned the company the 2006 Vision Award from Constructech Magazine, and Coyle says the software is starting to gain international attention.
The next phase for Event 1 is to branch out to all types of data platforms.
"We’re expanding to integrate with a software called Meridian Prolog Manager," Newland said, "and our next generation of products after that will be database neutral."
Event 1 Software employs two software developers, four technical support representatives and three sales people at its west-side Vancouver headquarters.
Event 1 Software Mike Newland, senior partner 360-567-3752 www.event1software.com
