Integrators often wonder if they are running their business as efficiently as other integrators. Now there is a way to know.
Vital Management founders Paul Starkey and Steve Firszt are taking their proven business intelligence system to a broader base with Bi4Ci (business intelligence for custom integrators), an online dashboard service with specific industry processes and metrics.
Building on the 25 companies currently in their Bravas coaching group, Starkey and Firszt are opening the baseline process and metrics they’ve developed to all industry dealer companies. Vital will offer a cloud-based system that creates a standard process for structuring financial data and providing operational metrics for improving business performance.
The Bi4Ci system, Bi4Ci uses a web connection to QuickBooks to securely extract monthly financial data from participating companies. The system then calculates metrics, trends and even comparative rankings between the companies on the service. The dashboards are specific to, and well vetted by, CI business owners.
Starkey notes, “Owner/operators are very busy and these dashboards distill information to a form that is quickly understood and actionable. Bi4Ci takes at-a-glance business information to a new level.”
Firszt adds, “Bi4Ci standardizes a financial/operational process that lets owners measure and manage their company more effectively than ever before. The ability to see their performance ranked alongside those of comparable companies provides added impetus for significantly improving bottom line outcomes.”
Bi4Ci allows smaller companies to implement the processes and metrics on an assisted basis, using professional QB instruction and online help resources for taking the required actions in their business. While it does not include direct coaching from Vital, the founders believe many companies can make significant inroads in performance.
The system was developed in conjunction with Cairnstack Software, the maker of the TRXio software platform for inventory management.
New Bi4Ci clients will start October 1. The Bi4Ci service costs $299/month with a one-time minimum set-up fee of $599. Additional resources for implementing the system are available.
Marketing Help for Bravas Members
Meanwhile, the Bravas Group is launching a new marketing program aimed at helping integrators find more luxury clients for their group members.
Starkey notes, “We wanted to change the paradigm for reaching and engaging our best clients. It is a decidedly non-traditional approach.”
Starkey and Firszt tell a story of better understanding who the luxury client is; pinpointing new conversations; mapping demographics to look-a-like clients via social media, and providing easy access to learn about what’s possible. Bravas hired OneFirefly to innovate the way Bravas dealers talk and connect with their clients.
The recently-launched website, bravas.com, offers a design-focused look at the spaces in which high-end clients live, and the elements Bravas offers to enhance those spaces. There will be fresh “spaces” and “elements” content every month, along with topics relevant to luxury lifestyles such as philanthropy, bespoke services/products, destinations, and even a high net worth learning community.
Its manned concierge allows visitors to get answers and even get assistance making appointments.
There are no products, prices, or brands on the site. Instead, the lifestyle content and photography seeks to engage new clients in conversations centered on them and the ways they live, work, and play. The marketing program benefits from the joint contributions of the Bravas Group members.
