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February 1, 2018

CRM in 2018: How Will AI Transform Customer Experience?

AI Blog 2018 is an exciting year for CRM development thanks to the emergence of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing.

According to a report from IDC, 28% of the companies surveyed said that they have already implemented AI in their CRM, while 41% said they’re planning to adopt it in the next two years.

‘AI associated with CRM activities will boost global business revenue from the beginning of 2017 to the end of 2021 by $1.1 trillion.’

Whilst there is still a general concern about AI taking over jobs, the IDC reported that it will actually create 800,000 more jobs in the future.

Instead of eliminating the human workforce, this technology can be used to enhance your interactions with customers and provide insights into their behaviours.

AI integration goes beyond automating repetitive tasks and generating stock answers. It offers new insights to help generate leads and close sales quickly.

It can suggest relevant content for sales leads, find the best schedules for sending e-mails and find upsell or cross-sell opportunities.

This technology can also promote smarter lead scoring by analysing customer behaviour and prioritising leads with the highest conversion potential.

In terms of customer support, we can expect the growth of social CRM this year to meet the need for faster response times. Chatbots on social media save time in answering simple queries or requests, giving more time for your chat support department to focus on complex needs. In addition, they can also collect additional customer data and behaviours that can be used to address their needs efficiently.

Customer service AI tools can identify support ticket trends and predict which agent or team is best suited for dealing with certain issues. Some systems can even recommend standard responses or a template based on the type of ticket.

Just recently, Microsoft has also created an AI that can read a document and respond in a manner that sounds like a real person.

This technology can quickly ‘parse through information found in books and documents and provide people with the information they need most in an easily understandable way.’

Another way that AI will be used for CRM is summarising customer interactions. Using a method called natural language processing, the system can extract the most useful snippets of conversation from an hour-long phone call and distil it into a five-minute summary.

These summaries are done in real-time, so managers can get to the heart of any issue or opportunity without having to wade through masses of irrelevant transcript data.

Just like any type of business technology solution, your CRM must evolve to satisfy the growing needs of your company and customers.

By integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning, you can understand your customers better and improve the efficiency of your sales, marketing and customer service teams.

There are a lot of AI solutions already available that can be integrated with your CRM. However, it’s important that companies develop a concrete strategy that complements their business and CRM improvement goals.

Finally, artificial intelligence needs experts who will manage and ‘train’ it to produce the best results, just like a real employee.

Want to learn more innovative solutions for your business? Feel free to contact ECLEVA today. You can also check out our other blog posts here.

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December 14, 2017

Don’t Let Indecision Kill Your Business!

Making a decision is one of the toughest challenges that executives can face, especially if they’re running a start-up. From hiring the right candidate to choosing the best way to market your product, you must prioritise which decisions to make, every day.

Making decsions that will affect the future of your company can be such an overwhelming task that you can end up mulling over your choices without making any progress.

Even senior executives from established companies can be plagued with indecision; but then again, they’re equipped with past experiences, and backed by investors and mentors, so it can be easier for them to bounce back.

Indecision is what hinders most start-ups from becoming successful; or worse, the cause of their premature closure.

For every minute you spend agonising about the “what ifs” or the “maybes”, you’re losing precious time in execution and making progress.

‘Analysis paralysis is nothing short of insecurity,’ wrote Gil Laroya in his Huffington Post article.

‘Like a child scared to blurt out an answer in school, this insecurity becomes the fear of being wrong, the fear of being punished for being wrong, or the uncertainty that comes with just building something to see what happens,’ he added.

Analysis paralysis happens when things don’t go as planned or when you commit a major error. Some people think that by delaying their decisions, they can further study the situation and come up with a better solution later.

In most cases, the information that they’re looking for is just something that’ll make them feel better about the decision they already made, or something that’ll prevent them from making one.

As a start-up, I understand that you can’t afford to make a lot of mistakes. However, you can’t keep treading water, either.

Focus more of your time doing, rather than choosing. Stick with your decision, gather data, and find several ways to execute it. Once you decide, move forward and don’t second guess yourself.

You need to make the call now.

‘If you have control, use it,’ wrote Alan Downey on his blog post.

‘By not acting, you’re rolling the dice and hoping for the best. This isn’t the way to deal with global warming, and it isn’t the right way to run your business.’

I completely agree with his statement. We’ll still encounter different and unknown situations, no matter how much we prepare. I’d prefer to act more despite facing unknown challenges because it forces me to create an outcome and it allows me to uncover new information along the way.

Avoid delaying the decision to the point that someone else must make it for you. Discussing ideas with your team leads to better decisions, but as a leader, it’s you who has the final say.

Making decisions also comes with the risk of making mistakes. When this happens, the best solution is to talk it out, especially if it concerns your customers. Talk over the phone, send an email, or post your message on social media.

Let them know that you’re aware of the situation and you’re trying to fix it. Taking action involves risks, but it’s an essential step to help you achieve success.

I’ve shared some guidelines below to help conquer your indecisiveness:

Decisions become stressful when you inflate their importance. Give yourself time to breathe and ask yourself, ‘How important is this decision really?’
There are no right and wrong decisions. Rather, it’s more like choosing between left and right. If you choose to walk in one direction and notice that it’s not working out, you can change course and just keep going.
Set a timeframe for your decision to prevent analysis paralysis.
Seek help from an experienced professional, especially if you are a start-up. This’ll reduce your chances of making poor decisions and losing confidence as a result.
Schedule ‘reflection’ times where you can worry or mull over things for as long as you want. But once refection time is over, do other productive activities.

Visit ECLEVA’s blog section to learn more about integrating technology solutions for decision-making.

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December 14, 2017

ECLEVA’s Year In Review – Great Achievements from 2017

2017 was a momentous year for ECLEVA. We built strong partnerships, developed innovative solutions, overcame challenges, and had fun along the way. These accomplishments wouldn’t be possible without our team’s dedication, the ongoing support from our clients and partners, and, a strong cup of coffee.

Here’s a list of breakthroughs, accomplishments, and innovations that have defined 2017 as an amazing year for ECLEVA.

1. Developed Unique Business Technology Solutions

ECLEVA successfully rolled out exclusive and innovative solutions for our clients from the education, construction, and retail industries.

EduRe for Commercial Engagement

We developed a centralised CRM solution for a vocational institute in Queensland. The goal was to create a centralised system that can work across their campuses throughout the state.

EduRe for Commercial Engagement is our own suite of customisable and scalable apps tailor-made to help educational organisations with their industry partnership efforts; from nurturing enquiries, organising tenders and contracts, to managing marketing campaigns.

DocuRe Document Transmittal System

DocuRe is another exclusive application for managing and exchanging high volumes of information within an organisation and with their clients. We successfully implemented this solution for a construction firm.

With this system, organisations can store documents like contracts or design specifications in a central repository, make them accessible, track revisions, and ensure that all teams are working on the latest project files.

Operations Retail System using Dynamics 365

This solution was created for a well-known national Australian health and wellness retailer.

Leveraging Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Retail, the solution consists of a software suite for managing point of sale, supply chain, finance, and operations. It was rolled out across 44 stores nationwide.

2. New Partnerships and Offerings

This year, we expanded our network to bring more cutting-edge technology solutions into the ECLEVA fold that can help your organisation work smarter:

Experlogix

Last October, we announced our partnership with Experlogix – an American company with expertise in Configure, Price, and Quote (CPQ) solutions.

With this solution, we can help our clients speed up their sales cycle, make quotes and orders more accessible, reduce order entry errors, and guide sales teams through the entire quote process.

Unit4

Unit4 is a leading provider of enterprise applications across the globe and we’re currently working with them to bring their Student Management System to Australia.

Developed for colleges and universities, this Student Management solution can automate vital student lifecycle processes, build relationships with alumni or donors, and provide student support to help them succeed throughout their education.

We’re working hard to tailor Unit4’s Student Management System so it can meet a set of requirements that are unique to Australia.

Unit4 also offers the Professional Services Automation (PSA) Suite that helps SMEs plan, manage, and track their project lifecycle.

3. Launched a New ITIL Compliant Support Portal

Our upgraded support portal is a one-stop hub where clients can lodge, track, and manage support and enhancement requests with ease. Here, they can receive real-time updates on pending enquiries, monitor logged cases, and export status reports.

With this portal, clients don’t have to sift through numerous emails just to keep track of their enquiries. It’s also web-based to make it accessible on mobile devices.

4. Industry Expert Award

We are proud to have been presented an Industry Expert Award in “Productivity & Technology” by NSW Leaders.

One of ECLEVA’s goals is to demystify technology solutions for business owners. This year, with NSW Leaders, we’ve conducted over 20 Productivity and Technology mentoring sessions to various small and medium enterprises and led Knowledge Workshops on “Innovation in the Age of Disruption” and “The Business System That Every SME Needs”.

What’s Next for ECLEVA?

This Year in Review gave us a brief moment to celebrate our 2017 successes, both large and small.

We are proud of our accomplishments, but we aim to achieve higher goals in 2018.

We’re constantly updating our skills, especially in client delivery management, so we can better serve our clients and keep them happy year-round.

We’re also investigating how we can leverage artificial intelligence to develop smarter CRM systems and analytics tools for your business. This year’s Microsoft Ignite Conference inspired us to learn more about AI, especially about Machine Learning’s potential to build smarter applications.

Thank you for supporting ECLEVA and we hope that you’ll also end 2017 on a high note.

Season’s greetings to all!!

ECLEVA will be closed on December 22, 2017 – January 8, 2018. However, our customer support will still be available during the holidays. If you have any enquiries, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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November 28, 2017

Universities More Than Ever Need Strong Financial Support to Stay Relevant and Secure Their Future

The pressure of the federal government’s planned cuts on the Australian university system is old news. However, I often wonder if we’ve truly grasped the full impact of what this means; and whether we’ve taken measures to cushion its effect.

With these planned budget cuts, the higher education sector will collectively lose $1.16 billion in base funding. The impact will be felt more in disadvantaged communities, where universities are smaller and don’t have the same assets.

Larger universities can survive the reduced funding from the government, but this will mean that the burden will be shared with students. They may have to pay more tuition without any assurance that their learning experience will be better, or if they’ll gain the skills to become job-ready.

In addition, the government is also planning to change their funding model, wherein if a university fails to meet the government’s benchmark, they’ll have fewer funds for innovation, making it more difficult to improve their employability outcomes.

To ensure that the Australian higher education sector is set up for success with reduced government funding, I believe the focus for universities should be on developing commercial engagements.

My belief stems from previous research and efforts developed by other universities. Jachimowicz and Umali mentioned that commercial engagements are ‘a balancing act in which everyone has a shot at winning.’

‘Industry gets needed research, universities get funding, society gets new products and technology.’

I completely agree with their statement because we’ve experienced the benefits of these partnerships with our clients.

In Australia, the top eight universities are benefitting from commercial engagements. The Group of Eight will partner with the London-based IP Group PLC to receive a $200 million funding pool. According to The Guardian, the funds will be ‘available to researchers who want to commercialise their ideas into spin-off companies and startups.’

There’s no magic formula that’ll instantly turn a university into an industry partner magnet. However, a good place to start is developing a CRM solution for managing engagements with commercial businesses.

I appreciate that investing in technology amidst pending budget cuts may feel counterintuitive. But most organisations miss funding opportunities due to siloed processes or misplacing process, contact, and relationship breakdowns when key staff leave or take on new positions..

An end-to-end CRM platform solution can work more effectively in the hands of someone who understands how industry partnerships work. That is why I suggest that universities work with entrepreneurs in residence (EIR).

Their role is to seek out and propose innovative technologies, partnership opportunities, and business models to organisations. They can assist in streamlining the details of a university’s commercial engagement campaigns. But even then to make effective use of their skills and experiences, they still need an end-to-end CRM platform solution that can help them monitor and manage interactions with potential partners.

Over the years, I’ve developed a checklist that I have found useful when helping universities assess their Commercial Engagement Success:

I always start by asking my clients, what are your agreed strategies and processes to describe your commercial engagements? (e.g. how do you define leads, opportunities, methods of tracking this data, etc.)

What are the key funding sources you are targeting?
Are the skills, roles and responsibilities of your commercial engagement team clearly defined? Does your team have redundancies and hand over documents for managing the partnership?
Does your university have a system for managing and storing partnership agreement documents and key milestones?
If an industry partner needs to work with several departments, do they have similar processes in managing commercial agreements?

If you were not able to answer all of the above and need more insights on effective higher education-industry partnerships, feel free to get in touch here.

If you want to see how we’ve helped our clients set up successful commercial engagement platforms, check out these case studies.

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October 31, 2017

7 Interesting Facts About ECLEVA

Do you have trouble-pronouncing ECLEVA? Do you wonder what ECLEVA actually means? Have a read of our ECLEVA-themed facts and trivia and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

1) ECLEVA Has a Double Meaning

ECLEVA is a spin on the words electronic and clever, which refers to their credo: Innovative Ideas Delivered Simply. The name is pronounced as /eklevuh/.

The name also upholds the six core values that the company practices when working with their clients and within their departments:

• Enterprising

• Collaborative

• Leadership

• Engaged

• Value

• Act with Integrity

These core values were the results of a team effort. They had to spend hours sifting through words (and a bit of doodling on the side) to find the best behaviours and values that are important to them.

Originally, the company name was to be ECLEVI, I for Integrity. However, ECLEVA’s CEO Patrick Northcott and Managing Partner Martin Halmarick thought that the name doesn’t roll off the tongue, prompting them to change the last part to Act with Integrity.

2) The Logo Represents Innovation and Efficiency

Even in the logo, ECLEVA remains consistent in promoting their core values.

It is shaped like the first two letters of ECLEVA and features small and large cogs surrounded by a blue semi-circle.

According to Mr Northcott, cogs best represent the company’s principle in developing smart solutions through simple processes.

ECLEVA’s blue and white colour palette, on the other hand, were selected to maintain the professional and reliable image that PNP and S1 have maintained over the years.

3) Despite Being a New Brand, ECLEVA is already a Veteran in the IT Industry

ECLEVA is just almost a year old. However, the brand was created from the merger of two, leading business technology solutions firms in Australia – S1 Consulting and PNP Solutions.

Before ECLEVA, Mr Northcott was the CEO of PNP Solutions, while Mr Halmarick was the Managing Director of S1 Consulting.

The company started working together in the early 2000s, wherein they developed a strategy to sell, demo, and host a CRM system. The success of their first joint venture led the two companies to start working together on several more projects.

According to Mr Halmarick, the merging of the two companies was a natural progression and greatly improved their working dynamics and delivery success.

4) ECLEVA Prefers Talking Business, Rather Than Technology

ECLEVA stands out from other business technology solutions providers because they put effort in understanding the language of their key industry verticals.

“The more that we understand the industry that we are working with, the quicker we are able to deliver value to our clients”, noted Antun Scurla, ECLEVA’s Sales Manager.

ECLEVA specialises in five key industries – education, not for profit, construction, finance, and professional services.

5) Certified Microsoft Partner

ECLEVA is a Microsoft Gold Partner in CRM and a Silver Partner in Cloud Services and a Microsoft Authorised Education Partner – a certification given to companies that have the highest level of expertise in using the Microsoft Academic product suites.

However, Microsoft applications are not the only tools in ECLEVA’s arsenal. The company also established partnerships with vendors like Click Dimensions, Marketo, Unit 4, and Elsevier Pure.

The platforms and tools offered by these organisations are used in conjunction with ECLEVA’s solutions to meet complex requirements within a short timeframe.

Learn how ECLEVA uses these partnerships to develop effective business technology solutions by checking this page.

6) EduRe is ECLEVA’s CRM Solution for the Education Sector

If you have peers working for a Uni or TAFE, they’ve probably mentioned the word ‘EduRe’ in one of your conversations.

If you’re wondering what it’s about, EduRe /ˈejərei/ is a CRM module specifically made for the education sector that was developed by S1 and PNP in 2011.

It is made of pre-built and customisable applications that can manage both student and commercial engagement efforts of Universities, TAFEs, and other educational institutions.

It is Cloud based and cost effective. This system can be tailored and scaled to virtually any education institute scenario or size and provides customisable automation functionality.

Visit ECLEVA’s education website for more details on our student and commercial lifecycle solutions.

7) ECLEVA Started as a Traditional IT Service Provider

Before merging with S1, PNP used to offer CRM solutions combined with traditional IT like hardware and delivery networks.

After discovering a gap in the market, the company transitioned more to Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementations so they could have business-focused discussions with their clients and make their services more proactive.

Learn more about ECLEVA’s working process on this page.

Currently, ECLEVA is acquiring more new clients in Australia and are planning to expand into markets like America, Europe, and South-East Asia. They love working with small to large businesses that share the same values and are passionate about innovative technology processes.

To see if ECLEVA is the right partner for your company, send a message today and start developing innovative business solutions together.

Do you have questions or trivia that you want us to add? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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July 10, 2017

8 Qualities to Look for in a Technology Partner

These days, technology is a base line requirement for all businesses. With new solutions hitting the market on almost a daily basis, there are more ways than ever before that technology can help your business. How does a small- to medium-sized business select and implement the best technologies to drive its profitability and growth?

Working with a technology partner is a cost-efficient way and gives you the freedom to focus on the strengths of your business. But to get the most from your partnership, you need to carefully choose your IT solutions provider.

Here’s a list of qualities to look for when engaging an IT company for your business.

1. Strong business acumen

Good technology partners have years of experience in helping clients achieve their business goals. They understand that their job is to make their clients more successful. Discussions around client challenges should initially focus on productivity and process improvement, not IT. Your partner should have a broad awareness of your industry segment, your target market and how their tools can help your business grow.

2. Being able to translate a business need into a technology design

The best technology partners start with what you’re trying to achieve from a business perspective. They then focus on how you’re going to measure success (metrics) and the process improvements required to achieve the outcome. Only then do they design a solution that leverages the most appropriate technology to get you there, and show you precisely how their solution will do it.

3. Ability to design a solution to a budget

A good technology partner can clearly explain which of its services works best for your needs and your budget. It is imperative to keep the budget in mind when building a solution and develop a strong foundation that the solution can grow from. By breaking the design down into manageable chunks, a client can go live with the initial minimal solution that fits the budget.

As the needs grow, the solution can then be built in manageable bite-size chunks. Working in a way that always builds towards the ideal system leveraging the solid foundation.

4. Proven delivery track record

Don’t be afraid to ask potential partners for references. If they’re good at what they do, they will be more than happy to have you talk to a couple of their customers. Focus reference questions on how well the partner interacts with stakeholders and how effectively they get the job done. Don’t worry too much if they haven’t delivered precisely the same project before. The fact that they have successfully delivered a variety of projects is potentially more important.

5. Good ecosystem set-up

It’s alright to work with technology partners that don’t provide the entire solution themselves. Most IT firms have vendor relationships to help them craft better technology solutions for their clients. Very few providers can realistically position themselves as a “one stop shop” these days so ask them about their partnerships, who they work with and how those organisations fit into the solution that they’re proposing.

6. Uses an Agile development methodology

One of the advantages of following the Agile development methodology is that you can get a working solution in production much more quickly than by using traditional “waterfall” techniques. Since the development of the solution is done in short sprints, you can review each phase, spot errors earlier, and add more features that weren’t previously included in the first sprints. This approach also gives you much better control of schedule and budget.

7. Transparent about their services’ limitations

As a client, you want to work with a company that knows technology. This means that your partner should be aware of their offerings limitations and they should clearly explain those limitations to you. They should be open and honest about what their solutions will and won’t achieve.

8. Ongoing engagement

Another advantage of working with an IT solutions firm is that they can offer ongoing support after developing your new system. This includes monthly maintenance to ensure that operations are running smoothly. An exceptional partner understands that the systems needs to keep pace with your business as it evolves. How do they propose to engage with you once the project is complete?

Wrap Up

Working with a technology partner is one of the best ways to grow your business. However, choosing the right partner is no simple task. You will need to invest time to prepare and ask the right questions so you can meet your business goals. Keep these guidelines in mind and you’ll surely meet the right technology partner for you.

To learn more about effective technology solutions for your business, visit www.ecleva.com today.

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November 16, 2016

Q&A with Akhilesh Sharma – Infrastructure Manager at Ecleva

We have a chat with Akhilesh Sharma, Infrastructure Manager at ECLEVA.

Where based?

Ahmedabad (India).

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Ahmedabad in India, where I have lived my whole life, and I really love this place.

Where did you attend Uni?

Bachelor of Arts from Gujarat University.

How long have you been at ECLEVA?

I am working with ECLEVA since June 2008

Tell us about a typical day

A typical day involves working with the support and development team, help to our CDM, and manage and administer the India team.

What do you do outside work?

I spend a lot of my spare time doing research in technology, as it’s a hobby and passion of mine, not just a job. Outside that I spend a lot of time with my family and my two kids. If I can spare the time I like having a good game of cricket and enjoy watching a good show on TV.

Most interesting job you’ve had in your life and why?

I was a part of the Technical Support Group at Wipro. We needed to provide solutions support across the region. I loved this job because it was a situation where you needed to work as firefighter and need to provide solution in critical situations. The challenge of achieving this was very exciting.

What’s it like in the office?

Starting and managing the Indian office of ECLEVA is something we take great pride in here. We have very open and creative culture where everyone pitches in with ideas and innovations. It’s an exciting place to work humming with innovation.

What’s been your favorite day here and why?

About a year ago we celebrated the Diwali festival, and had our CEO Patrick here at the time. We held a Rangoli Competition in the office between the three teams and Patrick was Judge. It was a great day with a fantastic team feeling. What is Rangoli? Follow this link to find out (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoli)

Wine or beer?

Beer

What motivates you?

I get a lot of motivation out of creating solutions and help customers. Seeing them get value and appreciate it encourages me to work even harder for them.

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November 16, 2016

Q&A with Antun Scurla – Sales Manager at Ecleva

We have a chat with Antun Scurla, Sales Manager at ECLEVA.

How long have been working for ECLEVA?

Since 2012

What was your path here?

I was initially introduced to Patrick in late 2012 to provide Sales Training and Mentoring Services. The relationship grew from there. Prior to that I held a number of Consulting, Direct Sales and Management roles in both local and global IT companies.

Where did you grow up?

On the mean streets of Balmain in the late 60s.

What was your dream job when you were young?

Astronaut or Stage Coach driver – I was never able to choose.

What does your role involve?

I’m responsible for driving revenue growth at ECLEVA. That means working closely with Patrick, Martin, Benny and all our CDM’s to identify areas where we can continue to increase the value of our offerings to our existing and potential clients and ensuring that that value is delivered.

What do you do outside work?

I play guitar. I play computer games and I study the mysteries of human behavior (mostly within my own family).

Most interesting job you’ve had in your life and why?

All the work I’ve done has been interesting. I honestly can’t pick the most interesting. I can tell you the most boring (cleaning bricks).

What’s it like in the office?

Great. We’re a very focused and motivated team. The organisation is very open and collaborative, and we literally work together in an enterprising way to innovate and simplify everything we do for ourselves and our clients.

What motivates you?

Seeing a good plan deliver the fruits of its promise and, as a result, actually make a difference to how people do their work.

What’s one of the favourite songs you’ve listened to lately and why?

Andrew Jackson Jihad (AJJ) – Small Red Boy. I like songs that most people might find “uncomfortable” but nonetheless deliver truths about the human condition. This is a great example and is executed beautifully.

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November 15, 2016

Q&A with Patrick Northcott – CEO of Ecleva

We sat down with Patrick Northcott, the CEO of ECLEVA for a quick chat during his busy day.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in England but moved to Cape Town South Africa when I was 10 years old. I then moved to Australia in 1993.

Where did you attend Uni?

UCT (University of Cape Town, South Africa), where I did a Bachelors of Computer Science.

How long have you been at ECLEVA?

I started the company 20 years ago now.

Tell us about a typical day

A typical day will generally involve wearing multiple hats. Business Development Management, CEO, Line manager, Coach, getting involved in product delivery etc.

What do you do outside work?

The little spare time I get outside of work and family I like to spend on photography. I enjoy Landscape photography, Seascape, Night, waterfall and portraiture.

What’s your favorite book?

A hard question, there are so many good ones. I like reading all kinds of books and particularly enjoy reading all books of a particular author. At the moment I’m reading through the works of Orson Scott Card.

What was your dream job when you were young?

I’ve always been an entrepreneur, and am lucky enough to be able to be in my dream job. In year 8 I built my first student administration system for my school. I had an office next to the principal with computers and everything. I was lucky enough to find my calling early on, which led me to my purpose, which is to build things that add value to people.

Most interesting job you’ve had in your life and why?

Running ECLEVA for sure. Every project is interesting. Mapping a business to good technical solutions add value is what I love doing most

What is the most different job you have had?

I was a skydiving instructor for 4 years in the 80’s. I did over 800 jumps and 50 tandem jumps during that time.

Last favorite songs you listened too and why?

Bolero (Classical piece by Maurice Ravel). Reminded me of the business growing in intensity through hard work to a crescendo of productivity and results.

Wine or beer?

Water

What motivates you?

Seeing results of our hard work. Delivering good solutions that add great value to our clients, and turning clients in to raving fans.

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November 15, 2016

Q&A with Martin Halmarick – Managing Partner at Ecleva

We have a chat with Martin Halmarick, managing partner at ECLEVA.

Where are you based?

Sydney

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Sydney but spent a year in Mendoza Argentina as an exchange student which was an awesome experience.

Where did you attend Uni?

Macquarie Uni, Bachelor of Science, University of New England, Graduate Diploma in Project Management and Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Management

What does your role involve?

As an owner of a business you need to set direction and empower staff to deliver on your vision.

Tell us about a typical day

A typical day involves working with our team to deliver innovative solutions to our clients and managing the exciting challenges along the way.

What do you do outside work?

Spend time with family and friends enjoying life. I volunteer at my two sons’ rugby club, refereeing and coaching my eldest sons under 10 team. I a firm believer that the more you put into things the more you get out of it. We also like to spend time at the beach in summer and you can often find me bowling medium pacers on the mid north coast of NSW beaches.

Most interesting job you’ve had in your life and why?

Managing a small business because it’s always challenging and exciting. The feeling of starting with nothing but an idea and building something of value for my business partners, staff and customers is very rewarding. I’m inspired by people who are willing to take calculated rewards and the dedication to see it through to the end.

How do you get to work?

Drive my car.

What’s it like in the office?

We pride ourselves on creating a culture where everyone feels confident to speak their mind and embrace innovation. A common theme is respect, I’m a firm believer in providing an environment where the best versions of people can thrive. Our key values are, Enterprising, Collaborative, Engaged and Integrity and through this environment we can produce innovative ideas, simply delivered. I feel that this is more than a catch phrase for us.

What motivates you?

I have a strong sense of responsibility to my family, staff and customers and when I start something and provide promises I am focused on making it a reality. I don’t like being a ‘me too’ person or company, I am driven to be innovative and clever and to explore how technology can be used to improve people’s lives, that gets me up each day and excited.

What’s one of the favourite songs you’ve listened to lately and why?

Boston – More than a Feeling – I know, not very rock like but it’s a cool tune to belt out in the car as you are driving along.

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