Cira Apps Founder and CTO Vern Weitzman starts 2020 with a bang by being welcomed to the Forbes Technology Council (FTC). As an FTC member, he has been sharing his expertise as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur specializing in building enterprise software solutions with Forbes readers.
On Jan. 6, 2020, Weitzman opens up about the beginnings of Cira Apps Ltd. and shares what he has learned throughout the years to turn Cira Apps Ltd. the company it is today.
“It took my first company—itrezzo—three years to get its first 30 customers, which represented about 25,000 users. That’s not great. As I tested and tested some more, trying to find a way out, we blew through time, money and some of my earliest employees, who realized there were greener pastures elsewhere in Silicon Valley.”
Below are some of the key lessons Weitzman has learned as Founder and CTO of his next company, Cira Apps Ltd.
Moving to the Cloud Can Show Instant Value
“I initially saw the cloud as needlessly expensive, hard to manage and potentially prone to breaking down. I was wrong—but I wasn’t too proud to pivot.”
A ROI can be seen almost immediately when you move to the cloud. You can onboard enterprise customers in minutes! And, you will never have to worry about data security because the cloud is more secure than having physical data servers.
Know How Customers Operate and Act Accordingly
“It helps if you know how your buyers like to operate. If you’re expecting to cold call customers and then do PowerPoint presentations, your strategy may not work that often.”
Enterprise customers will often conduct independent research and will only connect with support or a sales representative when they need something. Customers don’t want to connect for the sell. They will make the decision to buy the product depending on the results of their independent research, their experience with onboarding the product, and their interactions with tech support and customer service representatives.
Forget Sales. Create a Customer-Focused Experience
“But we focused on giving customers a fast, seamless solution that just works—and that worked for us.”
Because the cloud can reduce onboarding time to mere minutes, the focus for company growth should be investing in customer service and support professionals. Investing and training these professionals to consider any and all possible scenarios that occur or questions a customer may have about the product will inevitably bring customers one-step closer to buying your product.
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