SalesBid, a provider of online pricing solutions, has seen some changes at executive level. The company's former CEO Rael Levitt has become group executive of holding company, the Auction Alliance Group.
David Bloch, former merchant banker and one-time attorney, has stepped in to take the reigns as SalesBid's new CEO. ITWeb spoke to him about the challenges he faces in this new role.
"The transition has been very demanding. I've been a merchant banker for eight years, a lawyer before that, and now suddenly I'm running an Internet company - it's a hell of a transition! But it was a conscious decision to get into this exciting, revolutionary new field, and it's been fantastic."
I've been a merchant banker for eight years, a lawyer before that, and now suddenly I'm running an Internet company - it's a hell of a transition!
David Bloch, CEO, Salesbid
Bloch's primary function for the moment focuses strongly on revisiting SalesBid's strategic vision. He describes his tasks as being to raise second round finance, while developing business relationships in the industry, launching SalesBid from its established base to its next phase.
This phase, he says, might very well include some serious partnerships, joint ventures and eventual internationalisation.
The inherent dynamism of most Internet businesses has seen Bloch faced with unaccustomed decisions and he's addressed this by breaking the business up into various components.
"Things were not as organised as they should have been, when I came in. I'm very big on systems, and on focus - those are two things I feel quite strongly about. So what I've done is break up the business into sales, and operations proper, which incorporates the processes fulfilled by the middleware and front-end guys, through all required processes.
"Right at the very end, Jonathan Gluckman's designed a system based on job cards, really, so we can see exactly where we are with each job. A week later, we suddenly knew exactly where we were on everything. Jonathan, who's been with SalesBid from the very beginning, is in charge of managing that process, which has freed me up to do what I'm best at."
We don't have plush offices. The guys work hard, and everybody has an equity stake, and it keeps people focused; there's nothing like a bit of hunger to build camaraderie.
David Bloch, CEO, Salesbid
Bloch is focusing quite strongly on the company's sales model, which up to now, he says, has been run on rather an ad hoc approach.
"I prefer the top-down approach - you might as well go for the bigger guys to start with and then work your way down. There's less effort involved, because their Web sites are sophisticated, they already have an IT department, and it's a much more structured approach."
This means a short-term strategy of temporarily shifting SalesBid's focus off the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector - an industry sector at which it had previously targeted its offerings.
But, as Bloch says: "There aren't that many corporates in SA who are going to keep us busy for the next 12 months. I'll be focusing to some extent on the larger corporates - it's an arena in which I'm used to dealing. We're hiring two new consultants in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and they'll focus on the SME market. But again, the focus will be on larger enterprises within that demographic to start off with."
Despite the shift, Bloch places a lot of value on SalesBid's SME offering. "Technology alone will not be enough to sustain SalesBid. We've got a competitive advantage now, but that won't last forever. People will catch up - maybe even overtake in some instances. So you've got to have something else to offer, and I think our SME base will be that something else.
"We ultimately want to be primarily in the B2B space. But to get us into the B2B space properly, I think it will help if we have a strong SME base, which will allow for something more to offer to the exchanges, for example, and the procurement exchange in particular."
The company also has ambitious plans to drive itself overseas, but as Bloch notes regretfully, it won't be an independent drive at this stage.
"I think it'll be partially achieved through Commerce One SA, although, to be honest, we are still defining our relationship in that context."
Bloch also intimates at a partnership with London-based gateway aggregator Kapok, which plans to outsource its dynamic pricing functionality through SalesBid, and an agreement to plug SalesBid technology into some ventures embarked on by "a number of big local players" - several NDAs prevent him from elaborating.
But, as Bloch explains: "We don't have the resources right now to take ourselves overseas. I believe firmly that if you want to operate in a market, you've got to have a presence there. We're busy developing servers in the UK and the US, but that's not the answer - you've got to have people on the ground. And to put it quite bluntly, we can't afford it now.
"The business is generating income, which is encouraging. Protea Hotels will soon take its entire local contingent online with us, as will Hertz Rent-a-Car. So we are generating revenue, but we're still not in a profit-earning situation. But we run a pretty lean business as well.
"We don't have plush offices. The guys work hard, and everybody has an equity stake, and it keeps people focused; there's nothing like a bit of hunger to build camaraderie."
When asked if he has any advice to impart to old economy decision-makers grappling with new economy rules, Bloch immediately responds: "Learn the art of delegation. You can't do it all yourself. There's a lot to do, especially in a relatively young business. All of us believe we can do things a lot better than the people around us, and we often feel the need to prove ourselves, particularly if you're new at something.
"And the inclination is to try and be involved in every aspect, and I almost fell into that trap. But I think the better way is to work out very quickly who is good at what. Spreading responsibility frees you up to be more productive.
"The other lesson I learned very quickly is humility. Merchant bankers are by their nature quite an arrogant bunch, because you're dealing with the cream of the commercial crop and you soon start thinking you're one of the big guys too.
"I've learned a lot of humility in this new business; suddenly my phone calls aren't all being answered, and people aren't jumping to have meetings with me, and it's a brand new environment. You can either be shattered by it, and walk away with your tail between your legs, or you can just harness it a bit, and run with it, and not be defeated by it. Because it doesn't matter - if you've got something worthwhile to say, they'll soon work it out."
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