Going from one client to more than 300 in seven years isn’t something that happens by accident.

Winnipeg IT firm Broadview Networks has used a strong commitment to customer relations management and investing in employee knowledge to become one of Canada’s leading providers of service, support and products in the field of computer networking.

“Our customer relations management isn’t just about tracking sales calls,” says David Reimer, manager of sales and marketing and one of three partners in the firm. “It’s about service. We do regular calls to find out how things are going and if there’s an issue, we bring it to senior management.”

Company president Michael Orloff, who helped to develop Broadview’s initial CRM system, points to colour-coded printouts in which relationships with all the customers are tracked in a green, yellow and red system – with red indicating something that needs immediate attention.

The emphasis on customer relations means that a client’s entire history with the company is tracked, so that staff know everything Broadview has done for a client and every issue that has ever come up.

“We have a good handle on where we are with customers and where we need to repair things,” says Orloff, noting as well that customers have access to a secure internet portal to monitor all aspects of their purchases, from the status of projects to the amount of time they have left on software licences.

The firm’s approach to customer relations also means sending technical staff out on calls along with sales staff. Technical staff are able to identify ways they can help potential clients, says Reimer, rather than waiting for a client to identify a need. It’s an approach that shortens the sales cycle.

“Most technology companies sell to the old clients, they focus on farming rather than hunting,” says Reimer. “We create an opportunity for ourselves. We ask about the client’s business and say ‘here are the tools we can use for that.’”

That partnership between sales and technical staff is symbolic of the company itself. Broadview Networks started when Orloff and his former schoolmate Tyson Choptain decided to bring their expertise in business administration and computer technology together.

“Very early, we realized that sales were going to inspire a lot of our growth,” says Choptain. The duo became a trio when Reimer, with a sales background in the computer industry, joined the team.

Today, the three – ranging in age from 36 to 38 – combine their management, sales and technological expertise to chart the company’s growth through annual strategic planning retreats, notes Orloff Broadview Networks focuses on network services: providing the hardware and software and expertise to connect a firm’s computers and portable devices securely and efficiently.

The firm’s smallest clients have as few as five compute users, while at the upper end it works with governments and other public sector entities with 5,000 users.

“Our sweet spot is probably 250 users,” says Choptain. “For smaller companies, we’re acting as their IT department. For a medium-sized client, we’re providing them with the next level of support – they have an IT department of generalists that provides their continuing needs but we provide special expertise. For a larger organization, they have a huge IT department – we’ll come in a do a very specific project.”

Clients turn to Broadview for a number of network needs. Broadview provides hardware such as computers and switching devices, help firms upgrade to new software and advises firms on systems and software.

Just as customer relations are key to the firm’s growth, so too are vendor relations. Orloff says Broadview Networks seeks out vendors with which it can have effective, long-term relationships.

“We don’t start providing and supporting a new product just because it’s new,” adds Reimer. “It has to show value to customers.”

The company has also grown by focusing on its core business.

Broadview Networks isn’t in the application business, so it’s not trying to compete in markets such as specific software for financial management or sector-specific software tools for health care. The firm does deal with Microsoft’s Client Relations Management software, but that’s just because it has built up enough in-house expertise with a CRM philosophy to make that natural. The company also has a separate division – Broadview Media – that does web design, but the two divisions use different staff members with their own areas of speciality.

The firm’s clients include all aspects of the private and public sectors, including the YM-YWCA, Puratone Corporation, Brett Young Seeds, the Manitoba Centennial Centre Corporation and the Winnipeg School Division.

Growth in employees, revenues and number of clients has been accompanied by technical achievements in the field.

Broadview Networks was a finalist in 2007 in the Microsoft Partner Program IMPACT Awards for networking infrastructures solutions. The firm has also been identified by Microsoft as one of the top-ranked Gold Partners in Canada, meaning its staff have certified expertise from the Redmond, Washington, software giant.

Thirteen of the firm’s employees are Microsoft Certified Professionals, covering eight different competencies. Staff also have certification from other major technology companies, including Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard, Fortinet and IBM.

Investing in staff has been key to the firm’s growth from day one. Often, Broadview Networks workers will get advance training on new software a year before it goes into general release.

The company also invests in employee communication and human resources, says Orloff, pointing to the detailed information at every worker’s fingertips on their company intranet. Making Broadview a good place to work is essential in an industry where highly skilled workers are always in demand, he says.

Those efforts won the company fourth place on Manitoba Business’s list of the 50 fastest growing companies in Manitoba earlier this year, thanks to growth in revenues of 377 per cent (to more than $3.7 million) in three years.

With 22 employees, including the three partners, Broadview has twice outgrown premises along Pembina Highway. In February the firm moved to a new location on Taylor Avenue, which the partners believe will accommodate foreseeable growth.

“Our long-term strategy isn’t to outgrow this place,” says Choptain. After five years of rapid growth in staffing and revenue, the company’s founders believe they’re now at the point where they continue building revenue with only moderate increases in staffing.