Interview with Peter Adams, Director of Sales, SYCLE.net
Share:
Topic: Overview of Sycle
Paul Dybala: Hello, everyone. This is Dr. Paul Dybala with Audiology Online. Today I'm talking to Peter Adams from Sycle.net. Welcome, and thanks for taking time to talk with me today.
Peter Adams: Thanks so much. I appreciate the opportunity.
Dybala: Sycle.net is a completely Web-based practice management software. It's actually unique to the industry, a first in the industry. And I believe you are still the primary company providing Web-based practice management software, correct?
Adams: We are the primary company and the only one that is completely web based. And, Sycle is the only independently run practice management system hosted on the Web, and we're also the number one practice management system in the hearing care industry.
Banner ad from www.sycle.net
Dybala: Excellent. What I want to do now, if you could, especially for those who may not be familiar with Sycle, just give just a little bit of background on what you do for Sycle. And then, as a larger piece, give a little bit of background about Sycle in general.
Adams: Okay. I am the Director of Sales here at Sycle. I've been with the company four years. Sycle has been around for five or six years now, and we've seen a lot of growth, like I just mentioned, becoming the number one hearing care practice management system.
And really, what does set Sycle apart, like you just mentioned, is the Web-hosted factor. It's what we call "software as a service." It prevents people from having to spend tons of money on servers and hardware. With Sycle, you pay a low monthly fee and you're able to access software from any computer with an Internet connection.
We also have several integrated marketing features that really set Sycle apart. That's really what Sycle was born out of, this desire to help hearing professionals market and manage their businesses more efficiently.
We have a lot of automated CRM, customer relationship mail, such as birthday cards and thank you notes, which are completely automated. Our customers as business owners or professionals don't even have to lick a stamp or send the envelope. It's all managed from our mailing house and hard-coded in the system. It's pretty fascinating the way all this transpires.
CRM screenshot from Sycle.net
Overall, the goal of the system is to increase efficiency, and we accomplish this by eliminating as much double entry as possible and by automating as many processes and tasks as we can.
Dybala: I would think that would be a huge, huge advantage for practice owners.
Adams: It absolutely is. It's a very technical industry, and there's a lot of paperwork that needs to be done, whether its order forms, purchase agreements, or customer correspondence. With Sycle being Web-hosted online, we've been able to really create an office suite for hearing care professionals that allows them to have one hub, one database, one system to maintain and store all of that information.
Dybala: Now, one of the things you had mentioned the BTE inventory. BTEs outsold ITE devices last year for the first time since the 1980s, so I can see how this has become an important feature for practice owners. Can you go into a little detail on that?
Adams: Sure. We've had it around for a little while now but the BTE inventory is a great example of how Sycle is able to adjust and grow as the industry grows and changes. We had our customers come to us a while back and say, "We're doing a lot more open fittings, and we're fitting a lot more BTEs. We need something to track these inventories, to keep track of what we have in stock and what is on loan."
So by getting feedback from out customers, we were able to design the module as they wanted it. We were able to push that feature live to the Web, and everyone gets the benefit of that for free. And then from there, we were able to expand our reporting capabilities, so now customers are able to have a dashboard and see what's in inventory, whether they have one or 30 locations, and even transfer inventory from one office to another.
That's been a huge new project that we've seen progress over the past two to three years. It's really nice for our customers and those who use Sycle to have a system that is evolving with the industry.
Dybala: I can see what's great about that, too. Since you are Web-based, instead of having to send out CDs or DVDs to all your clientele for new downloads as your software is updated, essentially, when they log in, new features such as this, are already there and automatically implemented. To me, this seems like a big time-saver as far as not having to keep track of that.
Adams: It is great. To get started on Sycle, all our customers need is a basic Internet connection, and they're up and running. And, yes, everyone gets an e-mail that lands in their inbox telling them about the new features. As I said, software as a service, so we do provide all our customers with free training and support.
We let them know what new features are out there, whether it's a new referral report or a BTE inventory, or something like that. We strongly encourage them to give us a call and schedule half-an-hour on the phone with one of our trainers, and we'll run them through everything that we added to the system.
Dybala: That's great. And I would think with this that one of the key components is support. You mentioned available training for when a new feature comes out, but what about support in general? What are the type of hours and support that you have for professionals who may work all day and only have time at night?
Adams: We pride ourselves on our support and training teams here. They're great individuals. We actually operate our office on Central Standard Time so that it's easily accessible for people on the East Coast, or offices here on the West Coast.
We've got standard support hours running throughout the day, but we also have our support team equipped with mobile devices so that in those situations where it's an urgent matter, whether it be the end of the quarter or late at night, those support representatives are available 24/7.
Dybala: One of the things I wanted to talk to you about is how you have surveyed your customers on their satisfaction with the system, on how they've been able use it, and what their favorite features are, et cetera. You and I are sitting here talking about Sycle being efficient and advantages to using these things, but, of course, it's always good to hear from your own customers.
Could you share some of that data with me? How do customers perceive this as far as being satisfied with how the system works?
Adams: We've done a couple surveys in the past, and are really thrilled with our most recent one. We surveyed our customers, and of those who responded 95% said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the Sycle system. And 95% also said that they would recommend it to someone else, and out of those, 50% actually already had.
Those are really impressive numbers that we were thrilled to see.
Dybala: What are some of the stories you have heard about, "I started using Sycle and..." How have people actually seen it impact their business?
Adams: Well, people definitely have seen it impact their business, I can tell you that. This is one of the most rewarding things in the position that I'm in here. Not a week goes by that I don't get contacted by a few of our current customers who have been using Sycle now for six months up to two or three years, saying, "You know what? We're opening our second, or third, or fifth, or tenth location. And we want to expand and get Sycle in there, as well."
It's been really great, especially for growing businesses like that. Because of the flexibility and ease of Web hosting, a customer can call us in the morning and say they just opened a new office, and by noon they're booking patients, using Sycle in that new location.
In addition to that- just general sales figures- in another recent survey, customers reported seeing an increase in unit sales of anywhere from 10-20% since implementing Sycle. They're also booking and completing anywhere from two to five more appointments per week. So if you're completing five appointments per week, and those are sales opportunities, you can do a simple close rate factor to see how that's going to affect your sales.
We were so thrilled by those numbers that we actually went back to a lot of respondents, and asked, "What is it about Sycle specifically that you think has affected your sales so positively? And has it affected your efficiency and appointment booking abilities?"
I would have to say that our integrated features were something that came up repeatedly. For instance, Sycle has a feature called call-back reminders. We've developed a really interesting way of reminding practitioners what patients need to be followed up with and which patients need call backs. Really, we've designed a system that constantly steers the sales opportunities back to the eyes of the business owners, making sure that those people are followed up with and kept in close contact.
Dybala: Well, Peter, thank you so much for visiting with me today. I want to encourage everyone, if you want more information about Sycle, you can go their Web site at www.sycle.net and check it out. They have informational videos where they give examples of business reports, referral marketing lists, all kinds of different features.
We also have a Web channel dedicated to Sycle here on Audiology Online that can be found at www.audiologyonline.com/channels/sycle.net.asp. Here you can find some e-learning courses related specifically to Sycle and some of the things we have talked about today. It's a really great model, a great piece of software, and I see it as a great tool.
So thanks, Peter, for coming online and speaking with me today.
Adams: No problem. Thanks so much, Paul, I appreciate it.
Peter Adams: Thanks so much. I appreciate the opportunity.
Dybala: Sycle.net is a completely Web-based practice management software. It's actually unique to the industry, a first in the industry. And I believe you are still the primary company providing Web-based practice management software, correct?
Adams: We are the primary company and the only one that is completely web based. And, Sycle is the only independently run practice management system hosted on the Web, and we're also the number one practice management system in the hearing care industry.
Banner ad from www.sycle.net
Dybala: Excellent. What I want to do now, if you could, especially for those who may not be familiar with Sycle, just give just a little bit of background on what you do for Sycle. And then, as a larger piece, give a little bit of background about Sycle in general.
Adams: Okay. I am the Director of Sales here at Sycle. I've been with the company four years. Sycle has been around for five or six years now, and we've seen a lot of growth, like I just mentioned, becoming the number one hearing care practice management system.
And really, what does set Sycle apart, like you just mentioned, is the Web-hosted factor. It's what we call "software as a service." It prevents people from having to spend tons of money on servers and hardware. With Sycle, you pay a low monthly fee and you're able to access software from any computer with an Internet connection.
We also have several integrated marketing features that really set Sycle apart. That's really what Sycle was born out of, this desire to help hearing professionals market and manage their businesses more efficiently.
We have a lot of automated CRM, customer relationship mail, such as birthday cards and thank you notes, which are completely automated. Our customers as business owners or professionals don't even have to lick a stamp or send the envelope. It's all managed from our mailing house and hard-coded in the system. It's pretty fascinating the way all this transpires.
CRM screenshot from Sycle.net
Overall, the goal of the system is to increase efficiency, and we accomplish this by eliminating as much double entry as possible and by automating as many processes and tasks as we can.
Dybala: I would think that would be a huge, huge advantage for practice owners.
Adams: It absolutely is. It's a very technical industry, and there's a lot of paperwork that needs to be done, whether its order forms, purchase agreements, or customer correspondence. With Sycle being Web-hosted online, we've been able to really create an office suite for hearing care professionals that allows them to have one hub, one database, one system to maintain and store all of that information.
Dybala: Now, one of the things you had mentioned the BTE inventory. BTEs outsold ITE devices last year for the first time since the 1980s, so I can see how this has become an important feature for practice owners. Can you go into a little detail on that?
Adams: Sure. We've had it around for a little while now but the BTE inventory is a great example of how Sycle is able to adjust and grow as the industry grows and changes. We had our customers come to us a while back and say, "We're doing a lot more open fittings, and we're fitting a lot more BTEs. We need something to track these inventories, to keep track of what we have in stock and what is on loan."
So by getting feedback from out customers, we were able to design the module as they wanted it. We were able to push that feature live to the Web, and everyone gets the benefit of that for free. And then from there, we were able to expand our reporting capabilities, so now customers are able to have a dashboard and see what's in inventory, whether they have one or 30 locations, and even transfer inventory from one office to another.
That's been a huge new project that we've seen progress over the past two to three years. It's really nice for our customers and those who use Sycle to have a system that is evolving with the industry.
Dybala: I can see what's great about that, too. Since you are Web-based, instead of having to send out CDs or DVDs to all your clientele for new downloads as your software is updated, essentially, when they log in, new features such as this, are already there and automatically implemented. To me, this seems like a big time-saver as far as not having to keep track of that.
Adams: It is great. To get started on Sycle, all our customers need is a basic Internet connection, and they're up and running. And, yes, everyone gets an e-mail that lands in their inbox telling them about the new features. As I said, software as a service, so we do provide all our customers with free training and support.
We let them know what new features are out there, whether it's a new referral report or a BTE inventory, or something like that. We strongly encourage them to give us a call and schedule half-an-hour on the phone with one of our trainers, and we'll run them through everything that we added to the system.
Dybala: That's great. And I would think with this that one of the key components is support. You mentioned available training for when a new feature comes out, but what about support in general? What are the type of hours and support that you have for professionals who may work all day and only have time at night?
Adams: We pride ourselves on our support and training teams here. They're great individuals. We actually operate our office on Central Standard Time so that it's easily accessible for people on the East Coast, or offices here on the West Coast.
We've got standard support hours running throughout the day, but we also have our support team equipped with mobile devices so that in those situations where it's an urgent matter, whether it be the end of the quarter or late at night, those support representatives are available 24/7.
Dybala: One of the things I wanted to talk to you about is how you have surveyed your customers on their satisfaction with the system, on how they've been able use it, and what their favorite features are, et cetera. You and I are sitting here talking about Sycle being efficient and advantages to using these things, but, of course, it's always good to hear from your own customers.
Could you share some of that data with me? How do customers perceive this as far as being satisfied with how the system works?
Adams: We've done a couple surveys in the past, and are really thrilled with our most recent one. We surveyed our customers, and of those who responded 95% said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the Sycle system. And 95% also said that they would recommend it to someone else, and out of those, 50% actually already had.
Those are really impressive numbers that we were thrilled to see.
Dybala: What are some of the stories you have heard about, "I started using Sycle and..." How have people actually seen it impact their business?
Adams: Well, people definitely have seen it impact their business, I can tell you that. This is one of the most rewarding things in the position that I'm in here. Not a week goes by that I don't get contacted by a few of our current customers who have been using Sycle now for six months up to two or three years, saying, "You know what? We're opening our second, or third, or fifth, or tenth location. And we want to expand and get Sycle in there, as well."
It's been really great, especially for growing businesses like that. Because of the flexibility and ease of Web hosting, a customer can call us in the morning and say they just opened a new office, and by noon they're booking patients, using Sycle in that new location.
In addition to that- just general sales figures- in another recent survey, customers reported seeing an increase in unit sales of anywhere from 10-20% since implementing Sycle. They're also booking and completing anywhere from two to five more appointments per week. So if you're completing five appointments per week, and those are sales opportunities, you can do a simple close rate factor to see how that's going to affect your sales.
We were so thrilled by those numbers that we actually went back to a lot of respondents, and asked, "What is it about Sycle specifically that you think has affected your sales so positively? And has it affected your efficiency and appointment booking abilities?"
I would have to say that our integrated features were something that came up repeatedly. For instance, Sycle has a feature called call-back reminders. We've developed a really interesting way of reminding practitioners what patients need to be followed up with and which patients need call backs. Really, we've designed a system that constantly steers the sales opportunities back to the eyes of the business owners, making sure that those people are followed up with and kept in close contact.
Dybala: Well, Peter, thank you so much for visiting with me today. I want to encourage everyone, if you want more information about Sycle, you can go their Web site at www.sycle.net and check it out. They have informational videos where they give examples of business reports, referral marketing lists, all kinds of different features.
We also have a Web channel dedicated to Sycle here on Audiology Online that can be found at www.audiologyonline.com/channels/sycle.net.asp. Here you can find some e-learning courses related specifically to Sycle and some of the things we have talked about today. It's a really great model, a great piece of software, and I see it as a great tool.
So thanks, Peter, for coming online and speaking with me today.
Adams: No problem. Thanks so much, Paul, I appreciate it.
Peter Adams
Director of Sales and Marketing