As part of our ongoing series of talking to clients and friends of KN+S, we sat down with Scott Chamberlin, a head banker from the technology practice at Cambridge Trust, to talk about his experiences so far.
Scott, thanks so much for doing this. We hope everyone is healthy and sane in your world. We wanted to start by getting your perspective on how your tech clients are performing during the Pandemic.
Thanks, Jeff. We are surviving. Related to our clients, some of our clients like those focused more on B2B customers have been doing great. We have another client that is in the education business and had a phenomenal 2019 and then business came to a grinding halt when schools were canceled. They are venture-backed so they will survive, but it is an interesting and challenging time for them due to the market they sell into.
The majority of our clients who were eligible for PPP took the funds and most of the loans will be fully forgiven. A couple of our clients gave the money back before the deadline as the rules were becoming stricter in real-time. For a couple of our clients, PPP was a lifeline so that they did not have to make deeper personnel cuts. Our focus has historically been on B2B SaaS-based business and that sector has held up better than some. Overall, I think our portfolio clients have weathered nicely. But then again we don’t bank retail or restaurants in our group.
So how did your banking business get impacted during the first few months of COVID?
As a bank, we spent nearly every day of the week processing PPP loans while at the same time trying to judge the health of our portfolio. It was all about customer service and helping our clients. That took up most of our spring for sure!
How have your staff and clients reacted? Has your top line taken a hit?
The staff and clients have been fantastic. Our IT department did a great job transitioning most staff to WFH (working from home). It has been an easy transition overall.
Do you foresee this improving over the coming months? For the nation and your company?
Personally, I do not see this improving greatly until there is a working vaccine or therapeutic. The economy at the moment is clearly bifurcated. There are companies doing great and others who have had their business model comet to a standstill. Our mortgage business has more business than it can handle due to the historically low-interest rates. There are two distinct segments of the business world right now-winners and losers due to the virus.
Has the use of technology been a key to survival? What are you using?
Our group has been set up for remote work for a number of years so there has not been much of an impact. We just purchased Pitchbook which we intend to use heavily going forward. It’s a great resource for our clients. We are out there looking for more deals for sure!!
What have you personally struggled with the most as one of the leaders of your company?
The biggest thing for me and what I think about the most is how do you grow the business assuming that things don’t get back to normal until 2021/2022? What digital tools are out there that can help facilitate business?
There will be banks that excel during this timeframe. The key question is who will do the better job getting the message out? The other question is how do you expand relationships with given the current dynamic. We are brainstorming internally and will find a good answer I am confident. As the pandemic has dragged on, I think most of our colleagues are just exhausted. We care about our clients and are talking to them daily. The real question is how do you keep people motivated to find that extra opportunity that leads to growth? I am sure we are all striving to find this answer. Cambridge Trust and our group I know are well positioned in the space to continue to grow as well.
Scott thanks for your words and insights. We wish you all continued success at Cambridge Trust and thanks for being a fan of KN+S.
We also sat down with Rob Johnson, CFO at IANS Research. IANS Research is a clear-headed resource for decision-making and articulating risk. The Company provides experience-based security insights for Chief Information Security Officers and their teams. The core of their value comes from the IANS Faculty, a network of seasoned practitioners.
Rob thanks for doing this. We hope you are doing well. Can you start off by telling us how IANS got impacted during the first few months of COVID?
The biggest impact was in how we worked, moving to completely online on March 13th. Fortunately, we have an infrastructure that made this a relatively easy transition. We also had to reschedule all of our live events to the second half of 2020 and convert them to virtual events.
Rob, how have your staff and clients reacted? Has your top line taken a hit?
Our team is holding up as well as possible. It took a few weeks for us to get used to the “new normal” but once we did people got back to producing, in fact in Q2 our Client Services team had their best quarter ever in terms of our “Ask an Expert” call scores (which is a key metric for that team). Both revenue and bookings certainly took a hit and while we think it will improve over the second half of 2020, we expect both to trail our plan numbers for the year.
Do you foresee this improving over the coming months? For the nation and IANS in particular?
We provide Research and Advisory Services in the information security space. We believe that some of the changes that will come about because of COVD 19, specifically the company’s increased information security footprint as they allow for more remote work, will certainly benefit us over time. Whether that is the back half of 2020 or in 2021 we are not sure. In terms of the nation, I think the Fed has done an exceptional job of alleviating concerns around liquidity and that has allowed us to keep the economy moving. I’m concerned to see what happens with the unemployment numbers as companies reach their PPP threshold and what happens with the markets when investors start looking at earnings again (instead of liquidity).
Has the use of technology been a key to survival? What are you using?
We rely heavily on technology but I preferred not to specify (remember we are an IT security company!). Rob told KN+S that if he told us he would have to kill us all!!
What have you personally struggled with the most as one of the leaders of your Company?
For me, it’s three things: liquidity, culture, and productivity.
- We were able to address liquidity early on and believe we have put ourselves in a position to weather even a deep downturn in the economy. We run a very conservative approach to managing our business.
- Our culture always has been and continues to be one of the biggest assets and it is something we invest a lot of time and resources in. Finding new and fun ways to get our team together and keep everyone safe is definitely a struggle (there’s only so many online happy hours I can host before my wife sends me to AA).
- In terms of productivity, I know we have the infrastructure that will allow people to be productive, but the quarantine has been and will continue to be a grind. Different people react differently to it and have many different obstacles (i.e. working spouse, young kids at home, multiple roommates all working from home, etc.). We need to understand how people are doing and where they are struggling and then focus on what our company can do to help them be successful.
Other thoughts you think are important to mention?
For me, it’s the idea that throughout this time has become somewhat abstract. I can’t compartmentalize my life as much as I could in “normal” times. Instead, I understand that there are certain things that need to get done every day/week in regards to my family/work/fitness and when they happen is not important, it only matters that they get done.
Rob thanks for your candor and incredible comments. Stay safe.
We also reached out to Circle Furniture and chatted with their CEO, Harold Tubman. Circle is a high-end furniture retailer 7 unit multi-location retailer with sites throughout Massachusetts. They have been in business for over 70 years.
Harold thanks for doing this. We hope you are all fine. Please start out by telling us how Circle was impacted during the first few months of COVID?
Thanks Jeff. We are hanging in. Circle furniture felt the impact of COVID immediately when we were ordered to close our doors by the Governor. In years past we may have closed for an occasional snowstorm for a day or two but the idea of closing for an indefinite period of time was far from anything we could imagine. We were in the midst of recruiting new staff and suddenly we were faced with the difficult decision of furloughs. We ultimately furloughed all our store managers and design associates in the stores. We did bring the store managers back to handle the phones and maintain contact with our customers.
How have your staff and clients reacted? Has your top line taken a hit?
It has been a difficult time for both Circle employees and customers. Our store managers kept the lines of communication open with customers but questions were difficult to answer with any certainty when are you going to open, when is my furniture going to arrive and can I come to the store were some of the more common questions. Of course, there were no answers but having people answer the phones reassured clients we were still viable and willing to speak with them. The year started strong and we were optimistic it would be a strong year. When you close the doors revenue stops quickly and the future did not look bright. Not knowing how long we would be closed added to our anxiety.
Do you foresee this situation improving over the coming months? For the country and for Circle Furniture?
We now have all our employees back and sales have been steady but there are still issues. We are a special order stores and we have sold merchandise that has arrived but people are reluctant to let a delivery crew enter their home. We will now leave furniture in the garage or outside if a customer request or hold items until they are comfortable with accepting delivery. When we do venture in the home it is a new world of mask, gloves, and sanitizer. It is difficult to predict what will happen in the future, but I am optimistic a vaccine will be discovered and the country can move on to the new normal. Hopefully, we do not have round two of COVID and we will continue to rebuild the economy.
Has the use of technology been a key to survival? What are you using Harold at Circle that was impactful?
Technology was key to our survival. Aside from answering the phone, our staff was engaging with customers on Zoom and FaceTime or anyway the client was comfortable.
If we could not have customers in the stores than we had to bring the stores to the customers. We did live chats and virtual house calls multiple times throughout the day. Our staff works with iPads so they have the availability to catalogs, price list, email, zoom, or whatever else they need to assist a client.
What have you personally struggled with as a leader of Circle Furniture?
Personally, I struggle with what’s next? Our goal is to come through this very tough time we are facing. I feel a responsibility to our employees and their families. We are fortunate we have many long time and dedicated people that are helping to get us through these times and I feel we owe it to them to keep business moving forward.
Lastly Harold, any other thoughts you think are important to mention?
I am optimistic that this will end soon and a vaccine will be developed soon, unfortunately, we small business taking a huge drop and many will not survive. We are all looking forward to the day that we can see someone without a mask and go to a restaurant or event without fear of COVID.
Thanks Harold. I know under your insightful leadership you and Circle will continue to endure. We appreciate your time.