Matt Stoyka, Founder and CEO of San Diego-based RelationEdge, says leadership decided to put the word "relation" in the business name because relationships are the most important thing the firm has.
"The relationship with our clients, of course, but also we want to be able to help our clients manage their relationship with their customers," Stoyka says. "I think we're a very pragmatic group of people. We are about solving problems from the very first client conversation. Our tagline is 'Process First; Technology Second.' Most technology deployments fail because of a lack of focus on business process. That resonates both with clients and with our employees."
Stoyka says he looks at the work the firm does not only as consulting but also as a long-term deep relationship with the customer where "we're constantly creating value for our customers. We are focused on implementing technology solutions that are simple to use, but provide powerful information that drives our clients' business."
RelationEdge is a leader in the Salesforce ecosystem, and one of the only consulting partners who provide companies a full-service solution, he says. The firm also has a full-service service digital marketing agency that assists with a variety of activities around lead creation and nurturing.
Stoyka began his career working in an IT services firm, eventually becoming an owner. "I've always been in the technology services space and that's how I became involved with Salesforce and discovered the power of the platform. I realized we could help others with the same problems I was solving. That's how RelationEdge was born," he says.
The firm was officially launched in 2013 in San Diego. "We cemented our model here in Southern California, and we realized that a key to our success was that we were hyper local, able to build great relationships and that differentiated us from others in the Salesforce ecosystem," he says.
Because of that early success, Salesforce approached Stoyka about expanding. In late 2014, the firm set up shop in Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago. In 2015, it was Denver. In late 2016, the firm opened New York and San Francisco, "two huge markets that really accelerated the growth."
And the business was starting to mature, Stoyka says. "We became one of the top Salesforce partners and the basic blocking and tackling we had been doing started to take root everywhere."
That led to 87 percent growth in 2017 and Stoyka is projecting another 60 percent growth this year. While going from $18.8 million to $30 million seems daunting, it's less so, Stoyka says, because the business is already on a $2 million a month run rate.
To reach that goal, the firm is also planning to add 51 new hires this year. It's no surprise then, that RelationEdge just hired its third full-time recruiter. Also, employees continue to be great ambassadors for the firm and many new hires come through referrals, he says. And the firm is developing a university-based intern program so it can bring some recent graduates into the firm.
In October last year, RelationEdge acquired a digital agency and developed a marketing cloud practice, "a whole offering we didn't even have in 2017," he says.
"I think RelationEdge could be a $50 million firm within the next few years," Stoyka says. "That would come by the continuing maturation of our existing business, additional solution capabilities and probably international expansion. There's a real opportunity there, I think."
Headquarters: San Diego
Additional Offices: Atlanta, Chicago, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Irvine, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and New York Metro
Service Lines: IT
Client Industries: Manufacturing, Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Energy
Billable Consultants
2016: 66
2017: 84
2018 (projected): 135
Revenue (in millions)
2016: $10.1
2017: $18.8
2018 (projected): $30
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