Hobnobbing with Gareth James from Intilery

We hobnob with Gareth James from Intilery about new offices and new ventures across seas! 

So, what does Intilery do?

We are the digital equivalent of walking into a store.

A person who walks into a store will be greeted by an employee who will say ‘hello I am Gareth, how can I help you today?’ they will then assist you with what you need throughout that visit in the store. So we will learn the behaviours, the interests, things that you need – not just the products they are trying to sell you but, what you need to know and how they can be helpful. They will send you the right information at the right time and present the right services and products all by digitally listening to what they think you understand. Although Intilery is online we do this because whilst many businesses have moved online they have lost that personal service. People don’t want to be treated like everyone else, they want that unique experience, so we provide technology that allows the company to do that so that they can make the most out of their customers.

How did the idea for the business come about?

I have been in the B2C and internet world for 15 years. Whilst I was working, I searched for a solution like Intilery. I wanted something that was easy to use and easy to integrate which didn’t require us to buy lots of different packages to then try and stitch them together and software that didn’t entirely exist on the market.

So, I had this idea that I would start a company that could provide what we do with a very low overhead in terms of what we need from our customers. We put a single code on your website and take it from there. There was definitely a need for something like this and I saw that. Other companies were not providing a service like this so I decided to do it myself.

When was the company first established?

It was established during the start of 2012, so just over four years ago!

How is the business doing?

The business is doing very well. We have always been a profitable company and we have no debt! Intilery is an organically grown company and we are in a very strong position where we have had people trying to invest in us but we don’t want that! We are now up to 22 employees and we work with a number of large international and UK brands. We have roughly 30+ customers waiting in the pipeline who we are talking to. We also opened up an office in London last year where we do sales meetings and we are planning to expand by opening up an office up in the USA – hopefully later on this year.

Since the company began, what has been the biggest challenge?

In the early days it was getting those large customers and by large I mean the size of their business. We originally started off with hundreds if not thousands of small companies who were using our software, but we decided that we were going to change that to having fewer but larger companies.

Gaining those large companies was a challenge – it meant they had to have faith in us – a small company which is powering some of the largest brands out there. We basically power their entire CRM strategy and they had to put a lot of trust in us to do that and we haven’t lost those customers which is a lovely feeling to have, I guess it just proves us right!

What makes you stand out from your competitors?

Well there are three main areas where we stand out;

First of all, we are a service and a technology company and what I mean by that is, a lot of companies will just tell you about the technology and give you a little bit of training here and there on it and then leave you to it, even if you are not ready! Intilery becomes an extension of the company, we work with you to execute your goals through using our technology. There may be times where we might transition that to your business and if you like it then we are happy to continue executing it for you.

Secondly, our platform was built from the ground up, and it is fully integrated across all the channels We support alongside call centres, physical store locations, emails, SMS, push messaging – essentially every way in which you could talk/communicate with a customer or vice versa. It has all been built on the ground of a single platform. Our larger competitors have bought the companies and tried to stitch them together and obviously, that comes with complications.

And finally, we stand out because of our efficiency in terms of being responsive to our clients needs - fast.’ If a company signs up with us, within two weeks they will be in the middle of their first campaign and doing something pretty clever which will generate revenue. We pride ourselves on that, the dedication we have to our customers so that they can start or continue to make money as soon as possible.

What’s been your best business decision?

I normally get asked what has been the worst business decision! My best has to be asking my Co-Founder, Tom McMillan, to join the business. To me, he is an absolute genius and I don’t think we could be where we are now without him. Tom has to be my best business decision so far.

What is next for Intilery?

At the moment we are really pushing on with our marketing, we have rebranded the business and our site and although we have kept our brand name, we are now able to better communicate what we are all about and where we are going. The new website went live on the 4^th of March and now we are really keen to create more brand awareness. Previously we have been doing that through networking and now we are running a number of marketing campaigns.

We are also planning something which is all very hush hush at the moment which will take place at either the end of this year or the beginning of the next, the only thing I will say is that it involves a big national event, which will create a lot of exposure for our brand, but that is all I am saying for now!

Currently, we have been really focused on our growth and we expect our team to double in size to at least 40 members of staff this year, and we will then continue to double our size for the foreseeable future!

If you could help one business now with a single piece of advice, what would it be?

In most businesses there are untapped revenue streams or opportunities that businesses are just not executing because they either, don’t have the confidence or the technology or in some cases, something might be holding them back.

The easiest way to grow your business is through investing in your existing operations or your customer base to grow. It is really hard to get new customers or onto new territories and things can be very difficult. Simply, look at what you do and do it better and that could really make a huge difference!

Finally, Gareth what is your favourite biscuit?

The king of biscuits! A Garibaldi!