Feature interview: Noel Simpson, Lexel Systems - Service Delivery Award Winner 2011
It’s all about Excellence
There are some fascinating stories in business. The interesting thing about profiling successful businesses and interviewing high achieving business people, are the many different paths they take. One such business is Albany based Information Technology business Lexel Systems. This is the story about a father starting a business in the spare bedroom of his Mairangi Bay home and growing it to a home-based annual turnover of $8 million, with a staff of 12 people. In fact the business proved so successful that he needed to move out of home and buy a commercial building. Things were trucking along nicely until a year-or-so later he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, that meant stepping out of the business and letting his son take over. His world was turned upside-down. Fast-forward another decade and that same business is close to turning over $50 million a year. They’re still in that building, but growth has meant the builders were called in a few years ago and the size of it has tripled. There are now over 140 people on the staff and the founding father is back and proudly playing a key role as Executive Chairman of the business. The Business Channel’s Aidan Bennett was despatched to the Lexel Systems base in Paul Matthews Road in Albany to get the full story.
I knew very little about Lexel Systems before going to visit CEO Noel Simpson for the purpose of this story in early August. All I knew was that they were finalists in the Service category of the Westpac Auckland North Business Awards and had impressed
the judges.
It was Noel’s father Chris who founded the company in his spare bedroom back in 1987. Noel was one of the team who used to work from his family home all those years ago. I had never met him before and he could be best described as modest and level-headed. It’s pretty obvious that his leadership has played a massive role in the impressive growth of the business since he stepped into his Dad’s shoes a little over a decade ago. It’s quite clear that he knows the business inside out. Noel was the first Sales rep for the business, then the first technician. The first Sales Manager, the first Technical Manager, the first CFO, then eventually CEO. Along the way he has completed a B.Com from Auckland University, majoring in Accounting. This followed an earlier National Certificate in Business.
The sign out the front of the building pays homage to the original name of the business. It reads “Lexel – formerly Computer Brokers Auckland Limited”. Although Noel was clear to point out that the original name never actually represented what the Company did. So I started my chat with Noel with the obvious question. What does Lexel mean? The answer was fascinating.
“Four years ago we decided that we needed a new name and identity,” explained Noel Simpson. “So I got 15 of our most marketing savvy people together for a workshop. We had a few beers and wines to relax and encourage the creativity and then set about coming up with a new name. After three hours we came to the conclusion that we really didn’t have a clue! It was simply not our area of expertise. So we put the task into the hands of an organisation called Brando, a small consultancy specialising in rebranding. They interviewed our staff and customers. They took us on a journey that helped to crystallise what we were and what our customers believed we were. They helped us to define our brand characteristics and values and came up with the name and the logo. Excellence was the key theme that came through during the process. So our name Lexel is derived from the word excellence.
So what does Lexel do you might ask?
Lexel Systems is an ICT infrastructure solutions provider, encompassing consulting, outsourcing, project management, business analysis, technical design, implementation, support services and procurement. Around 40% of the team are dedicated to the technical services business unit – providing technology services, designing and deploying solutions as well as managing the services and providing end user support. A further 40% of team is in the fast growing project management and business analysis (BA) business unit. The balances are involved in procurement and administration.
An average client for Lexel would be around the 250 to 750 (computer) seat mark. But they actually range from 50 seats through to 10,000 seats. Industry sectors include retail, education, the defence force and public utilities. Half the Lexel staff work from customer sites and spend very little time at the Albany HQ.
“We are large enough to have scale and capability, but not too big to have lost flexibility,” answers Noel Simpson, when asked about the strengths of the Lexel business. “We have a very good place in a market where the small players tend to lack resources and the larger are not very accessible or flexible.”
What sort of advertising and marketing does Lexel undertake?
“Our advertising and marketing has tended to be very low key as our customers are very targeted and specific,” says Noel.
This would explain why the brand is not so strong in the open market.
“We do very targeted DM campaigns, online e-marketing, quarterly client seminars and lots of one on one stuff. We tend to retain clients who we work closely with and who require constant consulting, servicing and upgrades at regular intervals.”
“This is the first time we have entered the Westpac Auckland North Business Awards as we have never been overly focused on broad based marketing and promotion. But over the last three years we have been building our new brand and entering the awards was part of this process. The Mitre 10 Excellence in Service Delivery Award category resonates with our brand values.”
“Our entry, which was prepared by Paul Alexander, who heads our Project Services division, revolves around our Values Based Resource Supply (VBRS) initiative. This is an innovative trademarked system which involves our customers scoring us on the quality of our offering and this score directly relates to what the customer pays us. This way we get constant feedback from our customers and we are able to fine tune our services very quickly if anything goes off the mark.
Our staff are also part of the process as there is a remuneration system that goes hand in hand. The way the customer scores has an impact on their remuneration. It means we are always in tune with what the customer is thinking and we are putting our wallets where our mouths are. Our business is based on excellence so it is important that we ‘walk the talk’.
Our entry is based around this because it is quite different from what others are doing. We have developed the entire system which includes a comprehensive online management tool, or portal, which we developed ourselves in-house. Paul came up with the idea and has been developing it and fine tuning it for three to four years. It is not something that our competitors could just switch on overnight for obvious reasons.”
What advice does Noel Simpson have for others with your experience in building a significant business?
“As I get older and wiser I see the importance of stepping out of the business to look at it from the outside. Involving other people to help you see that clearly is important. Three years ago I did an Icehouse owner/manager programme which involved removing myself from the business for nine months. I found it helped considerably. It allowed me to get out of the operational side and look at the business more strategically. Without doing this you can run into a glass ceiling. We are also putting an external advisory board in place and I believe it is also imperative that yearly strategic planning is done that is distinct from the operational stuff. You need to remove yourself from the day to day stuff to see the clear picture.”
Any big mistakes along the way?
Not one that sticks out. But what I have learnt is that any problems need to be dealt with straight away. The sooner you deal with them the sooner they will go away. If you think they will resolve themselves over time, you will learn like I have come to realise, that they won’t. At times I have procrastinated over a problem rather than making a decision and moving on with it.
What are the long term goals for Lexel?
“I am quite happy to continue to grow the business and see where it takes us. This growth will come through our existing channels and also by adding new capability which will take us into new areas. This has been the case with our project management and business analysis (BA) division. Four years ago we didn’t have this division and it has now grown to involve 60 staff, which has been a real area of growth for us.
Three years ago we set a goal to get to a turnover of $50 million and we are very close to getting there. The next step is $100 million. Initiatives like the external advisory board and what they bring to the table – their credibility and networks – will play a role in getting us towards this goal.”
Noel Simpson is married to Nina and they have two young children, aged three and five. Family is a big part of his release when he is away from work and he also has what he calls an ‘addiction’ to cars and motorsport which is a little on hold lately, due to having a young family. He has competed in many Targa Rally’s in the past.
Contact: Noel Simpson, CEO, Lexel Systems Ltd,
Email: noel.simpson@lexel.co.nz, Visit: www.lexel.co.nz
