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Mitrefinch, Inc |
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July 1, 2019 Issue |
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CEOCFO MAGAZINE |
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Mitrefinch, Inc is providing Cloud Based and Mobile Time and Attendance Software Solutions with Clock-in/Clock out hardware that enable more efficient Employee Time Management and Tracking |
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US Sales Manager Mitrefinch, Inc
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor CEOCFO Magazine
CEOCFO: Mr. Bellotti, what is Mitrefinch? Mr. Bellotti: Mitrefinch is a time management system software that is built off of tracking time, attendance, hours, job costing, sort of an HCM (Human Capital Management) with HR capabilities, not a full HRIS (Human Resources Information System) Suite, but pretty much everything other than that, from an HR standpoint. We have foundation of software, hardware, a physical clock that goes on the wall, and combination of both, as well as mobile application for punching as well.
CEOCFO: What are some of the challenges in creating an effective time and attendance system? Mr. Bellotti: What we’ve learned after decades in the industry is that every company is different and that is why it is a very tricky industry in that what may work for one company, usually does not work for the other. That is why canned solutions are tough because companies like ADP are either reselling Kronos® time and attendance systems under a different name or they cannot meet the requirements. State-by-state the laws change, then there are union rules, so those are things that a great many time-keeping system struggle with. It is a tricky industry because you cannot just take a database and supply it to each company and customer, it has to be customized. That is the most difficult thing.
CEOCFO: Do most people, when looking for a system, understand that or do people turn to Mitrefinch after something they used does not work well enough? Mr. Bellotti: We get a combination of both. People are calling us if their system is not working for them. We get a lot of business from companies that signed up with their current payroll provider, just because they got it very cheap and they are trying to break in to the time-keeping vertical. Whereas some people are just doing everything manually so they have no choice but to change, because they are losing money. A customer out in California said they were unable to track PTO (Paid Time Off), so when people leave the company they are paying out all their PTO accrued which was as high as $10,000 for some employees. There are all sorts of different reasons why people are contacting us but it is usually because their current situation is not working for them.
CEOCFO: How do you assess what is the right solution, and what might you ask a company, that less knowledgeable companies do not recognize is important? Mr. Bellotti: What we like to say is “describe your ideal timekeeping system”, and then we go from there. We want to identify what their problems are so can configure our system to solve them. The way we qualify every project is understanding what they currently use, where the shortcomings are, streamline processes and cut down on human error. One thing that we do here is we do not take projects if we do not think we can meet the specific requirements that they need. A lot of companies do the opposite where they say they can do it, resulting in over-promising and under-delivering. We found that all successful projects must have clear expectations set on both sides, prior to a contract being presented.
I think what separates us is that Mitrefinch has been around since late 1980’s. It was the first timekeeping software ever developed; it was debuted on the BBC’s version of Good Morning America. We have been doing it for a long time, and we are on version 8 now, as we have grown and changed over the course of thirty years. We’ve been in business almost 40 years, so we have a foundation to understand the challenges that customers face and why they’ve contacted us. We have a lot of very big customers, especially in Ireland, UK, Australia, and Canada. We know how to get out in front of things, find out what the challenges will be and then address it to the customers. That is what we try to do during the consultancy phase. On the demos we do a lot of POCs (Proof of Concept), meaning we prove we can meet your requirements by proving it, not just promising.
CEOCFO: When and how do you know when to add something new? Mr. Bellotti: We have a whole department that analyzes industry trends, and then develops solutions to disrupt it. We frequently release our current Version 8 software with new add-ons. This could be a new functionality, a new reporting tool, or even just a bug fix for someone running on an old server. Our development team is constantly adding features and capabilities based off of customer feedback and what’s going on in the market.
CEOCFO: Do many companies still have the old-fashioned time clock? Do people still find it acceptable to be tracked? Mr. Bellotti: In terms of biometrics, that is one of our most sought-after solutions that we have because our biometric readers are a subdermal, multispectral imaging readers. Which means that it’s reading the blood vessels under the first layer of the skin, so it is not even looking at a fingerprint; you could wear a latex glove or wrap scotch tape around your finger, and still get a consistent read every time. Thus, we do not store fingerprints in our clocks and because of that, it eliminates any privacy concerns. There are many negative connotations about biometric readers out there, because if they do not have both those components, they are going to be junk. You will get all sorts of error messages. If someone’s hands are wet or dirty or whatever it is, you are going to get inconsistent reads. That is why many times people are calling and saying they had an awful experience with their biometric time clock system, whereas ours are not the prettiest things in the world but very durable, rugged and meant to be in those kinds of harsh environments. We have some people who say they are reaching out to us because their clock just broke down and it is twenty years old and they need to look at something else but still want clocking hardware. Our clocks tie directly in to our database, so all punches are pushed into the system. We can write triggers that flag employees who clock in late or missed a punch. In terms of rules and triggers, we can essentially customize the system to meet almost all needs.
CEOCFO: How do you help mitigate the fear of change when going from one system to another? Mr. Bellotti: When people are switching systems, there is a need to make sure that everything they have on the current system is retained, so what do is back that system up, put it on a hard drive and store all the information. We’ll need that information anyway during the implementation process, and also gives peace of mind. Many of our sales reps started in support or engineering, so they can explain exactly what the process is and why there is no need to fear the change. We are very transparent in what the customer can expect from us, and what we will need from them to make this is as painless as possible.
CEOCFO: When you engage with a company, do they tend to do what you think is best? Mr. Bellotti: Our objective is to give the customer what they want, but we will challenge them if we think there is a better way. We’ve found this to be a very successful approach because customers appreciate when we convey a better process for the same outcome. We try to make things as easy and painless as possible during the configuration process. We approach it with an open mind and we will do whatever the customer wants if we can, we will challenge them on better ideas because after all, we’ve been doing this for decades.
CEOCFO: Where does cost come into play? Mr. Bellotti: There is a very diverse market out there and all types of vendors. Some are extremely cheap, some are very expensive. It all depends on what companies are looking for and their specific use case. We’ve found to be right in the middle in terms of pricing. Our system is extremely configurable and with configuration comes time. Our implementation days are not out of the ordinary, but our software is not simply a plug-and-play.
We offer two different pricing options. First, is an On-Premise Perpetual License. This is a one-time cost where the customer buys licenses and owns them outright while hosting them on their own servers. If customers want the perpetual license but don’t want to host it on their environment, we are partnered with Microsoft Azure and can host it on a virtual machine with a monthly hosting fee. Second, we offer a SaaS solution. This is a monthly subscription fee with a cheaper per/employee cost, which is really a rather new trend in the industry over the last decade. We still have plenty of customer who prefer the On-Premise model. It all depends on if a customer wants to spend as little as possible upfront, or not.
We’ve found that an investment in Mitrefich Time Management Solutions will pay itself off within 18 months, sometimes sooner. By eliminating human error, administrative costs and improving productivity, customers see an immediate impact. When we send out an initial proposal after the first demo, we actually include a return on investment breaking down exactly what those savings are.
CEOCFO: It seems you are involved in virtually every industry; how do you reach out for new customers? Mr. Bellotti: Ironically, our system operates on strictly inbound inquiries and referrals. I come from a sales background and previously worked at Oracle the database and cloud market. That was a completely different type of model where you’re calling potential customers or current users and trying to sell them on any of your products. Timekeeping is completely different in that customers don’t want to be sold to, they want their problems fixed. If there isn’t an issue, why would they want to speak to us? On the other side, if they’re reaching out to us, we already know there is a need which makes the sales cycle more of a group project, rather than buying a new car. If you are looking for a clock on the wall that punches and you have no special need for anything, no employee self-service portal or booking an absence, well then maybe we are not the best for you and you could find something else out there. But the reason we keep reaching different industries is because of the way our software can be applied to each. We can track hours for students at a trade school, handle any union rules, work with any public agency – none of those databases would be remotely similar to the other. It’s not just hourly pay customers are looking to track, sometimes they want to track student attendance because it’s regulated by the federal government and they need a mandatory amount of hours.
We get customers who may move to another company, and they contact us trying to get our system at their new place of work. It’s pretty amazing to be working for a company that relies solely on inbound inquiries and referrals, and that speaks to the strength of our product.
CEOCFO: What should people remember most about Mitrefinch? Mr. Bellotti: People should realize that the best thing about Mitrefinch is that the databases that we have, our Version 8 software, is almost a blank slate. What one sales rep show you on a demo may look completely different from what another sales rep demos. That is because we do not offer a canned solution, our customers define what they need and we build it for them. If you have a lot of issues with tracking time, reporting functionalities, you’re losing money, and are in any way unhappy with your current system, we want to hear about it. If we can’t do it, we’ll be the first to tell you. After you’ve been given the sticker shock by Kronos and Paylocity, give us a call. Are you sick of calling your support line and getting routed to a call center on the other side of the world after being on hold for 40 minutes? Call us, you will always get someone live on the phone immediately, and that is never going away.
We look for anyone that has the most complex difficult situations; those are the ones we like because that is where we set ourselves apart from the others that cannot do it. For instance, we had a customer that had twelve vendors bid for a proposal; they had eight different unions operating within the company and out of all twelve vendors including all the billion-dollar companies that are out there, we were the only one that could prove through POC that we could handle their requirements. Those are the kinds of customers that we want because that is where people are going to say “Wow, you can actually do this.” Because we are very new to the US, our challenge is that we do not have the name recognition that our competitors do, which is not the case for Mitrefinch in Europe. We have some of the biggest companies in the world using Mitrefinch, and we want to continue our success overseas here in the US.
We want to hear from everyone, and we’ll be the most transparent vendor you’ve ever dealt with. Give us a call.
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“Mitrefinch is a time management system software that is built off of
tracking time, attendance, hours, job costing, sort of an HCM (Human Capital
Management) with HR capabilities. We have foundation of software, hardware,
a physical clock that goes on the wall, and combination of both, as well as
mobile application for punching as well.”
Mitrefinch, Inc
Contact: Peter Bellotti 888-238-8704
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Peter
Bellotti