#24 BidSync

   There’s a term at BidSync for when you need something and you need it done fast: “Stover it!” Stover is, of course, in reference to CEO Sabrina Stover — although not everyone at the eProcurement agency knew that. “One day someone said we needed to ‘Stover it!’ and one of our developers looked around and said, ‘Is somebody’s last name Stover?’ He simply knew me as Sabrina,” Stover says with a laugh. “But that’s how I’ve tried to lead. I want a high integrity, fast-paced culture — but I’m just one of the gang.” Stover joined the gang in 2008, and what a four years it’s been. The American Fork tech company, which works primarily with government agencies, is completely self-funded, has a strong management team at its helm, has become a rock star in its industry (with a wowza 99 percent customer retention rate) and has grown like mad thanks to its happy, happy employees. “We have a dynamic group of people,” she says. “Our goal is to build the company up.” It’s OK, you can say it … You’re Stovering it.

At BidSync, it’s the people I love. Everyone is excited about what we’re doing, and they work hard because of it. We go 100 miles an hour, and we’re all pushing for the same thing: growth.

We want that growth because of our incredible solution. Our core products are helping the government save time and money, and when you combine that with our people? It’s the perfect solution. 

We’ve made so many changes these past few years. I think back to 2008 when I joined the company. At the time there was significant turnover and a lot to manage. In fact, there was no management team in place, and there were more customer service people than developers. 

The addition of a solid management team was a defining moment. It was when we said, “Hey, let’s stop playing here and build a real company.” 

A management team is so important because you get people with different experiences working to achieve the same goal. You get someone who can say, “Oh, we’ve tried that pitfall” and save us from a headache later. I knew I couldn’t do everything myself. And the management can’t do it themselves, either. It’s all about the right people in the right roles being led down a purposeful path.

Customer service is extremely important to us — and we’re known in our industry for it. In fact, people are surprised to know we only have 70 employees. When we deliver solutions to massive clients like the State of California and the State of Utah, people think we’re bigger than we are. We service our clients like we’re an incredibly large organization. 

Our retention rates are the most fun. For our client base it’s more than 99 percent. Wow, right? It’s so rewarding to watch. And I have the best job because I get to watch our employees have these wow moments. 

We celebrate families at BidSync. We understand how hard our employees work and that it can impact families overall. So we’ll take a trip to Lagoon or we’ll bring the grill into the office and have the management team grill up hamburgers for everyone. It’s 100 percent an investment in our company’s future. 

If our employees walk away with nothing else, I want them to know you can run a company with integrity — and still be successful. On occasion, it may mean not taking a certain deal, and that’s OK. 

We see BidSync having a significant piece of the market. Right now the market is not even close to being saturated. We do extremely well, but our goal is to become even better branded and more well known in our marketplace. Just give us a little time. Everyone will know who we are. 

There are times when you look back and go, “Wow! We did what?” And you just soak in all that you’ve accomplished. A lot of times you can get too caught up in the numbers — like, say, you got 50 percent growth when you wanted 80 percent. But you have to take those moments and celebrate your success. It makes all the difference.