Persistence Pays Off
Published for the Week Of July 19, 2004
avid Zhan, president of Future Technologies International, credits his company’s remarkable 66 percent growth in unit sales last year to two things: patience and the Internet.
The Great Neck, N.Y.-based system builder’s business increased about 15 percent annually for its first 11 years, but mushroomed last year when it finally landed several education and government customers that it had called on for years without much success.
Zhan also launched a Web storefront and was surprised by how many schools and agencies buy products online. “In order to stay in business, to keep going, we have to put a lot of effort into the Internet,” he said. “Without the Internet, it’s a dead end.”
The result: Future Technologies’ system sales were up 66 percent last year to an average of 1,693 units per month. Revenue rose even faster, growing 75 percent to $21 million. Zhan expects that growth to continue thanks to repeat business.
“We put so much money into the Internet that when our database gets bigger, we’ll have more repeating customers,” he said. “When the base gets stronger, we have more customers come back.”
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One way Zhan remains price-competitive is by having larger orders built in his native China and shipped directly to customers. For those that need orders more quickly, Future Technologies keeps enough inventory on hand in Great Neck to fill them.
He likened last year’s influx of new orders to hitting the lottery. “Year after year, you keep working on it, working on it. More and more schools are due for new systems,” he said. “They’re getting to that cycle after four or five years.”
Patience and persistence are also required to develop trust among customers, particularly school districts. Zhan said buying white boxes can be risky for school IT administrators. “We try to keep our promise, and eventually you get it back from the schools,” he said.
One of his customers, the Mount Sinai School District, Mount Sinai, N.Y., has been doing business with Future Technologies since 1991 and has no complaints. Besides coming in 5 percent to 10 percent lower on bids against top-tier vendors, Future Technologies offers a three-year warranty, said Bob Petrilak, the district’s IT specialist. “They’re excellent on replacing stuff and getting it to us quickly,” he said.