SilverTech is neither a technology firm nor a marketing agency. It’s both—and much more.
“We call ourselves a ‘digital lifecycle agency,’” says Nick Soggu, founder and president of the Manchester-based company. “It’s a mixture of technology, marketing and business development.”
In fact, business development is part of what makes SilverTech unique. “We handle services in all aspects of the customer lifecycle from ‘lead to loyal’—generating new leads, marketing efforts and search engine optimization, as well as CRM (customer relationship management)—that result in loyal repeat customers,” said Soggu.
Soggu says SilverTech has experienced 10 to 15 percent growth each year from its launch in 1996 through 2008. The recession dampened revenues, but by 2010, he says, “We started coming out of that.”
And 2014? “We’re on pace to do an 80- to 85-percent revenue growth from last year’s numbers,” says Soggu, who participates in a monthly Vested for Growth CEO Peer Group, which serves as a sounding board for many of his strategic initiatives.
SilverTech has grown its workforce—currently at 60—the same way as its revenue. “A lot of the organic growth that we’ve had has been very family-style in nature but very high-performance in terms of delivery,” says Soggu. Most recently, that included acquiring a technology firm, Poised Solutions, and adding a new CEO and COO.
With the new leadership, Soggu expects to triple the company’s head count by the end of 2015, as well as acquire businesses that can round out their customer offerings.
“If you want to define the secret sauce to our success, it’s the fact that we’re listening to our customers’ feedback, and acting on that,” says Soggu. As a result, what some might consider a small local brand is winning national contracts against much-larger firms.
Teamwork is fundamental to the company’s success, says Soggu. “Customers hire the firm because of who we are as individuals and the dedication each individual shows our clients.”
SilverTech, in turn, is dedicated to its staff. Team members and their dependents receive fully-paid health benefits and what Soggu refers to as a “generous paid-time-off policy” in support of work-life balance. The company is also committed to integrating with the Manchester community.
A prime example is STEAM Ahead NH. SilverTech collaborates with other area business and education partners to stem the loss of NH’s college graduates and young professionals to other states by supporting students at the high-school level.
“Our goal is to get every Manchester student to see what career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics there are in their own backyard,” Soggu says.
SilverTech also supports arts organizations and nonprofits like the Palace Theatre and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
None of which is to say that SilverTech hasn’t had its share of hard times. The recession hit many of its clients hard, forcing some to cut spending, while others closed permanently. “Our dedication to our clients and our clients’ dedication to us got us through more-difficult times,” Soggu says. “It was our dedication to each other as a team.” Case in point—SilverTech did not lay off any staff during the recession.
Soggu says his most-important lesson is to stand behind the company’s core values.
“We really strive to achieve not only what benefits our clients, but also what benefits us as a company and the community. Without those three in balance, we could not be as successful as we are.”
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