Since volume photography workflow and e-commerce software, company ImageQuix announced Charlesbank Technology Opportunities Fund, a fund managed by Charlesbank Capital Partners, made a majority investment in the company last fall, the company has been working hard to improve the system while maintaining a high level of customer service.
Founder Tim McCain is president of the company, dealing with customer-facing activities of the company, like sales, marketing and customer service, (alongside long-time employee Kyle Bodin, vice president of customer success). One of the areas he's paying special attention to is customer onboarding. Alex Kovacevic continues as CEO.
"We're letting customers know right away who they should contact and how they should go about it," says McCain. "We're bringing the salespeople and their technical account manager to the very first call with a new client, and giving them instructions on how to do things and ways to go about getting things done, along with their marketing rep. We're trying to be inclusive with all of our clients in the process and taking out the guesswork."
McCain says the recent ownership change was a good opportunity to review all the company's processes.
"It's a good time when you have a new management shift to go ahead and look at all your processes and see what you could be doing better," he said. "It's all positive."
In terms of the platform, McCain is most excited about the updates to the shopping experience.
"The biggest thing that we've done is our new shop," says McCain. "The customer experience is night and day compared to what it was a year ago. The mobile experience is a gamified shopping experience like you would expect in today's world. It was long overdue but we did it right. We have the proper engineering team to do it right."
McCain adds customers are already seeing the benefit of the new shop through a rise in the average order.
He adds the company will continue to focus on driving AI to increase automation and reduce labor for routine tasks.
MVP focuses on the user
Once again, the Mastering Volume Photography (MVP) precedes SPOA's International Conference for School Photography & Yearbooks in Greensville, S.C. ImageQuix & PhotoLynx will be hosting their annual MVP User Group in conjunction with SPOA's conference, on July 10-11 at the same venue, the Hyatt Regency Greenville. Attendees can purchase an MVP ticket separately for $149 or save $50 by purchasing a MVP + SPOA Combo Ticket.
"MVP this year is going to be phenomenal," says McCain. "Some of our customers didn't like the outside of our industry speakers; they wanted some very specific talks around automation or how to make money or the user experience. These are talks only our staff could deliver. So ImageQuix/PhotoLynx staff are doing most of the training this year."
McCain emphasizes the MVP conference will be applicable to everyone in the volume photography business, not just ImageQuix/PhotoLynx customers.
"We got away from user group stuff a long time ago," he explained. "No matter whose software you're using or if you're still looking, the practical application of the principles is still the same." (For more information on the MVP program, click here.)
Supporting the SPOA Foundation
McCain is an ardent supporter of SPOA and, in particular, the American Foundation of School Pictures and Yearbooks, where he serves as president of the board. The American Foundation of School Pictures and Yearbooks was founded in 2021 as the charitable arm of the School Photographers of America Association. The foundation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, supporting the tradition of school portraits and yearbooks by providing school pictures, yearbooks, cameras, and other goodwill items and training to eligible students without cost.
"I feel there's a huge need for the SPOA organization in our industry," says McCain. "The conference is very complementary to the other industry events plus it is part of preserving the industry history and advocating for the legislation. We're excited about the future of SPOA, as well as the foundation. That foundation is near and dear to my heart."