EDMONTON, AB – January 4, 2017 – Riva International is headquartered in an inconspicuous brick office building called MacCosham Lofts in downtown Edmonton. The 100-year-old structure that once operated as a shipping warehouse is now home to one of Alberta’s fastest-growing companies and the creator of innovative customer relationship management (CRM) integration technology.
Posted with permission of Alberta Venture. By Jenn Mentanko. Photography: Ryan Girard.
Riva was thrilled to be selected as the winner of the 2017 Alberta Venture Fast Growth 50 awards.
Riva CEO, Aldo Zanoni, identified a market before consumers realized it was there. In 2008, Riva International launched a CRM integration system that disrupted the industry and propelled the company to international success.
The Story
The story of Riva CRM Integration is similar to that of another explosive digital platform the world didn’t know it needed. Just like Facebook, Riva began as an internal tool. Stéphane Zanoni, Riva’s chief technology officer and son of founder and CEO Aldo Zanoni, developed the Riva system to solve an office-wide integration problem. Staff used Riva to streamline communication and integration between its CRM software and email system. After its successful implementation at the office, the company bore down on the CRM marketplace, and Riva exploded as customers recognized the convenience of a tool they never thought possible. “We were that lone voice in the deep, dark, cold desert in the middle of the night,” Aldo Zanoni says, “holding up our candle and hollering, ‘There’s another way, and it’s better!’”
Riva as an Add-On
Riva software acts as an add-on for existing CRM vendors. When vendors cannot provide the integration a client requires, Riva swoops in, helps the clients meet their needs, and solidifies the CRM vendor’s sale. There are hundreds of CRM vendors out there. The expert technology team must mold Riva to fit each vendor and subsequently integrate the communication platform while solving a Rubik’s cube of synch requirements. Considering the CRM market is expected to be worth U.S. $36 billion worldwide next year, it’s not a bad industry to latch on to.
Outstanding Growth
A 53 percent jump in revenue from the most recent year-end is an incredible feat, especially in Alberta’s current economic climate. But what’s more impressive is this was not an unforeseen blip in Riva’s progress. For the past seven years, Riva’s revenue has grown at an average annual rate of 51 percent. Zanoni describes its growth as a “typical hockey stick.” Progress was slow as the innovative software gained its footing in the CRM marketplace; businesses had to be educated on its effectiveness and convinced it would make a worthwhile difference in how their customers were overseen. Once decision-makers were willing to take the leap, word spread, and Riva’s customer base quickly climbed. Now, three of the five largest U.S. banks, 15 of the world’s largest financial services companies, and more than 35 Fortune 500 companies use Riva software. “Why do they use our software?” Zanoni asks. “Because it does what it needs to do, and it does it very quickly.”
Global Business Impact
Surprisingly, Canada makes up a mere five percent of Riva’s business, with only a small handful of customers serviced in Alberta. Its focus is international, targeting large organizations and mother corporations that make decisions for subsidiaries. This year, 75 percent of business came from the U.S., while the rest is scattered worldwide. Along with its headquarters in Edmonton, Riva has offices in Munich, Germany, and Sydney, Australia. A customer service team stationed in Pictou, Nova Scotia, accommodates European customers’ time difference while still leveraging Canadian talent. “Rather than trying to service the globe from Edmonton, and rather than outsourcing our support to somewhere we cannot control, we’re going to leverage Canadian expertise in a timezone that is better for our customers,” Zanoni says.
Outstanding Customer Retention
Customer retention and engagement are essential to Riva’s success. Customers subscribe on an annual basis, and subscription renewals are the ultimate goal. “Customer satisfaction means nothing to us,” says Jameson Van Dijk, Director of Operations and Finance. “Customer delight is the differentiation for us: A delighted customer will renew with us.”
Riva’s History
All this, imagined by a man from Lethbridge with a background in education and no software developer experience. Zanoni moved to Edmonton with his wife Michèle – now president of Riva – in 1978 to pursue a career with Edmonton Public Schools, where he had an unexpected but fortuitous introduction to computers. “Who better than the French teacher at J Percy Page High School to take care of the five computer labs?” Zanoni asks. “That was my introduction to networking and computers in 1991.”
In 1993, Riva started as a computer training company and evolved as technology and consumers’ needs changed. During the last ten years of Zanoni’s teaching career, he spent his mornings teaching and took the afternoons to focus on his business. Now retired from teaching, he puts 100 percent of his professional time into his booming software company.
Check out the complete list of Alberta Venture’s 50 fastest-growing companies »