There is no shortcut to overcoming cultural, philosophical differences as Berry’s own frequent flier miles attest. Verrex, in addition to hiring local talent for its Shanghai operations, has customer-embedded employees all over the world — China, Singapore, India, Poland, Ireland, to name a few spots. Berry makes it a priority to travel to see employees not to simply meet with them but to spend time with them.
“We take the time to get to know them. You’ve got to understand a little bit about the life that they lead along with the job that they put in,” he says. “We make sure we understand what the trials and tribulations are for each one of our employees.”
That Verrex has been open-minded while also educating international employees about the Verrex way is significant, says David Kwok, a business director based in Shanghai. “That has been the key — the willingness to acknowledge cultural differences, communicate and work together to accommodate, not challenge one or the other,” he says. “In addition, of course, to video conferencing, our CEO, senior executives and other employees meet me, our clients and partners in person often in Asia. Spending time like this together helps us understand one another better.”
Think Globally, Act Locally
Then there is the other 80 percent of Verrex’s business, which is done in the United States. That intercultural approach that the firm takes with its international employees and customers is also applicable stateside, Chamberlin says, noting cultural differences between its New Jersey, Boston and Houston offices.
“It’s really important not to just take one focus and try to apply it everywhere,” he says, adding that Verrex’s overriding global principal reinforces that. “We have a different strategy for Houston than we do for Boston. There are different clientele down there, different markets.”
Speaking of markets, Verrex is extremely focused on the corporate market, reporting that 90 percent of its revenue is earned in that vertical. That number fluctuates based on opportunities. “We just finished a large build-out for Duke University in Shanghai that was a little over $4 million, so that kind of influences those percentages a little bit,” Chamberlin says, noting that its Houston office has recently benefited from a surge in higher education spending.
The global presence, meanwhile, serves to geographically diversify a firm that is highly concentrated on the corporate market. “We have horizontal markets,” Chamberlin says, thanks to so many U.S. firms doing international projects.
There’s more than one way to diversify, Berry adds. “We have a majority of business in the corporate vertical, but we make a conscious effort to diversify broadly across that corporate market. That is offering design services, offering integration services as well as offering managed services. So we want to go everywhere on the globe with the corporate vertical. It’s the best chance to capitalize, the highest margins and the best chance for recurring revenue.”
In 2015 Verrex’s biggest projects were in Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and India, according to Chamberlin. “In Europe it’s been Poland. There have been a lot of investments in the financial market throughout Eastern Europe. So the larger investment companies are building their operations there.”
The steady economic recovery in Europe is encouraging, Berry says. “But what’s nice is we don’t have to spend a lot of time exerting an extra amount of effort finding work in Europe and in Asia because the U.S. is so hot. Boston, with us, and the New England area is extremely busy as is the Tri-State area.”
So, is Verrex focused on expanding its global business, domestic business or both? Well, that’s not how Berry likes to describe Verrex’s potential travel itineraries. “We’ll listen to our customers and we’ll go where they need us to be.”
