Five Questions With: Chris Brubaker

CHRIS BRUBAKER / COURTESY SWIPELY
CHRIS BRUBAKER / COURTESY SWIPELY

Chris Brubaker recently joined Swipely as vice president of marketing. Brubaker talked with Providence Business News about his experience in the industry, Swipely’s growth and how Swipely helps merchants understand customers and grow sales.

PBN: What interested you in coming to Swipely? Tell me about your background.
BRUBAKER:
For the past 15 years I’ve led marketing teams at technology firms in California, including Siemens and Demandforce (acquired by Intuit). Swipely is the fourth firm I’ve worked with that helps small businesses grow with a softwareasaservice (SaaS) platform. I’m drawn to this space because it’s gratifying to help the little guy compete with big companies that typically have more resources, time and marketing knowledge. But a company is only as good as its people, and the people at Swipely drew me in. Angus Davis, the founder and CEO, is a veteran entrepreneur who built successful businesses in Silicon Valley, starting his career at Netscape and founding Tellme (acquired by Microsoft). Like Angus, the rest of the team members are incredibly smart, passionate and driven and creating a small slice of Silicon Valley in Providence. When I flew out for my interview at Swipely, I knew immediately that I wanted to be part of the next big company to help local businesses succeed.
PBN: What are your hiring plans for the marketing team?
BRUBAKER:
After beginning 2013 with fewer than 30 employees, Swipely will end this year about 150.
The marketing team is growing fast (in addition to the sales, engineering and customer success teams)and I’m looking to connect with outstanding marketers who have B2B customer acquisition and content marketing experience. Great candidates balance the art and science of marketing, measure everything they do and know what to test next. On the art side, I look for marketers who are great storytellers and create content that answers their customers’ questions succinctly. On the science side, I look for marketers who understand how their campaigns improve customer acquisition costs, lifetime value, annual recurring revenue, and shorten the sales cycle. Anyone interested openings at Swipely should visit https://www.swipely.com/jobs/.
PBN: Tell me about your prior experience at Demandforce. How has it prepared you for Swipely?
BRUBAKER:
My Demandforce experience prepared me for Swipely because we sold to similar businesses and grew the company exceptionally fast. At Demandforce, we helped over 20,000 dentists, auto shops, hair salons and other appointment-based businesses improve their marketing using data about their customers and sales. During my time, we grew the marketing team from 10 to 25 people to reach customers through an integrated marketing program that consisted of online advertising, email and content marketing, exhibiting at over 400 trade shows a year, and collaborating with hundreds of partners. Swipely is roughly at the same point as Demandforce was when I joined, poised to scale its sales and marketing programs and introduce innovative new products into the market. I’ve seen this exciting movie before, and I’m ready to help Swipely reach new heights!
PBN: Can you explain how Swipely works and why so many companies are interested in using the company’s services?
BRUBAKER:
Swipely helps restaurants and retailers understand customers and grow sales. The simple cloud-based platform gives operators actionable insights to make better decisions. Now they have the insights to optimize their menu, coach servers, build a customer database and monitor their online reputation. This approach empowers them to be successful in driving customer acquisition, loyalty and revenue. For the first time, the owner or general manager of your favorite restaurant can easily understand which menu items bring customers back, how to coach specific servers to increase sales, who are their best 100 customers at each location and more.
PBN: Can you explain your recent growth? How many companies are Swipely working with?
BRUBAKER:
Swipely is one of the fastest-growing tech companies companies in the country and the fastest-growing tech company in Rhode Island. In November, we announced that merchants now manage over $4 billion in annual sales on our platform up 100 percent in six months and up 4x in just one year’s time. Today we are proud to work with thousands of popular restaurants and retailers in over 40 states across the U.S., including local Providence favorites like Gracie’s, Local 121, Bacaro, Rue de L’Espoir, Chelo’s and more. If you’re part of merchant business grossing over $1 million per location, per year that wants to operate smarter and grow faster, you can learn more at https://www.swipely.com/s.

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