Customer Spotlight: Pynx Productions

Not gonna lie. This might have been one of our favorite spotlight interviews to date. Not only because Mike D’Eri, owner and CEO of Canada-based production company, Pynx Productions, had amazing things to say about Flex. And not only because Mike tried one of our competitors and the onboarding alone was such an epic fail that he backed out, but because…well, yes. That’s exactly why. Those things and more. But let’s start at the beginning.

Pynx has been around since the 1980’s and started out as the original video dance company in North America. (If that description brought a smile to your face–we know how old you are.) For years, the company somewhat painstakingly operated using Filemaker Pro. (Again, for those of a certain age!) 

In 2014, Pynx built a massive stage for a client and began creating custom solutions, which created an entirely new trajectory of opportunity and growth. And then…that’s right (say it with us): The Pandemic.

 

 

Shutdown.

Innovate.

Pivot. 

 

Mike and Pynx created a virtual event production and streaming 

broadcast business–work that is still thriving today. As descri

bed by Mike, “That market is go, go, go, go.” And it was this  booming business that led Mike to realize that the company’s expanded inventory required better management tools. Filemaker Pro just wasn’t cutting it.

“First we tried (insert competitor’s name here) and it was a hot mess,” Mike explained. “We tried it for three months and it was painful. The onboarding process alone was a disaster, as they couldn’t even get our tax tables right. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” (NOTE: We’ve been in this business for a long time and one thing we know for sure: It’s not good if your product makes your client feel insane. We work very hard to avoid that.)

A nearby client recommended Flex and as soon as the onboarding process started, Mike knew “This is it. This is the solution. And it just keeps getting better and better.” 

Mike pointed out that he especially appreciates the high level of support. “I mentioned an issue we were having with a feature and not only did you listen to our concerns we saw the fix in a release shortly thereafter. We’re a small company and to be heard like that is everything.” 

He went on to praise Nick Nazario, our Customer Success Manager. The truth is we love that. Yes, we will put our product up against anybody. We’ll go feature to feature and UX to UX with anybody. But what gives us the deepest satisfaction is when our true key differentiators–our people and our dedication to our clients’ success–are front and center.

Mike told us that Flex changed his whole life. “I spent years running buckets of water to fill a pool. Flex allowed me to build a pipeline that invites others to help fill that pool.” He told us he has more time to work on business development. “What used to take hours in Filemaker Pro, takes minutes in Flex. It has literally changed my life. I just don’t know how we did it before.” He said company morale is at an all-time high. That there’s more collaboration, which has operations moving more efficiently on the job site. And he told us that he’s sleeping better than he ever has. 

Flex: We help you sleep better.

Maybe he’s on to something.

Mike said the best thing about Flex is the accountability. “Now I know who had our gear and when they had it. Flex created a new trend for our company of gear coming back. All the answers are at my fingertips.” He pointed out that accountability extends to his staff, too. “Everyone has their own piece of it.” Flex has even led to the hiring of the company’s first warehouse manager. 

Mike concluded, “We used to do five DJ events. Now we can build five stages every night. I just  didn’t think it was possible to scale this quickly. We’re still a small company, but the work we are doing now is setting us up to become a monster.”

 

For us–it really doesn’t get better than this. This is what we mean when we say “Your Success Is Our Flex.” Thanks, Mike. Truly.