CRO Sees Potential for Mobilized PowerStations Everywhere He Looks
With responsibility for sales revenue across all of DTG’s current and emerging markets, Richard Shaheen has a challenging job, but he’s up to the task. From when he co-founded the company in 2017, he has never taken for granted the enormous potential there is for mobilizing and powering electronic devices at the point of task.The endless possibilities for meeting this type of business need has led him and the company into new markets, such as warehouse, logistics and fulfillment, manufacturing, hospitality, and healthcare. As for additional market expansion, use cases are limited only by imagination.As part of our Executive Spotlight on the leaders and partners behind DTG, we recently sat down with Richard to discuss market opportunities and to learn a little more about him.
Please tell us about your role as CRO at DTG. What are your primary areas of focus?
As Chief Revenue Officer, I’m responsible for overall business development, growing revenue through new opportunities, and working closely with customers and channel partners.Our delivery model is via the channel. I oversee several channel account managers and our director of distribution, all who work closely with OEMs such as Zebra, Epson, Honeywell, and various VARs.
How has your role changed in recent years as the company has evolved into new markets?
When we began DTG, we were focused on just two markets: healthcare and warehouse & logistics. We’re a battery company at heart, and we could see all the possibilities for leveraging this technology to power workstations and bring IT equipment to the point of task. In addition to our original two markets, we’ve broken into hospitality, food & beverage, manufacturing, and biopharma.This diversity in our customer base is enabling me to better understand new industries and how they operate, as well as their challenges and specific needs. I’m getting very close to these new markets and understanding the types of workstations and battery power that can help them (as well as us) succeed.In addition, our focus on the channel has changed how I work. I’m deeply committed to our channel partners, since the vertical markets we’re getting involved with buy mostly through the channel. Having been co-owner of a VAR and in the business for 20 years, I know first-hand what it’s like to be in their shoes. It can be a tough and competitive business and not all partners have their best interests in mind. I always tell our VARs up front that DTG will always be fair and transparent with them. There’s plenty of room for everyone to succeed!
What do you see as some of the most interesting trends impacting the warehouse logistics market?
The use of technology in general is a major trend in the warehouse, and using it to help staff more easily collect and retrieve data is becoming critical. Because of this, for example, we’ve developed a mobile RFID reader cart that is widely popular.One challenging trend we’re seeing is the continuing worker shortage. By enabling greater efficiency, reduced motion waste, and safety in the warehouse, our workstations are helping customers address this issue while also boosting employee satisfaction.
What about other markets?
All industries are looking for ways to boost the employee experience, find more efficient ways to get the job done, and optimize their revenue opportunities – especially after the pandemic. For example, we learned that nurses and clinicians in hospitals didn’t have time to leave their floor to eat meals, so we developed a refrigerated mobile food cart that brought food to them.Another healthcare trend is consolidation and reduced budgets because of a lack of federal funding. We can preserve customers’ initial investments by repowering mobile carts used at patient bedsides, saving them upwards of 60 percent of the cost of buying new – with far superior battery power.Hospitality and dining service customers are also facing many of the same challenges post pandemic. We’re helping them mobilize food services. In universities and elsewhere, our Chef PowerStations served as mobile food prep stations and brought food to remote locations that were previously not possible. More recently, stadiums and other venues are finding it challenging to boost the fan experience and eliminate long concession lines, so they’re using our workstations to bring cold beer to patrons more conveniently.
What do you see as DTG’s biggest opportunities for growth and what will be the primary drivers of success for the company?
We will continue to expand our channel relationships to reach new markets. It’s also important to continue to educate people about our powered workstations. Once people truly “get” what we deliver, lightbulbs go off and they find incredible new uses.We’ve created a program to encourage people to come up with new ideas of how we can deliver mobile power. If their idea takes off, we’ll pay them. Really the only constraint is a lack of creativity. Stay tuned for more information about our Innovation Program.
I understand you are also a Merchant Marine Captain. Are there ways in which you draw on that experience in your role at DTG?
The main reason I got my Captain's license was because I spent a lot of time offshore and was always concerned with the safety of my crew and guests. Their lives are in my hands and at any moment things can go terribly wrong. For example, there could be high seas, a turn in the weather, limited or no visibility, someone falling overboard or a boat failure resulting in sinking and abandoning ship.When commercial tuna fishing, it’s all about teamwork and lots of hands and coordination of the crew are required to land a giant bluefin tuna. I can draw a lot of parallels between those experiences and my role at DTG. We’re also often going into uncharted territory, and we need to know how to be prepared in order to navigate whatever comes our way.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
In addition to boating and offshore fishing, I love spending time with my children who are 11 and 4. I’m a hockey and a cheerleading dad and traveling with them for these activities is exactly where I like to be. I also enjoy hunting with my Labrador retriever and playing tennis and golf.