We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marcus Blair a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Marcus thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
One common approach is to offer a one-size-fits-all solution. These firms sell one product, and it will cure everything. It’s easier for the company – marketing is simple and staff training is straightforward. However, this often means that the client’s best interests take a backseat. The vendor is only investigating the client’s problem deeply enough to justify what they’ve already decided to sell them. The client is responsible for knowing whether this particular product is the right fit or not. And, usually, there are three or four of these firms bidding on the same contract, so the client is on an island. While there may be exceptions, we firmly believe this rarely serves the client and contributes to the high failure rate seen in digital transformation projects.
Another common approach prioritizes giving advice – “strategy”, as it is commonly called. Consultants may deliver a compelling presentation that confirms what management already believes, but then disappear when the check clears, leaving no accountability for whether the proposed solution works. In our experience, some consultants may shy away from delivering difficult truths to maintain client satisfaction. With no implementation responsibility, it is much simpler to use confirmation bias, get paid, and leave.
We believe in a collaborative approach, working hand-in-hand with our clients to develop and implement solutions that address their specific challenges. Our process begins with understanding the client’s goals BEFORE we propose a solution. We aren’t presenting an answer until we learn what the problem is. Then we work collaboratively to design and implement a solution that directly addresses the root cause of the problem. Our commitment to client success extends beyond implementation. We provide managed services and regular check-ins to ensure that our solutions deliver lasting results.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
When I was at my last W-2 job, I had a sales VP say my company was too small for him to deal with. The company in question had a presence in 14 countries and was about $750 million in revenue! I was shocked; I was a general manager with the ability to sign purchase orders, yet the salesman was brazen enough to say it wasn’t even worth his time. It got me thinking: if that was happening to us, even though we were a large business, what was happening further downmarket? Were other businesses being overlooked and underserved? Not long after that, COVID-19 relieved me of my duties, and I started the company that became Omega Digital Solutions. That experience, coupled with witnessing the struggles of other businesses, especially during those challenging times, fueled my desire to create a company that truly puts clients first and empowers them with technology.
Most benefits of modern technology is concentrated in the top 5% of businesses in the world. We want to bridge that gap. We want to help businesses of all sizes, from solopreneurs on up, to use the right technology to make themselves as efficient and as profitable as possible. It can be intimidating because there’s so much out there, and if you read the prevailing wisdom on social media and other outlets, you’ll think that you need everything under the sun. But we can help our clients cut through all of that and make the choices that help them the most. And we don’t turn anyone away because they’re too small.
Omega Digital Solutions exists to help organizations, particularly medium-sized businesses in manufacturing, professional services, and e-commerce find and implement the right technology to reach their business goals. There’s nothing I love more than working with other entrepreneurs, especially founders, and solving difficult business problems that help them become more efficient and more profitable. I have professional experience in engineering and accounting, with extensive experience in digital transformation and process design, and I leverage that expertise to guide my clients toward the best solutions. My team is trained to do the same
To be clear, we really aren’t that passionate about technology – it’s just a tool. It’s business that we care about, so our starting point is much different than many of our competitors. We’re not looking to do something just because it’s cool or looking to implement the latest, greatest thing just because it’s there. We want to fix the business problem first, and that’s the only priority. Our focus is on wielding every tool available to help our clients achieve their goals, whether that’s increasing efficiency by automating tasks, boosting profitability by streamlining operations, or gaining a competitive edge through data-driven decision-making.
We want potential clients to know that we’re business partners first and engineers second. We are dedicated to their success. If you’re ready to leverage technology to transform your business, we’re here to help, whether that involves education, staff augmentation, strategy, or implementation.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I was the first person in my family to receive a bachelor’s degree. So when I graduated high school, my parents wanted me to learn to do something with my hands. At the time, ITT Tech and DeVry University and the other post-secondary schools like that had commercials running all the time on TV – this was the late 90s, and the .com boom was in full swing. So we went to ITT Tech and sat through the high-pressure sales pitch and so on and so forth. We didn’t know about accreditations or the finer points of higher education at the time. We were just looking for a school where I could get a practical education, and ITT seemed to fit that bill. So we took out the loans and I got my first bachelor’s degree from there.
Years later, I tried to go to grad school to get an MBA. It was only then that I discovered that my degree wasn’t accredited by the same institution as other major universities. I felt incredibly misled and frustrated. It felt like a huge setback, and honestly, I was embarrassed that I hadn’t done more research. It turned out that an extensive ruse. Honestly, we really didn’t even know what questions to ask. In any case, grad school wasn’t happening. So I went back and got another bachelor’s degree. I had to start all the way over because most of my credits didn’t transfer, but eventually, I graduated from Tusculum with a bachelor’s degree in business management and a minor in accounting. Years later, ITT lost whatever fallacious accreditations they had, and this still ranks as the biggest mistake of my professional career.
This experience taught me the importance of thorough research and asking the right questions. It also instilled in me a deep commitment to transparency and honesty in my own business dealings. I never want my clients to feel misled or uninformed. Having been a victim of a high-pressure sales pitch, these aren’t tactics that we employee. We explain what the problem is, what’s necessary to fix it, and what the new situation will be. There’s no pushiness, and there will never be. Omega will never resort to the same predatory tactics that I fell victim to.
But I was glad to be able to go back to Tusculum University and have an accredited degree. It wasn’t the path I expected, but it proved to me that I could overcome challenges and achieve my goals, no matter the obstacles.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When I was working in Corporate America, I lived in a very insular world. Everyone was a database administrator, an engineer, a developer, or some other type of technical person. We had a very specific communication style that was developed over years of being in the industry. That audience required lots of jargon and lots of context. Detailed technical explanations were essential for collaboration and problem-solving.
When I started Omega Digital and had to learn how to sell and talk to non-technical people, everything I knew about communication was suddenly wrong. All of my presentations had way too much information in them – explaining something to a room full of engineers is a much different prospect than explaining something to a room full of business people.
So I had to unlearn my old habits and adapt. I had to learn to simplify communication, eliminate extra information so as not to clutter the topic, and keep the focus where it should be: on the client’s needs and how technology could help them achieve their business goals. The key realization was that no one cares how it works. They just want to know what its going to do, and we all have that mindset with most topics in our life.
Unlearning my old habits has allowed us to deliver more effective solutions. It’s been a key factor in the success of Omega Digital Solutions. We prioritize clear, concise communication that focuses on the client’s needs and goals. I strive to explain complex technical concepts in a way that is relevant and easy to understand. This ensures that my clients feel informed and empowered to make the best decisions for their organizations.
Contact Info:
- Website: omegadigital.us
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcusatomega/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/omega-digital-solutions
- Twitter: https://x.com/Marcusatomega
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@omegadigitalsolutions8675