HAAR® IN PRACTICE

Chad Paalman founded NuWave back in 2005 with his father and brother after identifying a gap in the market for a comprehensive IT provider, one that was well rounded and took ownership of both the network and the phone system. After the merging of a 10 year old IT company and a 10 year old phone company, NuWave was born, serving 600 customers by the end their first year.

Back then, selling IT hardware and services was a much different ballgame. People identified with specific product brands; they wanted a Cisco server or a Dell computer. The conversations that took place around upgrades sounded a lot different too. In fact, these conversations took on a more negative tone. The question wasn’t, ‘When/How do I upgrade?’ Instead, people asked, ‘Do we have to upgrade?’

A few years later, in 2007, Paalman’s company became an early adopter of the managed services business model. Prior to that, NuWave did all project-based-work, costing out project totals upfront based on the time and material needed. But as early as 2007, Chad could feel these conversations beginning to change. With the advent of subscription-based-services, customers had started to evolve their views on buying technology; instead of buying products or brands, they began viewing what they were buying as ‘outcomes’ – outcomes they wanted to achieve via a monthly payment that would include the costs of everything: hardware, services and support.

Why NuWave Opted for the HaaR Program

By 2015, Chad had evolved his business model even more – he started utilizing a GreatAmerica program called HaaR, or Hardware as a Rental. Chad liked that he could continue to reap the benefits of the as-a-service model he’d come to love, but could also take advantage of the equipment financing aspect, eliminating the need for his company to take on the burden of the upfront cash output required for large projects. Using HaaR, NuWave provides their customer a one-invoice solution for all hardware, software, installation and services without taking on any of the financial risk associated with the HaaS model.

Since adopting the HaaR model, Chad says NuWave has eliminated the bar in terms of the required upfront budget a client must have to acquire brand new technology, which has ultimately expanded his pool of eligible buyers.

HaaR has also helped to eliminate the opportunity for any kind of price negotiation on especially large projects. In fact, the talk track to sell customers on HaaR is vastly different in the sense that the full cost of a project isn’t even addressed in most situations. Customers are so happy with all they get for a monthly price, the total cost of the project rarely comes up. This has served to protect margins on the total cost of a project because there is no opportunity to negotiate. Chad also credits HaaR for the recent growth he’s seen in NuWave’s monthly recurring revenue. With a wider pool of clientele who are open to the idea of a monthly payment, he’s seen the number of monthly contracted deals increase which has had a positive impact on his businesses valuation.