Today we have selected Kirill Rechter to take his interview. He is the CEO Of MaxBill.
First of all, how are you and your team doing in these COVID-19 times?
Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the MaxBill team stays strong, productive and delivers our promise to the clients. We are an international company, so teams were often separated and are used to online communication. Still, we’ve had our fair share of challenges due to closed borders and the health threat in general. We had a couple of isolated cases, but the infection never truly spread thanks to safety measures. Of course, as soon as the vaccines became available, more and more team members are getting vaccinated. The virus has no chance in MaxBill.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have signed numerous contracts and launched new projects. Integrating our solution into our new partners’ ecosystem remotely was intricate for us at first. Still, we have re-thought our workflows fast, and now it’s a business-as-usual for MaxBill.
There was a lot of uncertainty and fear circulating in every country, so MaxBill’s management listened to the employees and took all available measures to keep them safe and comfortable.
Tell us about you, your career, how you founded or joined this company?
I’m a software engineer by passion and education. Driven by the strong will to take responsibility and have the ability to make decisions, I co-founded MaxBill. The MaxBill vision was always to stay modern and creative, challenge the status quo, and bring great products to our clients that really help them unleash their growth ambitions. The focus was on the customer and revenue-related challenges – it’s exciting, complex, and directly influences our clients’ business.
I focused on people – great teamwork, personal development, and culture with our real values. This way, we develop the company for 25 years through multiple challenges and achievements.
How does your company innovate?
I prefer the word “create” instead, which one of our values is based upon. MaxBill has been operating for 25 years now — we use this experience to our advantage while following new trends and constantly create new processes and software. MaxBill adopts the hottest technologies that are current for the particular vertical into its solution. This way, we provide our clients with the newest product generation relevant to the exact business they’re doing. Last year we introduced AI and ML to our technological stack, and in 2021 we’re moving to hyper-automation
How the Coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?
MaxBill was not as affected as many other companies due to the nature of our business. We had to initially switch all team members to remote, which was a bit of a learning curve for those who had always worked from the office before. The good thing is that our team has always been spread out over multiple locations, so people who worked remotely from the beginning could give useful tips to their teammates. To keep people connected, HR and Admin teams came up with the idea of an online tea-time, when the entire company could get together and talk. We have also launched a knowledge-sharing program called MaxSeminar to create an opportunity for all team members to present a topic they are personally or professionally passionate about. Such activities boosted morale, kept spirits up, and improved the quality of communication between co-workers.
The pandemic affected some of our clients from the energy and utility, telecommunication, and iGaming industries. We have supported them through the transformation, efficiency, and upgrading of the solution when necessary.
Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?
First and foremost, we needed to take care of the people– make them feel safe and ensure they stay with us. Continue to develop business and acquire more and more talented people and strategic clients.
Difficult times were, in fact, an opportunity for all MaxBillers to show their best by caring for each other, sharing their feelings, and supporting each other. A vital characteristic that helped MaxBill cope with the pandemic is that we emphasize the importance of each member’s initiative. The MaxBill team is pro-active, and everyone stands behind their work. In turn, management makes sure to listen carefully to feedback and suggestions. Each MaxBiller can count on being heard, and it motivates people to speak their minds without hesitation, bringing innovation and improvement into work processes. The culture of creativity, partnership, and dedication boosts the entire company’s productivity and makes it easier to transform and evolve when needed.
New ways had to be found to foster the company spirit and make sure we operate as one suited to the lockdown. It is trickier to keep together while working remotely. Still, we managed to preserve the family-like feel of MaxBill by setting up ad-hoc opinion-sharing meetings, establishing the tradition of regular video updates from the management team, holding celebrations online, and many more.
What specific tools, software, and management skills are you using to navigate this crisis?
Reputation and experience are some of the essentials in our industry. We stay strong anytime for our people and clients. At the same time, we made many processes even more efficient.
A growth mindset coupled with Agile methodology is useful during critical times. Viewing each experience as an opportunity to learn helps keep a clear perspective and gives a solid basis for improvement. The data-based approach to transformation is the one MaxBill follows, as analytical tools can give valuable insight into what exactly is happening on the market and with the particular company.
Collaboration is also crucial to overcome challenges. When people know that their teammates have their back, they feel less anxious and perform much better. Synergy creates ten times the results that each individual does.
Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?
Our main competitors are cloud-based BSS solution providers like PowerCloud, NetCracker, and Compax. Though we ultimately serve the same verticals and deliver a similar product, the approach differs from company to company so clients can choose more comfortably for their unique case.
MaxBill has earned a solid reputation over the years. We plan to implement best practices into the product and combine them with the newest technology, making it even more accessible and relevant to the particular verticals. MaxBill will continue to deliver an excellent product that can be integrated with other applications and adjusted according to client’s specific needs to help providers grow their customer base, services, and profits.
Your final thoughts
I believe that we can withstand the events of a global scale like the COVID-19 pandemic by being open to change, keeping a clear head, and working together. Engaging with new ideas, thinking outside of the box, and never leaving the big picture out of sight will help find solutions where it seems there were none before.
Digital transformation is crucial in the post-COVID world. One cannot prepare for anything, of course, but the level of process readiness and organization matters. A future-proof business has smart workflows, a well-defined personnel structure, and transparent lines of communication. Companies that adopted innovative technologies and organized their routines are the ones to go through the crisis in the best way. However, the cutting-edge software tools should be used by a collaborative team for better results. When the entire world feels disconnected, it is vital to keep the communication inside the company is not obstructed by anything and fast. The team that shares experiences stays more productive, has more opportunities to get creative, improves the existing routines, and comes up with extraordinary solutions. If each team member feels heard, they are more dedicated to their work and committed to their promise to the client.
- Spokesperson: Kirill Rechter
- Company: MaxBill
- Website link: https://maxbill.com/