This story appears in the
August 2002 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Getting your idea across can be difficult, but Steven
Birchfield, founder and CEO of Automation Centre in Tucson,
Arizona, would tell you to try drawing it out.
After a conversation with a screenwriter during a business trip,
Birchfield, 39, was motivated to integrate cartoon characters into
sales pitches for his software, which helps companies' service
operations run more efficiently.
Birchfield's amusing characters for the fictitious Bizco
company, like Victor Vice President, Hanna HR, Joe User and Ashley
Admin, not only communicate to clients what the software does, but
they also inspire Birchfield's employees. "We write and
test all the software with these characters in mind," he
says.
Automation Centre's sales pitches now sail smoothly, with
demonstrations that literally illustrate clients' operational
situations. With projected 2002 sales of $4 million and an
impressive list of new clients like 3M, Coca-Cola, DuPont,
McDonald's, Pioneer and Sanyo, Birchfield can attest that
cartoons aren't just for kids.