No. 7 - Rochester Top 100

About SIGMA Marketing Group: Provider of database marketing services.

Employees: 72

Website:www.sigmamarketing.com

We asked Jim Byrnes, president and COF, to talk about his business.

Question: Tell me briefly about your business.
Byrnes: Sigma is a database marketing services firm. We create and deploy marketing programs designed to acquire new customers, cross sell existing customers, retain customers or win-back lost customers. Sigma consists of five service areas; Marketing Strategy, Database Management, Campaign Management, Messaging and Analytics.

Question: How did your business get started?
Byrnes: Sigma started in 1985 as a marketing consulting firm specializing in customer segmentations and geo-demography.

Question: What does it mean to your business to be on the on the Top 100?
Byrnes: Sigma is honored to be in the Top 100. It allows us to celebrate with other successful Rochester companies.

Question: What value do you find in your Rochester Business Alliance membership?
Byrnes: Rochester Business Alliance has been a great resource for Sigma. Assisting us with Human Resource information as well as survey information on HR related data for the Rochester area, RBA has helped enable Sigma to stay competitive in our recruiting efforts and legally compliant in our local marketplace.

Question: You have satellite offices in Charlotte, N.C. and in Tampa, LF. What are the best things about doing business in Rochester?
Byrnes: The satellite offices in Charlotte and Tampa are sales offices only. All of our core business is maintained from our Rochester location. We have found Rochester to be a good source of professional talent. We hire a diverse range of skills, everything from creative talent to high level quantitative skills. We like to say both left and right brained skill set. Rochester has proved to provide that talent pool and we expect that to continue.

Question: What would you like to see happen in our region, and in our state, to help businesses thrive?
Byrnes: First, from a business perspective, today there is no compelling reason for business to be located downtown. As a result, the suburbs are growing and most economic development is happening out of the city. We need creative ideas and incentives to move Rochester businesses back into downtown. Additionally, we have a need to reinvent downtown Rochester. Our clients are from a national market and when they come to Rochester, we have a difficult time finding good entertainment opportunities other than golf, which is not enough. I felt both the Fast Ferry and the proposed "Italian Section" were good ideas because we where at least taking a risk and willing to be different. Those opportunities are off the table, so we need a new idea. I would love to see some of the tax dollars we spend downstate stay in Rochester to fund projects like those even if they are cash flow negative.

Question: What trends are you seeing among your customers in terms of preferences?
Byrnes: More than ever our customers are looking for ROI (Return On Investment) on their marketing spend and they want lower risk decisions. We see marketing analytics, and the ability to forecast market potential and sales prior to a campaign being funded, as a requirement. Media fragmentations and shrinking marketing budgets are creating more intelligent marketers and the trend will only continue. Additionally, marketers are looking for companies that can successfully integrate marketing programs across all channels. In our industry the future belongs to firms that can market to individual customers through a multiple channels and track the progress along the way.