Sharon Watkins, CEO, RadiusPoint
Sharon Watkins is the CEO of RadiusPoint a 27- year-old telecom and utility expense management firm. Sharon founded the company in 1992 and manages the sales and marketing aspects of the company. She has been instrumental in working with the software development team to create ExpenseLogic, the telecom and utility expense management software that has less than ten competitors worldwide.
From Sharon’s experience with clients, the software developed into the tool that can satisfy the needs of any organization that has multiple sites and numerous employees to manage. Sharon has successfully signed and retained Clients ranging from Fortune 50 to small local County governments.
RadiusPoint and the employees stand apart from competitors by achieving ISO 9001 standards in September of 2002. RadiusPoint is SSAE 18 (formerly SAS 70) certified and continues this certification with an annual audit. RadiusPoint also was awarded a GSA contract vehicle in 2018 for Schedule 70 IT services.
RadiusPoint, formerly TSG Enterprises, LLC, won the prestigious Top 50 Minority/Women Owned Businesses in Tennessee and was named a Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies by Fast Company Magazine. Sharon received the 2006 Enterprising Women of the Year award, and RadiusPoint was named one of Inc 5000 fastest-growing companies in 2015. The Orlando Business Journal named Sharon Business Owner of the Year in 2015 and CEO of the Year in 2019. Sharon has been a Premium Member of CEO Connection since September 2018.
Interview:
CEOC: What recent success are you most proud of?
SW: There are a few recent successful milestones that I have accomplished at RadiusPoint. First, we celebrated 27 years in business in January of this year. That’s phenomenal for our industry. Second, we were awarded the GSA Schedule 70 IT Contract vehicle which is a government contract award that is very hard to achieve. We actually achieved this in record time—5 months. The GSA told us that it would take over a year to get this award if we were awarded. Third, we just rolled out our eighth generation of ExpenseLogic, our proprietary software which continues to aid in client retention.
CEOC: What action did you take early in your career that you feel most helped you obtain your CEO position you hold today?
SW: Vision in 1996 to create a software that did not exist for an industry that was just starting to emerge, Telecom and Utility Expense Management.
COEC: How do you start each day?
SW: Exercise, I like to go to the gym for a few minutes of peace and quiet on the elliptical machine. I love to clear my mind so that I can better focus on any tasks that emerge throughout the day.
CEOC: What do you foresee will be the biggest challenge to CEOs of mid-market companies in the next five years?
SW: Keeping up with the constant changes in technology and retaining exceptional talent.
CEOC: How do you keep your company in front of trends, customer needs, and your competitors? SW: Research, research, research. You have to be able to cut through the mountains of information to identify what is truly going to retain your clients and keep them satisfied.
This article was previously published in the CEOC Magazine. You can read the magazine here.
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