Small Business Spotlight: StrongArm Technologies CEO on How to Get Big Clients

By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The key to business is often relationships. But, getting a foot in the door, especially with a prominent brand, is challenging.

“You have to start with the end user and you have to never lose sight of the individual at all,” suggests StrongArm Technologies CEO Sean Petterson on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.

StrongArm Tech counts Walmart and Toyota North America among its clients. Walmart recently reported the Brooklyn-based tech company helped the retailer reduce worker injuries in its factories by 64 percent using StrongArm’s wearable safety devices called FUSE that utilize haptic technology to alert laborers to risk on the job by vibrating. FUSE collects real-time data so companies can make safety improvements.

“The goal for us is to not overcomplicate anything, but rather just provide small insights throughout your day so you can avoid getting hurt,” he said.

Petterson told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso that the key to gaining big clients has been loyalty to their original ally within large corporations.

“They may not have the budget to take you globally with the organization, but they are the champions and they are the best voice of customer,” he explained.
“It’s almost like the old adage ‘treat your new friends like silver and your old like gold.’ That’s really how we try to operate.”

StrongArm Tech’s first client eight years ago was a small charity distribution center in Upstate New York, which purchased their exoskeletons that provide ergonomic support to industrial workers lifting heavy materials.

Petterson told WCBS 880 one way they’ve been able to scale is by taking their data “a step further” to help their clients find cost savings.

“By eliminating those injuries, we don’t simply have the dollars fall on the bottom-line,” he said. “If you’re anticipating a workflow improvement, but you can’t really find the operational budget to do so, there’s a very good chance that there’s a safety ROI hidden in those numbers.”

He told Connolly and Carousso their clients have been able to increase profits and productivity by placing value in the labor system.

Petterson tells his clients “if you can measure it, you can manage it.”

New York City tech companies, like StrongArm, are booming largely because they are introducing needed solutions and upending traditional businesses that were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

See ways local tech companies are innovating and growing and get ideas on how to scale a business on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.