Pittsburgh Innovates

Pittsburgh-based Landslide Technologies Inc’s pioneering new software is changing the way salespeople do business.

Landslide’s Summer 2008 Release marks a complete redesign of the company’s flagship product. In addition, the company has doubled its customer base in the last 12 months and has plans to double the size of its Robinson Township offices and increase staff from 50 to 70-75 in the next year, says Saman Haqqi, vice president of marketing.

The technology firm, with an additional office in Lahore, Pakistan, develops all its software in-house and counts many Pittsburgh companies among its clients, including Eaton Corp, Aethon and Acclamation Systems.

“Our whole value proposition is that you can take a salesperson and define the process that makes them successful,” Haqqi explains. “It’s not about establishing a rigid practice but providing a roadmap where they can apply those processes accordingly and increase their productivity.”

Landslide software is built for salespeople by salespeople, Haqqi says, providing them with the tools and support to guide both large and small deals through the pipeline while keeping the process consistent. The software helps to keep sellers on track and engage with buyers during each step, providing perks like email prospecting and insider mashups. It also takes away the labor-intensive task of data entry.

Sales professionals can fax hand-written information to the company’s live administrative assistants, staffed by young college graduates, who keep account information up to date. It’s the perfect opportunity for an entry-level IT grad.

“It was purposely built to help sales people consistently hit targets and help companies build world class sales organizations,” says Haqqi.

Landslide was founded in 2004 by Razi Iman, CEO, who works alongside his wife Saman Haqqi and a team of former Fore Systems employees. “We consider Pittsburgh one of the best kept secrets in the U.S.” Haqqi says. “We really like it here.”