As Nikki just mentioned in her article, spring conference season is winding down. And it’s been a hectic one. Only Internet Retailer to go. But also like my partner, the last customer conference I attended – Insights 2015 – happened to be the biggest lovefest I’ve attended this year. Firstly, hats off to Epicor for giving the majority of their opening welcome reception dinner to the Retail Orphan Initiative. Jeff Roster made a convincing presentation as to why we should all be looking at a slightly bigger picture than just sales and gross margin, and updated a room full of business professionals to what the charitable organization has accomplished for children in impoverished nations thus far, and what it intends to do next. If you’re not aware of their work, it’s genuinely worth a look. In fact it’s worth opening your checkbook.

But this decision automatically set the tone for what kind of company Epicor wants to be. I mean, when was the last time you were at a user conference that didn’t kick off with a “look how impressive we are ” motif, opting to give the opening keynote to a charitable organization?

Next up the company did something else I’d never seen before. So much so that I had to check with my partners to see if they had ever witnessed anything like it, and sure enough, none of us had. The tech vendor starting handing out awards to some of its most valued customers. Nothing odd about that. But then it took a slight twist. When a representative from Nike accepted an award for collaborative development, he actually turned the accolades to Epicor’s EVP and General Manager, Noel Goggin.

I didn’t have my notebook with me to get the quote perfectly (this was an awards dinner, after all), but it was one of the nicest things I’ve ever heard a customer say about someone they’d bought a product from. To paraphrase, Nike has high confidence in its choice to pick Epicor because of the people – Noel in particular – and their willingness to make sure the company is being looked after as they would their own family. Mind you, it wasn’t just the words, but the sincerity and delivery made for a genuinely nice moment. And then came what I really wasn’t expecting. Several Epicor clients announced that they’d prepared in advance to award Epicor team members with surprise awards to thank them for their hard work and dedication on recent projects. Except the Epicor employees didn’t know this was coming, a la surprise birthday party.

Several were clearly caught off guard, a few were genuinely speechless. It was something to see. This is now part of Epicor’s domain. If another vendor were to borrow this practice for their own user group next year it may seem a bit disingenuous – not necessarily because it would be (lots of retailers have vendors they’re happy with and would likely appreciate the opportunity to acknowledge the people who help make tough projects easier), but because this was Epicor’s idea. This is part of their culture; they’re a people-based company, and they clearly seek to carve out sections of the market with goodwill as part of their differentiator.

When the next day turned to more usual business matters, it instantly became clear that the previous evening’s tone hadn’t been a fluke. Goggin’s kickoff presentation, What A Year It’s Been, included all the types of update info you might expect: the company has 270 retail customers now (represented by 570 brands), over 750 employees, a new building in Montreal, and has built a new facility in India. The year has also included 81 new retailer wins, 100 new websites, and 2 acquisitions. Goggin made it a point to talk about how much of a cultural fit the QuantiSense acquisition is, not just technologically, but from a people perspective, as well.

But then, while introducing the company’s vision for aligning around customer successes (engage, transform, and inspire), the man got right to it. “I want to get shit done. ” It doesn’t get much more clear than that. “We’re a people business – it all comes down to people, ” echoing a sentiment that had been very much laid out by what I’d seen the night before. He then put his money where his mouth is. “Every person at Epicor has their pay tied directly to Net Promoter score. If we don’t hit thresholds, people don’t get 20% of their salary. And I mean every person. ”

He went on to add, “Net Promoter is critical here – it’s not a survey to me. ”

Here’s how it works: Epicor has established an account manager system to make it easier for each of its clients to do business with them. Goggin was adamant: this is not a sales person. “They’re not going to sell you anything. They are there to know you better than you do yourself. ” In short, each of these Epicor employees serves as the CEO to each retailer account, and they are the people that “get shit done. ” The company is serious about being the people-focused option for the mid-market retailer, and if the client isn’t happy, the people responsible for relationship that don’t get paid. Bold.

So at the end of conference season, I’m left with a unique feeling about each of the conferences I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to this year. And they all have their own way of framing their company’s culture to prospective clients. SAP may tout the precision. Netsuite may bring the bravado. And as of right now, Epicor certainly has the love. But here’s the thing: as we enter a golden age of retail technology, they all seem to genuinely have the product. It will be very interesting to see how a marketplace of retailers – particularly mid-market retailers who squarely admit that it’s finally time to update their cross-channel technologies – choose going forward.