TopLine Results Corporation: The Entrepreneur Spirit

By: Hailey Pitcher, MMAC Communications Intern

Fred Varin’s first time visiting the United States consisted of 65 days on a Greyhound bus traveling over 10,000 miles, seeing everything from New York to Vancouver, Los Angeles, Key West and Washington D.C. He would be back two years later to get his MBA at the University of South Carolina, which led to him staying in the U.S. and eventually starting his own business. 

Over one quarter of U.S. entrepreneurs are immigrants, and Harvard Business Review says their businesses are more likely to thrive as they create job opportunities and revive areas with new ideas. The resilience and unique skill sets often acquired by those immigrating to a new country are a huge asset to communities and the economy, and their businesses bring in billions of dollars. 
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This series highlights Milwaukee businesses that are founded, owned and operated by immigrants. We’ve had the privilege of hearing their stories and backgrounds, as well as what makes them so valuable to our community. ​

His first business was selling waffles out of a modified 1953 Mercedes Benz Limousine.  
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Varin then founded TopLine Results Corporation in 1999, which he owns with his wife, Melanie Varin. The business is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. They specialize in selling, customizing and integrating customer relationships management software and digital marketing platforms, along with providing business process consulting.  

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Varin was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium. He graduated from the University of Leuven with a chemical engineering degree. He spent about eight months in mandatory military service, then in 1986 attended the University of South Carolina for his MBA. After his masters, he thought he would return to work in Belgium. 
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“But after I met Melanie in school, we got engaged in six weeks and married six months later. At that point, there was no thinking about going back,” Varin said.  
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They moved to New York, where Fred worked in a Snomax™ lab at Eastman Kodak- and hated it.  
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“I thought I was an engineer, but I’m obviously not laboratory or design focused,” he said.  
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Varin began working remotely for a technical sales company for six years before starting the Brussels Waffle Wagon. He sold waffles out of the Mercedes Benz in a mall, moving the business to London in 1994 with his wife’s job relocation. Right before leaving England, he sold the waffle business to his manager.  
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“After four years I was totally exhausted, and I was happy to sell the business,” Varin said.  ​

Less than 24 hours after selling the Waffle Wagon, the couple moved to Plano, Texas. While there, he decided to evaluate what he wanted out of his life. After a short stint selling long-term care insurance, he knew he wanted to own a business. He also had a passion for teaching.  
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“I made a list of all the things I loved doing and all the skills I had. It was obvious that I loved sales, and that I loved technology,” Varin said.  ​

He started a company, naming it ActProActive after the Act! sales software he had begun using, which manages customers, sales and marketing. He became an Act! certified consultant, made easier by the fact that he had years of experience in sales.  
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“I saw a possibility of becoming what I really wanted to be: a teacher, a consultant, a business owner and eventually an employer,” he said.  
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“The success of our company had a lot to do with me loving what I was consulting about, which was productivity, trying to stay focused in sales, using technology and helping other salespeople be successful,” Varin said. 
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Melanie was offered a job in Wisconsin, so after two years in Dallas, they settled in Pewaukee. With a minimal number of consultants in the area, Varin experienced some quick successes and began looking for an office.  
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“It’s a lot easier to hire a person now than it was when I was working in my basement,” he said.  
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Some of his employees have been working with him for over 20 years. Varin’s company was so successful that he kept remote customers from Dallas even while living in Wisconsin. He became the No. 1 or No. 2 salesperson for Act! 10 years in a row.  
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In 2004, Varin renamed the company. He wanted to focus on more than just one CRM software.
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“We called it TopLine Results because that’s what we affect the most: the topline, the revenue side of business,” he said.

He focused his company on traits he wanted them to represent, especially ones that exemplified the hard work that is vital to his business.  
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“The values we have here at TopLine are represented by a French word, esprit,” Varin said. 
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Esprit means “spirit.” E stands for expertise, S for speed, P for passion, R for results, I for initiative and integrity and T for teamwork.  
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“I’m a very loyal person. Loyalty is very important to me when I hire a new person,” he said. 
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Growing TopLine Results hasn’t been as much of a challenge as Brussels Waffle Wagon. Yet, there are still unexpected financial costs and the task of keeping up with the technology they sell.  
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He stressed the importance of the acronym “esprit,” particularly expertise.  
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“Learning is the most challenging because we have to stay ahead of our customers in everything that we do. We have three different CRM platforms (Microsoft, HubSpot and Zoho) ...and we have multiple platforms for digital marketing,” Varin said. 
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In 2010, Varin became a citizen of the United States, after Belgium finally recognized dual citizenship. Seven years ago, Melanie joined the company as COO. The company recently began producing software that syncs data between CRM and marketing platforms, “enhancing the quality of the data” and the visibility for both sales and marketing teams. Melanie also recently published a book about aligning sales and marketing, called Ignite Topline Growth. 
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“The book and our SymphonySync™ software are a testimony of our ability to produce quality products and services in our marketplace. It shows the depth of our understanding of what we do for marketing and for CRM, and that is unique to TopLine Results,” Varin said.  ​