Mike Specializes in Teaching the Paladin Way

Mike Horn has built an impressive depth of knowledge about Paladin Point of Sale during his 13 years with Paladin Data Corporation® earning him his current role as PaladinPOS™ product specialist. Today, he leads product demonstrations for prospective clients while also contributing to ongoing product development.

Mike was on a customer service team of five when he started his career at Paladin. Within a year, he was managing Paladin’s support team, a position he held for over a decade. In that time, he pretty much became the go-to guy for anything PaladinPOS. That knowledge also put him on Paladin’s traveling team that attends dealer markets – trade shows – organized by suppliers such as Orgill, Do it Best, Ace, Wallace and others.

“I think my first trade show was about three or four months after I started. Being face to face with customers, I like that a lot,” he explains. “The trade show experience lent itself to doing demos because you’re doing light demos at the shows – showing people how Paladin works. We’re trying to show off what we can do.”

That transition – from solving customer issues to showcasing product capabilities – has made Mike equally comfortable working with both new and experienced users. Whether he’s demonstrating how to ring up a sale or guiding a longtime customer through advanced reporting features to improve efficiency and workflows, Mike’s knowledge spans every level of the system.

When Paladin reorganized its support structure, Mike stepped into a leadership role overseeing the Customer Experience team. This group focuses on providing additional guidance to stores that need extra support. After spending most of his career managing some aspect of customer support, he recently transitioned fully into his current product specialist role while still staying closely connected to customer needs and feedback.

“Mike consistently demonstrates dedication, professionalism, and a strong commitment to supporting both his team and our customers. His hard work, positive attitude, and willingness to go above and beyond make him a valuable part of the company,” says Paladin COO Ryan Dunn.

Mike started at Paladin in 2013 in client support, about three years after his wife, Holly, joined the company. Within a year he was managing customer support. Although they’ve worked in different departments, they were already used to working together, having both spent years in Holly’s father’s construction company.

“I can see a lot of reasons not to do that,” Mike jokes about working with his wife. “But I love carpooling in the morning. We kind of pack and unpack the day together. It works for us.”

Having witnessed Paladin’s growth firsthand, Mike says one aspect of the company stands out to him above all.

“I think it’s great,” he says. “Paladin has grown a lot, but it’s kept its humanity. As companies grow, it’s easy for them to start treating employees like numbers and Paladin hasn’t done that. That’s a big deal to me.”