Last month I reached out to Greg Gianforte the CEO of RightNow
Technologies regarding how his company is doing. Why? Well the hosted communications/call center/CRM market seems to be doing better than others as a result of reduced CAPEX budgets and I know some others in the space are growing quickly. This was his response:
RightNow had record sales in Q4. For the year, our revenue was up 25% Y/Y and we generated nearly $15M in cash from operations while returning to GAAP profitability. We gave guidance for 2009 to grow recurring revenue an additional 10% - 15% in 2009 while expanding profit margins.
I believe this growth is due to the continued adoption of SaaS and the need of companies to keep the customers they have while reducing costs. One new customer last fall, a multi-billion dollar retailer, was able to eliminate 50% of inbound customer email and 18% of phone call volume in three weeks using our eService capabilities.
I believe we will see a continued increase in the adoption of SaaS and a continued focus on Customer Experience initiatives in the current environment.
This is great news for others who provide SaaS and moreover it is gratifying to see companies taking the time in a slower economy to focus more on customer acquisition and retention. During the last slowdown in 2001 many companies took the opportunity to offshore their sales and customer service which didn't always meet with increased customer satisfaction. This time they are investing in technology to keep current and existing customers happy.
For more from Greg check out our podcast from last winter.
Technorati
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Digg
twitter![gianforte[1].jpg](http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/assets_c/2008/11/gianforte[1]-thumb-150xauto-4030.jpg)
![blackberry-watch-real-2[1].jpg](http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/assets_c/2009/10/blackberry-watch-real-2[1]-thumb-autox70-6851.jpg)
Hello,
Great Blog I will definitely bookmark your blog. I am also having a blog related to IT http://itresearchnews.blogspot.com/ which gives latest analysis and trends in IT industry in the present recession period. I would appreciate if you could kindly bookmark my blog too.
In reviewing vendors myself, I have always been impressed with the RightNOW proposition. They offer simple clear messaging to help people understand the benefits that they deliver. I've actually used their content in training my staff.
I also think that the Saas proposition has 'the nail on the head!'
Nice article, Thank you for sharing it.