1. Many predictive dialing companies have repositioned themselves since the FTC rulings. Has SER Solutions, Inc., changed its application focus and direction? If so, how? And, how have these rulings impacted your company’s revenue and earnings?
The FTC rulings have actually created growth opportunities for our business on two fronts. First, there has been increased demand for our core dialing solutions, which help companies ensure their dialers are in compliance with new regulations.
At the same time, FTC’s rulings have led to a blossoming of proactive customer care, whereby organizations leverage outbound dialing technology to contact customers before customers contact them. One could say outbound has emerged anew—no longer merely a sales tool; outbound solutions build growth and loyalty among existing customers. Forward-thinking companies recognize the need to invest as much in customer retention as in acquisition.
2. Please explain the rationale for divesting the Brainware division. What effect, if any, has the divestiture had on the “new” SER organization?
The divestiture of Brainware was part of the company’s decision to concentrate solely on its primary market, contact centers. Contact centers offer great growth opportunities for our outbound systems and speech analytics solutions, particularly in core industries. Our core industries include financial services, telecommunications, utilities, outsourcing, and healthcare.
The divestiture was a perfect opportunity for us to direct all our energy and resources on further developing our call management solutions—a technology we pioneered in the mid-1980s, and one in which we remain a best-in-class provider in the United States and Europe.
The divestiture has had a very positive effect on SER Solutions because it has streamlined everything we do—from product sales to training to technical support. Today, we have a renewed commitment to our customers. We strive harder each day to provide the highest-level customer service available in the industry.
3.What has been the market reaction to your speech analytics product, SERTAINTY?
There has been a ton of interest in speech analytics products over the last year. In the past, the focus had primarily been on quality monitoring and compliance. Today, the market is starting to see the power of speech analytics and its applications in cross-selling and up-selling; gathering important business trends and customer insights; and gaining a clear picture of agent and overall contact center performance.
Customers have found great value in SER’s ability to provide comprehensive and objective monitoring, and superior delivery of key business intelligence. With SERTAINTY, our customers can take unstructured conversations and transform them into manageable data—data having immediate and long-term value. As a leader in the industry, we are committed to ensuring SERTAINTY remains on the cutting edge of this fast-growing segment of the market.
4.What new product offerings and/or services can we expect from SER for the remainder of 2006 and in 2007?
Our product offerings, and plans for expansion and growth are two-fold:
We continue to invest in our core dialing and speech analytics products—CPS, CPS E2, and SERTAINTY—to ensure we maintain our leadership position as a best-of-breed provider.
At the same time, we continue to look to invest in delivering a holistic contact center solution. For example, we are unveiling a new version of our CPS E2 product in late 2006.
This product has already received industry accolades, most recently a “Technovation” award from the American Teleservices Association and a 2006 CRM Excellence Award from Customer Interaction Solutions magazine.
CPS E2 version 3.0 will provide the integrated inbound, call recording, and speech analytics features our customers and the market demand.
As predictive analytics creates buzz in 2007, we expect to integrate this emerging technology with our core offering. This complementary technology makes it possible for contact centers to optimize decision making while increasing the value of every customer contact.
5.Please comment on your financial picture and profitability.
We have seen robust growth—quarter after quarter—in both our top-line and bottom-line results throughout 2006. Our strong financial situation will allow us to target growth at two to three times the market rate for 2007-08.
6.Has the decision-making process changed over the past few years? If so, how?
Decision makers continue to get savvier in assessing technological investments; and, as such, are looking for proven returns on their investments. We’ve seen growing interest from decision makers in how the products not only meet current needs, but how they will grow and expand to accommodate future needs. This puts pressure on us and other solution providers to offer a clear and compelling road map for our customers.
7. Have there been any noticeable trends in your customers’ requirements over the past year?
From a product standpoint, market requirements are ever-changing; yet, latelycustomers have focused increasingly on using analytics to ensure compliance and strong agent performance. Of course, we can only provide the best solution for our customers if we understand and appreciate their particular situation. To achieve that end, we make a concerted effort to listen to customers, business partners, and market analysts.
8. What do you anticipate the economic environment in the contact center/customer care market to be in the coming year?
I expect rising interest rates to have a mixed impact on contact centers in 2007. I expect pressure will be placed on some contact centers’ ability to invest in new technology; for other centers, it will drive their business and create investment opportunities. For example, higher interest rates combined with recent bankruptcy legislation will continue to put pressure on consumers, leading to increased volumes for our collections and recoveries customers.