Many publicly traded technology stocks have had a torrid time of late as investors move away from lofty visions and future growth promises to a focus on the fundamentals of earnings and earnings.
The same dynamic plays out in the minds of CFOs as they make choices about their investment priorities for the coming year. In a recent questionnaireGartner found that despite the economic pressures many organizations face, “only 7% of CFOs plan to reduce customer service spending in the next 12 months,” with 21% planning to increase their spending and 72% intends to maintain spending.
The survey also found that nearly all CFOs will prioritize investments in technologies that increase current revenue streams or help reduce costs.
It also appears that a number of VCs in the service and experience space have gotten the same memo and are doubling down on investments that can help increase revenue, reduce costs, or both.
jigsaw puzzle.
For example, invocationa leading AI-powered call tracking and analytics platform that helps marketers and revenue teams with campaign attribution and actionable data from inbound phone calls has helped clients such as Direct TV achieve a 110% improvement in sales agents’ sales rate while reducing their cost per acquisition.
After successes like this earlier this year, they has raised $83 million at a $1 billion valuationwhich was 4x higher than their last round in 2019. This valuation has been propelled by the company which has over $100 million in run-rate revenue and the strength of its long-term fundamentals.
Their fundraising success comes as no surprise to Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca, who says: “There has been a clear market shift from pure growth focus to the balance between growth and profitability. At Invoca we have always focused on the latter, while ensuring continued product innovation and customer success.We have always taken a disciplined approach to growth and built long-term trust with our investors.When we approached our financing earlier this year, these factors were critical as today’s investors have a critical eye on verified business fundamentals and long-term market potential. term. They return to strong, stable and proven companies.”
Meanwhile, in managing costs and improving efficiency, as quickly as possible, the research-driven artificial intelligence company, builds products to help people in contact centers deliver better experiences and process more customer engagement in less time, while also benefiting consumers from faster resolution to their needs. Last year they have has raised $120 million at a valuation of $1.6 billion. This valuation was driven by 100%+ YoY growth, the addition of major clients such as American Airlines, JetBlue and EY to their portfolio, and some impressive client results.
For example, one Fortune 500 customer achieved an 86% increase in agent productivity, while two Fortune 100 customers achieved a 52% reduction in cost per interaction and a 138% increase in solution at first contact, respectively.
Gustavo Sapoznik, founder and CEO of ASAPP, explains their success: “Enterprises have faced a tough trade-off in the past, spending a lot to deliver a quality customer experience or aggressively cutting costs at the expense of customer satisfaction. For the first time, we can do both at the same time: AI technology that improves agents and enables them to be more productive, empathetic and effective, while delivering massive cost savings and delighting customers.”
So as it becomes clear what investors, CFOs and VCs have in mind, some in the industry are beginning to suggest that the contact center is going to be the next great technology frontier.
Will it be? Could it be?
Who knows.
What is clear is that smart organizations are focusing their investments on technologies that can help increase revenue and cut costs, especially in customer service and experience. That makes sense, given the uncertain economic conditions we face.
What is also clear, however, is that the smartest companies go further. They think much longer term because they realize the potential and opportunities that the contact center offers. This comes into focus when you look at the level of contact customer service agents have with customers, how much data the contact center is on, and what can be done with those two things.
Next big technical frontier? Who knows?
Next big data, insight and engagement frontier? Perhaps.
