Podcasts about five9

ai speed rant bots salesforce processes rave accuracy cx personalization enhancements workflows new ai servicenow localization relevancy efficiencies enterprising five9 sap concur

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2024 30:18

In this episode of Enterprising Insights, The Futurum Group's Enterprise Applications Research Director Keith Kirkpatrick discusses several new generative AI-focused product announcements and enhancements focused on contact centers and service applications, including those from Five9, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and SAP Concur. He then closes out the show with the Rant or Rave segment, where he picks one item in the enterprise software market, and either champions or criticizes it.

Ep. 61 Revisited- What is Work Force Management (WFM), and why is it important? With Jason Lowe

Telarus

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2024 24:46

Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Email | Deezer | RSS | More Don't miss this historic episode featuring Jason Lowe, Telarus Solution Architect for Contact Center. Join in as he discusses a key contact center product some companies just can not do without, which is Work Force Management (WFM). He talks about why they need it, how to overcome objections, and most importantly, how to help your contact center customers see the ROI on it! Can you believe that we're already at 100 episodes? While we go and ramp up and get ready for season three, we're gonna take you back, listen to some of the great moments in these past episodes. So stay tuned as we take you back to season one and two. Everybody, welcome back. We are here to talk about contact center, workforce management, and we're gonna talk about why that is so important. But before we get to breaking that down, what it is, why it matters, why you care, I'd like to welcome in Mr. Jason Lowe, also goes by the name of J. Lowe, into the studio today. – Thank you for having me, Josh. Happy to be here. – So J. Lowe, I wanna talk about your background. Part of my favorite thing of doing this is really learning where everybody came from, right? Did you used to cut grass, then you decided you wanna get into tech? Where did you start? What's your background? How did you get here? And give us the story. – Man, so I've always been into technology. My parents got an Atari, which I loved, and then we got an Apple 2C computer, and they sent me to a computer camp and did all of these things. But when I, quite frankly, when I got to high school, and I didn't wanna go to my other classes, I would go and hang out in the computer lab. And the person that ran the computer lab was very nice, and knew that if I wasn't there helping her with the computer lab, that I would probably be at the 7-Eleven on the corner, or something like that. So she let me go ahead and spend as much time there, and so I got to spend time networking computers together, and setting up software, and then I got a job right out of high school doing the same stuff, and it eventually led to writing code, and doing some of the really super cool, crazy, techy things. But then I was tired of not having a degree, so I went back to school, got my bachelors, and ironically, right after I got my bachelors, and I'm looking around for a job, any job whatsoever, and I ran into this fine gentleman by the name of Darren Solomon, who at the time, was a recruiter for a little company called UCN. – Ah yes. – Yes, and he is now at Varen, by the way, but he and I bonded, and he tried to shoehorn me into three or four other different positions, and I finally got in as a technical trainer at UCN. And so that's how my technology, at least in the software as a service space career, kind of got started. But yeah, previously everything from writing code, to networking, and computer maintenance, to software installation, and stuff like that. – I love it too, because it all translates, right? I mean, I never thought when I was going to school that I would need to know what the OSI model was, and understanding all these different layers, but you have these core things that you have, that you're taught that it always kind of comes back to, regardless of if you, we talk about this, of the things that we went to school for, are we doing those now, right? That's a whole nother podcast on its own, but I think that core, that troubleshooting, plugging it together, right? You're starting to learn what you like, right? So it's been awesome to kind of see that progression, and then turned into in contact, and then I believe there's some product experience in there. So I think you've gotten a cool, rounded out experience in my mind of the background, now obviously specializing in the context in our side here as an architect. – Yeah, it's really funny how things turn out. Everything's so iterative, right? You build on top of things, and when I got to UCN, I was a technical trainer, and then I go walking into Scott Welch's office, Scott is now CEO of Europe for Five9, and I said, “I need a mentor,” and he said, “Okay, here, take a test,” and so he gave me an LMS personality profile. They said it was a 96% match for sales engineering, which I had never heard of before in my life. And so a year and a half later, I'm on the SE team, and I also played SE roles at Talk Desk, and things like that, but really the fun and interesting thing where things went a little crazy for me was I met the SKO with Nice in Vegas, outside by a campfire, having a drink with Kristin Emenecker, who is now the chief product officer, I believe, for Playbox, and we were sitting there ruminating about what we were doing in our different roles, and she said, “Man, I wish I could find someone “to take this product role,” and I was like, “Well, I'll do it,” and next thing I know, we're having a conversation, and a month later, I'm on the product team, and I'm managing the relationship with Varenth, and at the time in contact before the nice acquisition, and so that was kind of my first exposure to workforce management in the contact center from a product side of things. I'd done things previously, but that really opened my eyes as to how these tools work, and what they do, and the value they provide. – So you got to see a lot of progression there. I mean, UCN is turning to in-contact, and you got to see the Varen partnership, product side, engineering side, architecture, all of that, and seeing in-contact grow over the years. As you saw that, I wanna talk a little bit about, and weave this into the workforce management side, because we always talk about, from a discovery call perspective, we're looking to understand where the customer is, what do they need, do they need the full suite of everything, do they need just this little segment of tools that we're trying to augment, because maybe the customer already bought that, and the agent's trying to wedge in with some product or service. So first off, help us understand, for anybody that doesn't know WFM, and what this whole workforce management thing is, break that down for us. – So WFM is one of a set of tools that are collectively referred to as workforce experience management these days. It used to also previously be called workforce optimization. And WFM, in a nutshell, the Cliff Notes version, is a tool that in one side, you feed in a bunch of variables, and on the other side, it spits out a schedule for your agents. That's basically what it is. Now the variables that you feed in, are everything from, how many calls we've taken, what service levels we want for these calls, what shifts do they wanna work, what kind of calls can they handle, are we expecting increases or decreases based on seasonality, or on advertising spends, or these different things. It takes into account all of these different factors, before it spits out the schedule, that allows you to answer the number of calls that you're going to get in the service level window that you want, service level being answering within a certain interval, like we wanna get 80 to 85% of our calls answered within 30 seconds, or something like that. And so it takes all that in consideration, and then it just makes sure that you're optimizing the number of people that you need to have on the floor, answering phone calls at any given time. So really, it's the thing that optimizes things in both directions. One, let's optimize the customer's experience by making sure that an agent's there to answer the phone call, but let's also optimize the spend for the company by making sure that we're accomplishing this with the lowest number of actual agents or employees necessary to meet those levels. – Awesome, I wanna go back to maybe one of the first examples that you did with this, but maybe let's kick back even further of how do we know who needs this, right? I mean, do most customers know that they need it? Is it a certain size that you would always see of when it gets to the size, that's kind of when, and the spreadsheets thing doesn't work anymore, or steer us around that? – Great question. So I would say in most cases, when you're looking at somewhere north of 40 to 50 agents, you're probably going to benefit from something like this. Now there are other variabilities that kind of play into things like, do we have a follow the sun model? Do we have just one shift, eight to five Monday through Friday, and that's it? Do we have long calls? Do we have short calls? Are we doing outbound also? What are the types of media channels are we handling like chat, SMS, email, et cetera with our agents? Lots of different factors, but generally rule of thumb, if you have more than 40 to 50 agents, if you will, whatever you call those agents, that's generally the level that's kind of a rule of thumb. – Okay, so let's look back at, I wanna show a progression here as we build on this at the end, then versus now kind of thing. If you flash back to one of the first opportunities that you ever worked in as an engineer, where you went, hey, I need WFM, or we need to add WFM in here, walk us through what was that like and what was the product set then and how much value did it add? – At that time, it really was just the scheduling component, but then there were also some affiliated products that also further justified it. On the scheduling side of things, that was enough of a financial justification to make it happen. This was an instance where I think they were dealing with 75 agents, they were doing spreadsheets, they did have a day shift and a swing shift, and they wanted to be really particular about their schedule and they wanted to really make sure that they were hitting those service level goals. And so they were less concerned with providing the agent with a consistent eight to five Monday through Friday schedule, but let's make sure that we have the right staff scheduled wherever needed. And so you have two different extremes in using the tools. One is going to be flexibility in the agent schedule, the other is going to be let's be consistent for the agent and just provide them a day job type thing. So the more flexible you can be with a schedule for an agent and start and finish at a specific time, take breaks at specific time, then you're going to be able to customize things a little better to hit those service levels. And in this particular case, it really made sense because they were using Excel spreadsheets and they were just kind of going off of what they felt. But when we dove into things and really took a look at their call volume, imported it into a WFM tool, they could really see the flows, the ebbs and flows during the day and see that sometimes people were taking breaks or were scheduled to take breaks or lunches during some of these peak periods. That's why their service levels were going down and they probably knew it was happening, but they weren't recognizing it because they didn't really have it right in front of their face in the form of a good report. – So how do you pull that in to help the customer see that it's not just an added cost? How do you quantify that into ROI? What's the easiest top couple things to drill that down? – I would say just taking a look at the fact that the people in a contact center are the number one cost. There's no, I mean, no matter what technology you're going to buy, you're still the biggest expense is going to be who you're paying and how much. And anything you can do to optimize that level of personnel or staffing, or dare I say, minimize it to what is just necessary to hit the goals, you're going to save yourself money. How is that going to be? Well, you're always going to be over-staffing if you're not really analyzing and taking a look at what's going on with all of these different variables and making sure that you have people staffed at the right time, but also not there at the times when you don't need them. And so it really boils down to, okay, how many agents do you have? What's your labor expenditure? Why don't we take some of your call volumes, run a couple of simulated schedules and see what your labor costs would be if we were to do it through the WFM tool on this other side. – Love it, love it, that's good. How do you think, let's talk about pros and cons. Our job, right, as engineers and architects is to help the partner solve the customer's business problems. And surely we would love it if we can come in and we can sell them context center and the workforce suite and UC and security and all these things. But we're only able to do, A, what the budget allows and then, B, what they really need that they can identify that solves their problems at the current time. So where I'm going with this is we talk about a fully integrated suite or just these a la carte products that help somebody wedge in. How do you look at pros and cons there? What's my pro or con either way of saying, Mr. Customer, you should leave this older technology that you have because by the time we bolt on, it's gonna be X, Y, and Z. Or, no, you know what, wedge it in here. How do you go through that thought process? – Well, it's interesting, right? You have to take into consideration a lot of different things like the philosophy and the environment and the customer. And what I mean by that is, are they cutting edge technology adapters or are they someone that likes to hang on to their legacy stuff? How open are they to that conversation? There's always that burden of teaching people what this new technology can do. And I've given you this analogy, but I think it's a very pertinent one. I'm giving it up. I'm not turning in my man card. Not gonna do it, but I like this show called Downton Abbey, I just like it, okay? – Awesome. – And the very, very first episode ever, they're talking about how electricity is this really great new invention. And they're talking about how they're actually gonna pipe electricity into the kitchen. And one of the kitchen maids is really confused and can't understand why in the world you would pump electricity into a kitchen for crying out loud. That's because she didn't understand that electricity could drive mixers and refrigerators and all these different things. She had to be educated as to why this tool was going to make her life better and easier and more efficient. And sometimes in the sales process with a lot of these products, you go through that. So ROI is really important. On WFM, it's a little bit more tangible. On QM and some of these other ancillary products, it can be a little bit harder to prove, but it is provable. You just have to do the analysis. You just have to get into the numbers and figure it out. Now as it pertains to do we do it as an add-on, do we do it as a suite of products, again, that's kind of the philosophy of the customer. Do they want to write one check? Do they want to have one hand to shake, one throat to choke, whatever your favorite analogy is? Or are they okay with trying to go with different pieces and bringing together a suite of best of breed products? And there's really no right or wrong answer for everybody because everybody has a different use case that is going to be met by different product mixes. Oftentimes people just kind of go with their gut or they go with what their company philosophy is. – Fair, good point. Do you find though that with a product like this, are you getting them to consider things that they haven't thought of yet? You know, what percentage of customers do you think are considering these things, right? Or thinking about the agent and how long they're on and how much their costs are and all those things. Or are you finding that you're having to bring up in these discovery discussions? Hey, have you thought about this? Have you thought about the software to be able to do these things? – There's a lot of factors there. Sometimes they're familiar with the technology, but it hasn't been the right time yet to try and implement it. Sometimes it's complete discovery and education because they've been so stuck on older technology that they haven't even considered doing this yet. It really is fun to go through that process with customers from both perspectives, right? We now have employees that have used this in previous lives. We want to adopt this technology. We haven't been big enough to do it yet. Now we're big enough to do it. Or our executive team is really emphasizing the trend of now, which is the customer experience. Let's make sure we're differentiating ourselves by how well we're treating our customers. We have to do a better job of that. Let's make sure that we are incorporating these different tools that can make that better. And therefore by extension, make the customer experience better. And so, wow, it's a fascinating time to be in this space. Let's just put it that way. Because technology is always changing, as you know, Mr. Podcaster, in all of these different areas. And all of these different and exciting innovations are really bearing fruit at a lot of different levels. And there's always that bell curve, right? Of early adoption versus late adoption, et cetera. Contact centers run the gamut, just like everybody else. They all run the gamut. It's fun to go in and see what levers you can pull or push to educate them as to what can actually make things better for them. How, why, how it's gonna save them money. How it's going to improve their customer experience and make their lives better. – So that's perfect scenario. That's when it goes good, when we're able to discover, and we can pull out everything that they need. Let's say a partner's listening up to this point, they're ready to hang up off this podcast and go try what you said and put into play. I wanna talk about the bad things, right? Not to be a Debbie Downer, but what are the problems that you're gonna run into in a conversation that you see? You know, what is it that customers struggle with if they don't wanna adopt WFM, or they don't wanna move in that direction? Or just what are some of the challenges if a partner goes down and has this discovery and asks some of these questions on their own, what are they gonna run into that the customer might say, eh, I don't know? – Well, the number one thing that you're facing when you're in a situation like that is, you know, it's not necessarily the competitor which is another provider, it's, you know, no change, or not make any change at all. They just wanna go with the status quo. That's a tough one to fight, and really it comes down to education. And sometimes partners may, how can I put this the right way? They want to make sure that they're coming across the right way when they're talking to their customers about new technologies. They may not feel armed or educated, and that's where myself and my solution architect teammates really come into play here. We can be that person in your hip pocket or side by side with you on these phone calls to have those conversations, to do that education, to make sure that the customer realizes the benefit that these technologies could bring to them. It's the role we play here atTelarus We make everybody better, including our partners, by giving them greater resources to accomplish those very things. – Love it. All right, let's get through, we talked about an early example. Let's talk about a more recent example. We can leave customer name out of this, but what I'd love to hear about this is that, we always talk a lot about what the deal ends up closing at. Really wasn't always what it started as, whether that's because we ask a lot of questions naturally and we gotta understand what fits where, and APIs and integrations and all that good stuff. But maybe walk me through an example where you helped a partner, you got brought into this situation, I said, Jason, here's what it is. And by the time you got through your discovery process and all of that, it ended up being that they needed this. And let's hear kind of what that is, and then really what did it solve? – Great question. So I think doing discovery the right way leads to discussions about these newer technologies. And it can be something as simple as just asking a question about something that maybe they hadn't considered on purpose, or if they didn't have experience with it and listening to them go, what's that? How does that work? How's that gonna provide me a benefit? And then you get into a greater conversation of what it is that those tools can do. Really the discovery process is key. I think it's very, very, very key in making sure that you're leading the conversation the right way. Plus if you're doing it right, you could find opportunity a little bit later down the road to introduce some of those newer things. A recent use case would be actually, one that I'm thinking right now was they just were interested in updating their phone systems. They didn't have much of an IVR, but they had heard, and this was the term they used with me, they had heard of some of these newer technologies that maybe they wanted to figure out to use down the road. And so that led to a conversation of, okay, well let's talk about those newer technologies and these are what they can do and these are the ways that they can improve that customer experience. And it led to a lot of aha moments for the customer. It led to a lot of, oh, and you can do that now? Oh, I'd heard that that might be possible, but I didn't think that that was technology that we would be able to afford, let alone justify. And then when you get into the details of that and they realize that there are cost-effective ways to incorporate a lot of these newer technologies into their practice, it really made an impact. And what started out as just a, let's replace just our phone system and we're gonna do all of these things as futures. And later on it progressed into, okay, guess what? We're gonna add this piece and this piece and this piece with these two pieces being phase two, this piece being phase three. Ended up probably being about twice as big of a deal as it was originally. – Love it. Message here, bring in the team, we can help. – We do those things for you. – All right, so as we wrap this up, just one or two final things here. Obviously we're talking about resources, one of those phenomenal resources that partners have that they can lean on and bring in our team to help with. Is there anything that you would give a partner advice on if they're not comfortable cracking into this technology, right, aside from bringing us in? Anything else that you would recommend for them to do? Education, things like that for them to learn who are not comfortable in selling this? – Just ask the questions and ask the questions around how people are communicating. I think that's probably the biggest thing. How are your customers talking to you? How are you talking to your customers? Who are your customers? What is their experience like? Is there anything you want to do to improve that? What systems are you using now to facilitate those things that you're doing? Then you can ask questions that are a little bit standard, like what is your SLA? What is your service level? What is your CSAT score? All of these different things that maybe you dropped some acronyms or you mentioned some things that they hadn't quite considered. Your job really is not to dive into and ask all of the, at least maybe your job could be this if you wanted it to be, but you don't necessarily need to dive in and ask all the super technical questions. You just need to progress it to, let's have another conversation. Let's get to a point where we're talking to somebody that we can discuss these things in greater detail. Oh, by the way, I'm gonna call Jason and have Jason on the phone with me to go ahead and have that conversation. It's just ask questions. Try and learn a little bit more about what they like, what they don't like, what's keeping them up at night, what types of technologies have they heard about and they wanna consider and go from there. – Love it. Okay, final thoughts here. So in honor of Miss Cleo, if anybody knows what that is, those late night infomercials where she promises to tell your future. We've seen a lot of evolution to your point, right? We talk about that all the time on this podcast of technology, the rate of change is faster than anything we've ever seen. If you look out, I don't know, it's hard to look out even past 12 months right now, but if you look out 12 plus months, anything that you see changing dramatically in this space that you want partners to kind of be aware of and pay attention to? – Customer experience is going to be influenced by a lot more technology than just an ability to answer the phone. There are intelligent agents, there's AI everywhere doing all sorts of things in all the different places at once. Sam Nelson, one of the great people we work with here, Talaris just today, kicked off one of her minutes, or I can't remember the exact name. – Sam Snippets. – Sam Snippets, where she was talking about AI and the role that it plays in the contact center and in customer service and customer experience. That is very, very true. And it seems like every time we turn a corner and we're talking to a provider, they're taking AI and applying it to a different place in the contact center and in the customer experience that we hadn't thought of or considered before. And so that's all leading to the point where you just need to be comfortable with the fact that technology is going to continue to evolve, technology is going to continue to make things better, but the bottom line is that there will always be someone that wants to talk to a live person and that doesn't necessarily want to talk to a machine or doesn't want to try and serve themselves in certain ways. And so there will always be people that you can talk to that are contact center or customer experience centric. Another thing, if I may, take a few more moments here, is the merger of marketing and customer service, sales and customer service. Marketing, sales, customer service are all kind of becoming the same thing. And so the systems that are serving one of those can oftentimes be the systems that serve others. And we have in our stable providers here at Telarus some fantastic tools that can do great work in all of those different areas and integrate with the other tools in the areas as well. – Love it. Okay, Mr. Jason Lowe, thanks for coming into the studio with me today, man. – Thank you for having me. – Okay, that wraps us up. All right, everybody, we're out of here for today. I'm your host, Josh Lupresto SVP of Sales Engineering. This is Workforce Management with Mr. Jason Lowe, Solution Architect, Telarus Telarus

2024 Trends and CIO Strategic Focus Areas - Infrastructure Matters, Episode 24

AVANT Technology Insights with Ken Presti

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2023 27:52

In this episode of Infrastructure Matters, hosts Camberley Bates, Steven Dickens and Krista Macomber summarize the key trends going into 2024 and what is top of mind for the CIOs. We highlight two critical CIO imperatives, staffing and security, what investments are being made and their importance in light of new technologies, such as AI. We cover the challenges facing staffing, especially in light of AI engineering and Platform Engineering plus the continued support of hybrid IT environments. Security will continue to be a major concern, and expect continued investment in observability and AI technologies We will see investments in infrastructure with a focus on AI-driven operations and observability to address the growing complexity of managing various platforms. We cover the trends in data for AI and the need for effective data pipelines and data curation. We discussed the impact of sustainability and if current requirements will have a role in infrastructure investments. And finally we cover the latest in PCAI coming off the announcement from Intel AI Everywhere announcements.

100. Business Blueprints: Lessons Learned from Leaders with Richard Murray Pt. 3/3

Telarus

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2023 41:47

Can you believe we've made it to episode 100 already? Jump in with us as we wrap our series on Business Blueprints: Lessons from Leaders with Telarus Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Murray. We take some jumps back into Richard's career and history, along with where our paths first intersect. Richard gives some great advice about successes, struggles, hiring, dedication, and more. He covers all the great things anyone out there building a business will inevitably go through. Don't miss Episode 100 as we wrap up Season 2! Lupresto Telarus Hey, everybody. Welcome back. We are wrapping up our very special episodes here. This is actually episode 100. We've made it this far and we're still chugging along. Thanks for listening. Today on we've got Mr. Richard Murray, Chief Commercial Officer at Telarus Richard, welcome on, man. Thank you. I'm honored to be number 100. I feel special. Well, you better make it good then. No pressure. Okay. We always kick this off. We talk about backgrounds. So tell us, I've known you a long time, so I'm going to pretend that I don't know this, but for anybody that doesn't know your background, tell us where it all started. What's this? Is it a windy path? Is it a straight path? How did you get here? Pretty windy. Multiple different areas of ins and outs. I've been in the channel 21 years though, so I mean, I would say any introduction of my background needs to start with I married my high school sweetheart. We've been together 27 years and most of what I've been able to accomplish has been because she's been patient and believed in a lot of the weird things that we'll probably talk about today. From a career development and you know, just that path, I always thought I'd be an attorney like in high school. I did debate and you know, I just was always geared towards being an attorney. I worked for a law office to get through college and somewhere in there, I was, I ended up being their bookkeeper and office manager and I had to make the decision for their internet service and back then it was DSL, but that was my first exposure to this world. And so then when I saw a job posting for then US West to be a sales and marketing intern, it was my senior year of college and I applied. I mean, I was making seven and a quarter at the law office. Killing it. So just about anything would have been a raise. Got that job and so my job at US West, which became Quest while I was there, which is now Lumen, was to research, competitive research, which I didn't obviously know then, but would set me up perfectly for the channel multiple years later. I would get anytime US West would lose a deal to XO on PRIs, we would gather the pricing on that and we ended up actually using my data, my research to change the tariff in Utah for PRIs. Like back then it was $1,800 for a PRI. But probably the funnest part of that is I actually got to use my student ID. I would go into the public utilities commission and they would just let me right into the back room, open their file cabinets for all of the companies that were filing to start providing services that would be competitive to US West. And I wrote a, I would like open the folder, I would read about electric light wave level three and then I'd write a SWOT analysis on each one of them and I used it both for work and for my senior project. I picture you like, I picture this being very covert and like. Yeah, it was my student ID, not my employee ID that got me in there. Yeah, so I don't know that it was, you know, pushing the boundaries or anything, but it was definitely let's be a student here, not an employee. So, you know, just doing that research and analyzing all of the different companies, I think served me very well later on is as I got into the channel. Fast forwarding real quick, they got acquired and I just felt like I was, they just kept extending my position and I didn't really have a boss. I would go in every day, say hello to Joe Branch who still works for Telarus. She was at Carrier Sales that we'll get into. So I've known Joe for, you know, gosh, 20 plus years. Yeah, 27 years, 26. I'd say hi to Joe, check my email and go home. And I just found myself getting into bad habits. So I left, went and worked for a wireless ISP, which back then was like so unique. Line of sight internet. They had the 10 meg download hybrid modem, which was unreal. Unreal tech. They went bankrupt trying to build the DSL infrastructure. So I went to XO and was carrying a bag as a sales rep. And, you know, they were a good company for the time until they overextended and they got to where they had to declare bankruptcy. You know, for time's sake, I will only share that it became a pivotal moment for me because they told us to go present this financial debt to all of our customers around. This is why we're not going bankrupt. We have Carl Icahn as our backer. We're not going bankrupt. So I go and do that, that dog and pony show for the customers I was proposing. And then we declared bankruptcy. And I'm a 20 something year old kid, 24 or something like that, and had a CFO for a major company call me and tell me he's never going to buy for me ever again. Didn't matter where I went, question my integrity. I was like, all right, I am not cut up for this. I am not sales. And in the course of that bankruptcy, a ton of direct reps that I worked with that are now incredible partners in the community, you know, some of our top sales sales reps all left and became partners for, you know, in many cases for a company called Carrier Sales. And that's where you and I met much later, a decade later than that. And so Blake Darling, one of our top partners, he and I were the same hiring class at XO. I used to build his proposals because he was great at cold calling. I was not. And I would do the proposals and Excel work. He got me an interview. They didn't even look at my resume, sat down with Glad Hill and he said, you're hired. Sounds like Glido. And, you know, so I think, you know, making 40 grand a year, losing, you know, a good commission job, but it was steady. And then I just worked second jobs to hold it together there for a few years. So that's the core of the background. Love it. And that's where our path kind of came together was Glad Hill's startup was another company that I was there. And we were all maybe 10 or 15 employees altogether, shared office space. So walk us through then, take that back, away, you know, on how did we get to kind of where we're at now for anybody that doesn't know the history that transpired from then to 2023? Yeah. So I had, you know, I started as general manager, but it was, it was three employees when I joined. And so pretty quickly, I was able to, to get on a profit sharing agreement, which, you know, meant that, Hey, I might make an extra two grand. It was just so small at the time, but we kept building, kept growing. One of the, fast forward a little bit, one of the partners left, we had to spin out our century link business. I think it was still quest at the time I became part owner of that company and was running that while was general manager of the other side as we continue to grow. Now it's just the one partner. And he was investing in your company and the place you were working at and taking all the carrier sales profits to go fund that. Sorry about that. And so we were just really kind of floating. I mean, we were growing, but it was just sheer, you know, hard work, determination, 80 hour weeks kind of thing. I mean, I was doing everything from quoting to commissions. I was writing the checks, all of it. And so we were growing in spite of ourselves while he was funding over here. At the same time, I was on a profit sharing agreement, and I just kept saving that money. Had the opportunity to acquire a couple other little smaller companies that the founders of carrier sales didn't want to do. I took it to them first. They didn't want it. And so I figured out a way to do it. Over time, just got to where I was able to own a little bit more of the company. And then I got to a point where they kept telling me that, hey, you're going to own all of carrier sales. We know that this is yours. I mean, he got to where he was just looking at tax returns, right? It wasn't, he didn't even know the quarterly's. It was tax return time. He'd, oh, great. Thank you. And I just said, look, I'll give you a year's notice. I'm done just kind of treading water here. I want to grow. I want to do something. I'm still very young at that time. And I said, so I'll go take the CenturyLink business and go grow that. Honestly, in the back of my mind was maybe I'll take it to Telarus and go grow it there. But that woke him up to the fact that, okay, it was time. And so we came up with what was a fair price. And that was when I called you. You had left the sister company and were out doing tech support for something. Yeah. The biotech company down in Salt Lake. Yeah. And so, yeah, I gave you a call and convinced you to come over. I hope we'll get into that story a little bit later, but so I won't go too far into it. Let's get into it right now. Because the next part is about kind of insights for entrepreneurs and kind of looking beyond. I remember this phone call like it was yesterday. And I've told the story a number of times where, to your point, yes, I'd left the startup had kind of never really started up. And so I went and got what I thought was this awesome job at this biotech company down in Salt Lake. And I got this call. I think it had been all of three weeks. And I absolutely hated where I had gone and didn't realize I kind of loved what I did before getting into this telco and cloud and all of this stuff, all of this space. And I think you called me up and said, hey, you know, we should have talked more when you left. I got big plans. I'm going to buy the guy out, buy the old guy out, come back and, you know, be the first person I hire after this transaction. And I said, okay, and you may be an offer on the weekend. And I walked in the other place on a Monday and I think quit on the spot. And then we started Tuesday. That was 2013. That's how I remember the story at least. Hopefully that's Sacker, because I've told that story quite a few times. I have some fill ins that I thought about. You know, I remember having a number in mind, right, and going to you. I feel like it was 55K. I apologize for talking numbers, but I feel like it was 55 and you're like, oh, I need it to be 65. And I like, I remember, because it was just a different time. I remember going home and talking to my wife about, hey, I know we had planned on upgrading the minivan, but I got to get Josh here. That's going to take the 5K to get it done. I don't remember. I'm probably off on the numbers, but I remember some level of, it wasn't negotiation as much as it was just, okay, this is what I can do. And you're like, okay, I've got to pay the bills. And so we figured it out. I love it. We'll come back to that more. I want to talk about a lesson that this is about building relationships, right? The goal of this track, right, these special last three episodes as we get to episode 100 here is about helping our partners have some insight into things that they're going to go through, things that as they go to build their business, problems, successes, I think hearing from leadership at Telarus, I think this stuff is incredibly valuable. So I want to talk about cultivating relationships. You know, you've cultivated, obviously, a lot of relationships in the channel, you've been in the channel 20 plus years with the suppliers, with the partners. Can you share with us what I would call the R Murray philosophy on building and maintaining key relationships? The R Murray. Look, I'll start with acknowledging everybody's different in their approach. Mine, I think, is unique. And that's been helpful for me, for the company, I think, for, you know, extended to our advisors and partners. I think at its core is you have to care about other success. And so, you know, whether you're dealing with a partner in my specific role now, and for the last 20 years, I really do care that the suppliers I'm working with are successful as well. Yes, I want to win. I want to negotiate and do well, but I can't, you know, get a supplier to pay me 50%, knowing that it's going to bankrupt them or have an unprofitable channel. I care about them growing and succeeding. No, I don't, I don't carry a quota. I don't care about quotas anymore. But at the end of the day, if I've got a channel manager that I cared about, I'm going to do what I can to help them succeed. But you can't fake it. You can't fake that you care about somebody. You either do or you don't. And there are, look, there are suppliers over the years that I've not cared about. And I don't fake it either. So I do think you have to care. I think the other element of is just how you communicate with them. Because you care. And, you know, there's a supplier, I found this out, probably it had been around for a couple of years. There's a very prominent supplier that we do a lot with. And a lot of that, the core leadership from a decade to five years ago is all left. And they're all other companies now. And one of them told me that that internally, as a team, they had actually started using the phrase that you've been married. And I'm like, okay, I hope that's not awful. Please explain that to me. He said, no, basically, it's just it's a it was their shorthand for you've been politely told that you suck. And so my approach to build a relationship, especially with suppliers is, look, I sit on a lot of advisory councils. And I work really hard to be prepared for those. There's a reality I get dumber every day in terms of the delivery of a service. But we have an incredible team that lives and experiences that all the time. And so gather all of that information. And then I'm not going to go to an advisory council and not tell the truth. That doesn't help them get better. If I don't care about them, then I'm probably either not at the advisory council, or maybe I won't be as forthright. But if I care about the supplier, about the people there, I'm going to hammer them with details and data and go at it. But I'm going to do it in a nice polite way, because that's how I try to do it. That has legs. That gives them something they can take to their peers, their leadership, and go do something actionable with it. Yeah, no, it's good. All right, let's talk about insights, some insights for the partners out there, right? Obviously, the partners, they're entrepreneurs, they're out there thriving and growing. But you've got this diverse experience. What critical advice would you offer these partners that are out there? What do they need to succeed in today's market? A couple. I think one ties into the relationships, as well as just for our partners, is don't burn bridges, right? There are a lot of people out there that will burn a bridge. Let's say there's a channel manager that does you bad at supplier X, and you don't care about that supplier so much, so you just shout them down, or you do something that hurts the relationship. They're going to end up with another supplier. And if you've burnt that bridge, they're not going to help you there. I mean, that applies to hopefully the suppliers that are listening to this too, is my wife knows that in this world, you do not burn the bridges. Like, I'll tell her stories of somebody doing something stupid. She's like, they don't know the lesson, you don't burn bridges. This is a family, this is a tight community. Everybody knows everybody. So you've got to be cautious about that. I think beyond that, though, just in terms of thinking about your business, you've got to know what you're good at, what are you special at, and then bring in others to fill in the gaps. There's a reality of why I reached out to you. I knew I wasn't as technical as I was going to need to be for the new coming services. And so I brought in others. And I think, you know, many partners are world class at what they do. And I've seen many bring in teams around them, but others just stay, you know, this is what I do. And they don't bring in others or they're hesitant to even reach out to you and your team to help fill in their gaps. They just ignore and pretend that that side doesn't exist. And I don't think you can do that in this world. I think you've got to bring people in to help you do that. And look, sometimes that's hard. Sometimes that means you've got to have honest reflection and just be brutally honest with yourself around, “Yeah, I'm not very good at that.” Or, “Hey, I'm okay with a lot of things. I'm a good generalist, but I'm not exceptional at everything. And so, you know, where can I bring in exceptional people around me to move forward faster?” Yeah, it's a good point, too. And I think that's one of the biggest life lessons you've taught me along the way is, I know you're going to read something, I know somebody's going to say something, and you're going to hear something, and you're going to want to react this way. Don't. Just pause. It's okay to react. It's okay to have emotion. But to your point, this is a small community. Everybody needs everybody. That person tomorrow you might need to employ them. They might be your boss or somewhere in the middle of that. And you burn a bridge in this space. It's not great. And I think that is such a huge lesson for everybody to take note of. Whether that's customer impacting or supplier or whatever it is, I just huge double down on that lesson. I love that one. That's part of the armory approach, right? I don't think people understand. I think internally in my mind, like in here, I'm a raging lunatic sometimes. The emotion is there. I've just learned to shield it and harness it and bring it out in a more impactful way. Fair. Let's talk about vision. You've seen this industry evolve, and to your point, you've always been looking out here, right? When it might look like this right now, you're looking out here. If you look at that right now, what would you tell the partners? Maybe I'm a partner that's come in and maybe I've never sold any of this stuff before and I want to be a partner. Maybe I'm a partner that I've just been selling one thing and I'm listening to this podcast, kind of learning how to move into other technology areas. What future trends would you tell our partners to be aware of and then how do you feel we're helping them prepare for that? Well, first of all, I think as I looked at the list of all the different topics that you've covered, I mean, those are all the emerging technologies. First of all, just reflect on where this industry is awesome, number one. What other industry can you say started in, when I came in, it was long distance, and now we're talking about AI and everything in between. There's a reality if you're new to the market, you're new to the agency model and even tying it into our previous conversation. You can't do it all. You can't know every technology. Focus on what you're good at, which is in most cases, you're good at relationships, which then means bring in others to help have the technical conversations. Now, obviously, that's what Telarus is focused on doing. I think our entire conversation to partners has been, how do we help you grow your business? Over time, that has evolved on what that looks like. We've tried to bring in extra resources. In the early years, it was you just helping the guys that had only sold network, you would go out on appointments or jump on phone calls to, back then, it was like the early days of contact center. How do we help you have that conversation? So, if you're new there, we don't know what technology is going to be here in three years. In five years, that we're going to be able to sell. But I do know that we're heavily focused on continually staying in front of that, just like we were when we painted towards contact center. No one had a contact center channel when you came on. We built that together with NICE and then with Five9 and Genesis, they saw what was going, they came in. I think the same thing's happening with AI. Many of our suppliers are plugging AI into what they do. We're signing many AI suppliers, but we don't know what AI is going to be driving and what it's going to be capable of in two or three years. So, we have people that are focused on that and will continue to build around it. Good. All right. So, let's look back at your journey. What do you feel some of these pivotal moments or decisions that really shaped your path going from being an employee to a business owner and now chief commercial officer? Yeah, so many. I look back at that time or at my journey, I think back in some of the difficult times of Carousels. I can't tell you how many times I almost left. This is frustrating. We're not growing the way that I want. We're not keeping up with Intellis. All of these things, I'm not making enough money. I had a second job for the first decade of this. I was doing books for the law office that I talked about in the opening forever. And so, I chose to stay and to build something. That obviously was a pivotal or multiple pivotal times of making that choice. And that was just because I believed in what we were doing. I didn't like the results of where we were, but I believed in what the core was overall. And I think along the way, something that's been helpful for me that I've tried to talk to others about is whether it's your business or not, you're a leader or not, treat it like you are. Treat it like your business. And I think because I did, it made it so eventually. Took longer than I wanted it to. But I never treated that as an eight to five. And I think now as a larger employer, you have to be kind of careful. And I can't go tell my employees, “Hey, you need to put in 80 hours a week to do your job.” I can't do that. But in a podcast and with partners, I can say, “Look, if you're working for a partner, you're working for a company, your job is eight to five.” And I know you and I have talked about this. Your career is everything you do after. And most of anything good that I've ever accomplished for Carousel's, Telarus, has been after hours off to the site, whether it's me staying up all night, working weekends, building a new process, building a spreadsheet, building something that allowed us to move it forward. Those weren't done during the core times. And it was that extra sweat equity that helped propel me and others forward. I love it. Act like an owner. All right, let's talk about mentorship. One of the things that I think I've learned along the way has been how critical it's arguably one of the most rewarding, but it's arguably at the same token, one of the hardest things you ever do, which is I think the hiring process. So my question is a little bit about mentorship. I want to get into what do you find rewarding into that process, because I think our partners are going to go through this. We talk about some of them are solo preneuers that don't have a desire to hire, and they lean on us for a ton of resources, which we absolutely love. And then some say, “You know what? I want to bring one or two of those resources in-house.” So if we flash back, you and I had worked together in this in the beginning, but I was a recovering car mechanic that had stumbled into technology. You clearly saw something that maybe I didn't think that I didn't know I was capable of. So as you kind of reflect back on that, you had a vision that others maybe didn't have. So how do you look at that mentorship, picking talent? How do you advise on that? Oh, so many pieces of this. First of all, I would say I never set out to be a mentor. I don't view myself in that light. I don't feel like I'm so wise or so smart or I've accomplished anything that I'm in a position to tell people what to do or to help. But yet I've been sought out to tell people what to do and to help. And so I've tried to embrace it. I mean, there's an element of it where there's a big part of it. It's just me trying to give back. I've had great mentors. I've had people that have helped and embrace and teach me things. And I think you need multiple mentors in your life at different stages of where you are. And many of my early mentors, I would now consider more friends. It's not that I don't still learn from them, but the size of our company is now at the size of where they were. And so they're probably not teaching me company stuff as much. But gosh, I look at, from a pay it back standpoint, I consider Rick Deller a mentor. He may not know this, but I remember I felt like Carousel's was doing pretty good and Rick and I would help negotiate. We would work together to negotiate some of the contracts back then, particularly CenturyLink where Carousel's was very, very strong. And I remember kind of doing it, hey, what's next stage? What should I be doing? And he asked me, well, what's your revenue at? And I felt like, hey, we're doing good enough. I'm now confident enough. I'll tell you what it is. And I'm not positive on the number, but I believe it was 38 million. And he kind of, he didn't really do this, but as I reflect back, he kind of patted me on top of that. He said, that's cute. But I remember him telling me, remember, when you get to 50 million, then things start to change. And so get ready for this. You've got to start thinking about scale and all of these other things that start now. I mean, we're so many multiples past that. It's kind of funny to reflect back to that time. But, you know, anytime I could take the opportunity with a partner with somebody on a supplier and have future looking conversations, give them perspective that they don't have, then I'm happy to do it. In terms of identifying talent and then, you know, being a mentor in that. I'm a big believer in books as mentors in some cases, but I am also very cautious to not over index to any one book. There are, however, a couple that I think have been super impactful for me. One is a book that I have a case in my office called Love is the Killer app. And, you know, the core principle of that is just take care of others, even if that means introducing others together in a way that doesn't benefit you. And the universe has a way of taking care of you and all of that. And so I've always tried to live and follow that. First is a principle. Second is I actually never read his book. I still have it, but I remember his speech. And it's a gentleman by the name of Harvey McKay. Now, most people don't know who Harvey McKay is, but where he spoke was at the same place that Tony Robbins spoke. Like Tony Robbins was on stage, and then I think Harvey came on. It doesn't matter the order, but so he was a big deal at the time. And the only thing I remember from him was, was talking about how back, you know, he was older at the time. I don't even know if cell phones were that prominent. I mean, they were round, but not prominent. He would write hit if he saw something in somebody, a hotel clerk, a waitress, he would write his personal number on the back of his business card, hand it to him, say, if you're ever looking for a job, please give me a call. And the core of that is he was always looking for it in people. And I think, you know, to embarrass you a little bit, if I can, I just felt like there was that there was it. And, you know, to try to specify what it looks like, I think it comes in multiple forms. I mean, yes, you have to have capacity. There has to be the capacity to do good. But for me, it's drive. It's, you know, what I saw in you, what I've always seen in you is a desire to continue to learn, to challenge yourself, to never be, you know, okay with where I am today, it's where do I need to be in the future. And in some cases, that's meant not always, you know, awesome conversations between the two of us over the years, to say, what lack I, right. And I remember one in particular. I hope it's okay that I know. Oh, I know you're going. Sure. Bring it up. Well, maybe I do it. I remember one where it was kind of like, Hey, I want to do more. I want to make more money. And I can't remember what you asked for. I just remember you asked for something. I'm like, you're not quite ready for that. I believe it was, I'd like to take over the company when you're ready. And you were like, maybe not yet. I'm going to be around a little bit. But here's what I loved. I loved the question and the desire that was in there. You were treating it as your own. You wanted it to be your own. And the reality is we've all grown so much that we've actually, we're all, you and I are doing way more now and at a level now than what we ever thought of then, because we were a small company, right? But I do remember the question. What I more remember is thinking about my answer and what that almost challenging conversation brought us to was it helped me identify opportunities to put in your path to go help round you out. So I don't remember the exact timing, but somewhere along the way, we had the opportunity to acquire a small VAR. And this was when VARs were, we were still trying to figure out how VARs fit into the partner community, into the, why weren't they coming over the residual? And so we bought it and I basically handed you the business unit. And I said, okay, learn P&Ls, learn balance sheets, you deal with the drama, you get to make the overriding decisions. And we were just kind of the managing company for that bar. They were still running off on their own. But I've got to imagine you learned a thousand lessons. Tons. I don't know that I could even spelt P&L before that. But yeah, I think, you know, for partners that are listening, I just think it's, you're right, I think you painted a good picture, identify, and then give others an opportunity to figure out where they may not even know that they have skills yet. Well, I didn't, you know, I didn't know, first of all, I didn't know that I wasn't rounded out. So being self-aware is important. But, you know, you could have spun that one of two ways. You could have said, no, sorry, go away. Or you could have gone the way that you did, which is, hey, you know what? All right, cool. Let's help get you more rounded out on the business side. And yeah, I learned so much, so much in those years that now obviously that's benefited me to be able to help here at a much more dramatic scale. So I think it's made you a better boss. I mean, your team loves working for you. I think it gave you, you know, different perspectives that has benefited both of us. Love it. Awesome stuff. Let's talk about personal growth. Let's talk about development. So how do you, focuses for you of how you stay growing and innovative in your role, right? I mean, I feel like we're in an industry that is just innovating every hour, right? And we've got to stay in tune, is this next thing down the road, the next greatest thing, and we're just going to miss out if we don't get it. So help us understand how you stay innovative, how should partners stay innovative, and any thought leaders or anything, any resources that you want to throw out. Yeah, I mean, I think we covered a big part of it with mentors. I mean, there's a reality now that Telarus, at the size that we are, there's not many mentors in our industry that I can now go to and go say, help me. You know, there are mentors maybe outside of the industry, people that have done other large, you know, industries that have rolled up and things like that, that can give me perspective. But in the absence of that, I think that partners should be, I'm a big lover of podcasts, yours and others. Adam and I have both kind of fallen into a podcast called the founders podcast, that he and I will, you know, I will listen to usually on a weekend, I'll listen to three or four, like, you know, Saturday listening kind of thing. And then he and I, I'll tell him, hey, this was a great one, go listen to it, and then we'll compare notes. And so it's almost learning, you know, gosh, one of them like was Mark Twain. And what can you learn from Mark Twain's life that then and apply it and I promise you there is there's always applicability, you know, whether it's a Steve Jobs and all of those things. I think there are, whether it's books, podcasts, whatever, there's just information that if you're continually challenging yourself from outside, then working to apply it into our realm, which is super unique, what we do is super unique. My family still doesn't know. Nobody knows what we do. But there's applicability and all those other. Yeah, there's parallels, right? These guys are going to go through struggles of building things and how what what what are the nuggets that you can pull from that? So good, good stuff. All right, final couple thoughts here. I want to talk. Let's you know, you've obviously been critical, and I'm forever grateful of how you've helped shape my life. But you know, also our, our company and the channel if you if you fast forward 10 plus years, and then you snap back and look at, you know, what, what's the legacy that you want to say, I did that or I impacted this or I helped here? Is there anything that you want to call out? Oh, you know, my mind goes to Steve, I think is Steve Jobs quote, you can you can't connect the can't connect the dots forward, you know, connect the dots backwards. So it's it's hard to predict what I'll see in 10 years from from where the time I am now. But what I hope my you know, what I've left in this channel is, you know, I close partner summit every year, Adam, Adam opens, he does the big state of the business and everything and I close it. And for me, I'm not good at seeing things I don't believe in. I either don't say something or I I just it's just out there. It's got to be genuine for me. And so I hope that, you know, that my my messages of gratitude to the community as a whole gratitude to the partners, gratitude to suppliers and my message of and trying to create a community in the channel that to me, you know, this is a three legged stool, we absolutely need partners for us to succeed. But I believe that tell us and even our competitors play a role in their success. And then we need the suppliers there. And so, you know, I, I hope that, you know, our many of your listeners type a sales rep partners, they're wired and I love them for it. They're wired to think they are the reason they're successful. And they are. But it's all of us together that makes us more successful. I'm hyper competitive, I always want to win, but I don't want others to lose. I just want to be that much better. And, and so I hope as a, you know, as a channel, we we all drive more towards that. Well said. All right, final thoughts here. Let's talk about some advice for partners. So we've talked a lot about mentorship about business building and about hiring and, you know, strife and all of these things that happen. Take all that in consideration, as you've helped partners and all these different people shape their course in life, their trajectory, their business. Any final advice there for the audience for those partners that are listening or maybe even considering being partners? You know, a lot of partners will ask, Hey, what are the others doing to be successful? And I think it's the wrong question. I think, you know, if I look at myself and what I would tell partners to strive to do, you're most successful when you're 100% yourself. And, and what makes you unique and what you're what you're exceptional at. And I mean, I've already talked about bringing in others to fill in the gaps. But the more we water ourselves down by trying to do things that we're not special at, I think it slows down our speed. And, and it's you're going to ebb and flow, right? Comfort is in the middle. Comfort is just kind of floating along in the middle, but success is out on the edge. And so when we're on the edge, we're doing what we do uniquely. That that's, you know, a lesson I've had to learn over and over in my life, because you see a little success, you float in the middle, you float comfort for a little while. And then you kick yourself and you say, Oh, I want to go drive for something. Well, what's that next thing? And so, again, it takes being reflective on where you are, it takes being honest with yourself. Can I think there's an element you have to be honest with your inner circle about where you are with that as well. I mentioned my wife at the beginning of that there's times I've not been a great father and husband. You know, my I've told this story in other venues. I missed a good chunk of my son's baby food stage. And she was patient. I didn't even know I missed it until my third kid came along. And I kind of said to my wife, Hey, did Sam skip? I mean, he's six, five. He's a huge kid, right? Yeah. Did he skip straight from mushy food to solid? She's like, No, you just weren't here. Ouch. So balance is important, you say? Well, balance in time, right? There are times you've got to just roll up your sleeves and go be it. But what I learned over the years was to be more communicative with my wife around where I was at that stage. So for example, look, some of the hardest times in my career have been, I'm going to go acquire a company. I can't tell you how many times I put my house on the line to go get to where we are. And hey, this deal is going to take three months. It'll take me a month to negotiate it, get it done, another couple of months to get it going. And I would just tell her, I'm going to suck for a little while. And I'm sorry, but at least she knew what the path was and what the goal was and what, you know, the timeline on it. She knew I wasn't just purposefully being a jerk. It's good stuff. There's so many life lessons in here. I'm questioned out. Richard, thanks for all you've done, all you've done for me, all you've done for the community, the partners,Telarus and everybody, but especially thanks for coming on and helping us wrap up Episode 100. Excellent. Thank you. Happy to be here. All right, everybody, that wraps us up for today. I'm your host, Josh Lupresto SVP of Sales Engineering at Telarus Richard Murray, Chief Commercial Officer. Until next time, this has been Business Blueprints, Lessons for Leaders. Telarus

Todd Cadieux - AI, Where Are We Today and Where Are We Going

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2023 25:42

In this episode, John Paullin, AVANT Analytics Senior Analyst, and Todd Cadieux, RVP of Solution Consulting at Five9, are going to talk about everybody's favorite buzzword - you guessed it - AI, AKA Artificial Intelligence. They explore how it fits into today's modern contact center and what capabilities are being sought out first. In other words, where does the buying journey for AI start? Finally, they wrap up by sharing some bold predictions as to where they believe AI is heading. Listen in for all that and more on our latest episode of AVANT Technology Insights.

ai rvp five9 cadieux solution consulting

Five9, Inc., Q3 2023 Earnings Call, Nov 02, 2023

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2023 64:42

Five9, Inc., Q3 2023 Earnings Call, Nov 02, 2023

The Global State of Customer Experience: What's Next for CX in 2024 - Futurum Tech Webcast

ai tech empathy cloud automation customer experience cx webcasts customer experience cx strategic sales five9 global state delis futurum

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2023 25:53

On this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series, host Steven Dickens welcomes Nick Delis, Senior Vice President - International and Strategic Sales for Five9, to discuss trends in Customer Experience (CX) including the adoption of AI and automation. While AI is a buzzword worldwide, its implementation differs by region. Delis stresses the importance of empathy in customer interactions and how technology, like generative AI, can enhance human conversations. The conversation also touches on the advantages of nimble, cloud-native companies over legacy players and the need for consolidation of data for better personalization. Their discussion covers: Key trends such as AI and automation in global CX, and how adoption rates vary How different regions are at different stages of adopting technology, with some transitioning to cloud solutions and others embracing AI for self-service Empathy remaining crucial in customer interactions, with technology like generative AI enhancing human conversations How nimble, cloud-native companies have an advantage over legacy players in adopting new technology and that consolidation of data is essential for better personalization in CX A look at the anticipated trends in 2024, including interactive virtual agents, agent empowerment, and advanced AI tools for data analysis to provide personalized experiences

Customer Experience: Leveraging Technology Platforms to Deliver Excellent Experiences - Enterprising Insights, Episode 4

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2023 36:34

In this episode of Enterprising Insights, Sherril Hanson, Senior Analyst at The Futurum Group, joins host Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director, Enterprise Applications, at The Futurum Group, for a conversation about leveraging technology platforms to deliver excellent customer experiences, focusing specifically on contact center as-a-service offerings, the importance of omnichannel engagement capabilities, mobile applications, and generative AI. We'll also cover some recent news and newsmakers in the customer experience software market. Finally, we'll close out the show with our “Rant or Rave” segment, where we pick one item in the market, and we'll either champion or criticize it. You can watch the video here and subscribe to our YouTube channel if you've not yet done so.

Five9, Inc., Q2 2023 Earnings Call, Aug 07, 2023

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2023 60:27

Five9, Inc., Q2 2023 Earnings Call, Aug 07, 2023

License to Thrill: Empowering Microsoft Teams Users with AI for Outstanding Customer Experience

UC Today - Out Loud

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2023 33:19

In a world where Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) are increasingly merging, the race is on to deploy next-generation tools that arm employees with the power to deliver unparalleled customer experiences.Enter Microsoft Teams, which is not just the world's favourite UC tool, but it empowers users with generative AI capabilities that redefine the contact centre landscape.In this session, Rob Scott from UC Today (Agent Scott 008) speaks with William Rubio, Chief Revenue Officer at CallTower and Thomas John, VP Partners EMEA & International, at Five9, akin to a James Bond mission, to discuss this trend, delving into different office worker personas and the unique ways these 'special agents' leverage the power of Teams to deliver sterling customer service.

Why Employee Experience (EX) is the New Customer Experience (CX) Featuring Philip Mandelbaum

Amazing Business Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2023 28:30

Creating a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Workplace That Drives a Better Employee Experience Shep Hyken interviews Philip Mandelbaum, founder, and CEO of Mandelbaum Marketing and Head of Content of Customer Management Practice. He talks about how prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion creates a supportive work environment that drives revenue growth and customer loyalty. Top Takeaways: Employee experience is the new customer experience. It goes beyond a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce. It is also about company culture, training, work environment, and how an organization supports growth that plays into how people think about a brand. Many people in diverse workforces report being discriminated against. According to Deloitte's State of Inclusion survey, nearly 2/3 of workers have experienced bias in the workplace, and 40% experience bias at least once a month. Studies have shown that companies devoted to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) earn 140% more revenue. They are 70% more likely to capture a new market and 35% more likely to outperform their competitors. There is a difference between equality and equity. Equality is about treating each person with respect regardless of their background. Equity is acknowledging that people show up to work under their own unique circumstances. It considers historical and present-day disadvantages and makes sure that each individual has the appropriate resources to succeed. Customers buy and support companies that care about the same things that they do. According to our 2023 Achieving Customer Amazement Study, sponsored by Five9, 43% of consumers believe it's important that a company has a social cause that's important to them. 41% are willing to pay more if the cause is important to them, making the price less relevant. 60% of Gen Z said they are willing to tolerate a poor service experience from a company that cares about the same things they do. Plus, Shep and Philip discuss who they think is the most important person in an organization - the CEO, the customers, the employees, or the shareholders. Tune in! Quote: "Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important to a business's internal success with the employees, which translates to customer success." About: Philip Mandelbaum is a 20-year industry veteran and thought leader in digital marketing, customer experience, and employee experience. He is the founder and CEO of Mandelbaum Marketing and Head of Content of Customer Management Practice. Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2Ring To Showcase Real-Time Reporting Solution for Contact Centers, Dashboards & Wallboards, at Cisco Live! and Customer Contact Week

Telecom Reseller

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2023

Sacramento, CA - May 31, 2023 - 2Ring, a leading provider of contact center solutions, will be presenting their innovative real-time reporting solution, Dashboards & Wallboards, at the upcoming summer trade shows, Cisco Live! (June 4th-8th) and Customer Contact Week (CCW) (June 21st-22nd), both in Las Vegas. We invite you to listen to the latest Telecom Reseller podcast and find out how 2Ring is revolutionizing the contact center space. “2Ring delivers easy-to-use proactive real-time reporting solutions for multiple contact center platforms. Our solution is also well suited for contact centers who have hybrid staff, working from home and from the office, allowing supervisors and management to always stay in the know. Tracking metrics and agent performance goals is intuitive, and with 2Ring Dashboards & Wallboards you can gain business insights immediately”, says Ossamah Shabbir, Pre-Sales Director at 2Ring. 2Ring Dashboards & Wallboards offers their real-time reporting and alerting solution for contact centers operating on multiple platforms, including Cisco, Five9, Amazon Connect, Genesys Cloud CX, and Webex Contact Center. The solution consolidates data, empowering organizations to optimize operations, monitor agent performance, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. A sample layout of 2Ring Dashboards & Wallboards showcasing many customizable metrics and KPIs. With Dashboards & Wallboards, contact center supervisors and managers gain real-time visibility into key performance metrics, agent activity, and customer interactions. This enables proactive decision-making and drives enhanced performance. 2Ring is excited to engage with industry professionals and showcase the capabilities of Dashboards & Wallboards at Cisco Live! and Customer Contact Week. Don't miss the opportunity to experience the future of real-time reporting for contact centers. Also, if you'll be attending Cisco Live!, make sure to watch 2Ring's presentation in the Collaboration Village, on Monday, June 5th at 3:00pm Pacific Time. See you there! About 2Ring: 2Ring is a leading provider of contact center solutions, specializing in innovative tools and technologies that optimize performance and deliver outstanding customer experiences. Dashboards & Wallboards by 2Ring caters to contact centers operating on multiple platforms, providing real-time reporting and monitoring capabilities. www.2Ring.com Read the 2Ring press release here: https://wp.me/p2Q636-H3m

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Five9, Inc. Q1 2023 Earnings Call May 04 2023

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2023 64:13

Five9, Inc. Q1 2023 Earnings Call May 04 2023

What Makes Partner Ecosystems So Critical in Today's Business Environment: A Conversation with Five9's Thomas John

The Tech Blog Writer Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2023 21:53

In this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, host Shelly Kramer is joined by Thomas John VP of Partner Sales International for Five9 for a conversation that's increasingly popular today: Partner ecosystems. Why is this such a hot topic these days? It's pretty simple: in our current business environment, businesses rarely operate purely on their own. Today, we have tech partners, channel partners, integrators, collaborators, and many more players within a partner ecosystem who work together to deliver best-in-class customer experiences and equally best-in-class solutions for customers across the board. So why are these partnerships, and the partner ecosystem as a whole so important? That's exactly what Thomas and Shelly covered in this conversation. Here are some of the highlights: Thomas started off by giving us a description of Five9's partner ecosystem in the EMEA region and a glimpse into some of Five9's existing partner relationships. They talked about why a partner ecosystem is so important today for an organization's success. They shared our thoughts on what makes a successful partner ecosystem. They explored the challenges today's contact centers face and how a vibrant partner ecosystem can help. Thomas explained Five9's partner ecosystem in detail and how they are able to deliver CCaaS in various industries across the European region. They closed the show talking about what's ahead for Five9 and Thomas and his team as it relates to partnerships they're looking forward to in the coming year.

conversations european partner emea ecosystems thomas john integrators business environment channel partners five9 ccaas shelly kramer

2316: Jonathan Rosenberg, CTO, Five9 on Transforming the Telecom Industry

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2023 27:08

In this episode of The Tech Talks Podcast, I am thrilled to welcome Jonathan Rosenberg, the CTO and head of AI at Five9. With over 25 years of experience, Jonathan is a true pioneer in the industry, co-inventing SIP and being named one of the 100 most innovative technologists in the world by Technology Review Magazine. Join us as we dive into Jonathan's passion for technology, his pivotal role in SIP's development, and how it transformed the communications landscape by creating new markets and job opportunities. We'll also explore Five9's innovative AI strategy, including their latest product, Agent Assist, designed to enhance customer service agent productivity and efficacy. As the leading provider of cloud customer service technology, Five9 is at the forefront of AI-powered solutions for customer experience. We'll discuss the impact of AI technologies like ChatGPT and GPT-3 on businesses, brand loyalty, and customer experience. Jonathan will share his thoughts on innovation during economic uncertainty, explaining his mantra: "Be adopters, not innovators." Finally, we'll discuss Five9's new European Research and Development site in Portugal and the challenges their engineering teams are tackling. Jonathan will also share his excitement about the future of technology and where current tech trends are taking us.

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Five9, Inc., Q4 2022 Earnings Call, Feb 22, 2023

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2023 64:21

Five9, Inc., Q4 2022 Earnings Call, Feb 22, 2023

The Look Back with Host Keith Newman

Models You Can Actually Use Without Coding With Global Tech Expert Andrew Kelley

That Tech Pod

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2023 35:40

Today on That Tech Pod, Laura and Gabi speak with Andrew Kelley. Andrew is a global technology executive with public company and startup experience. He is currently VP Corporate Development & Ventures at Five9. Prior to this role Andrew was Chief Commercial at an Internet of Things startup, BoxLock. As CEO of Bell Creek Partners he consulted for various private equity firms and early stage companies. Andrew is passionate about technology, customer scaling, and growth. Previously he was with Vista Equity-backed Omnitracs as President of Haulme and VP Corporate Development. He worked at Dell focusing on early stage investing in software and infrastructure startups including Nutanix which had a $2.5B market cap at IPO. He also worked at UBS Investment Bank in Technology, Media, & Telecom after working at IBM headquarters. He began his professional career co-founding Virtual Ink at MIT. Andrew has an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MSME from MIT, and a BSME from North Carolina State University.

Ann Winblad

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 21, 2023 35:29

Ann Winblad has seen it all, except lately she can't find this little t-shirt her father the then high school basketball coach gave her, that brings her back to her pre-teen days when she would cheer and support the hoops team along with her 4 sisters and her brother. Oh well, no time to dwell. It turns out Ann actually was a high school basketball cheerleader (and as Ann points out the class valedictorian) to the Federal Reserve to founding and running a software company, Open Systems, which she sold for a tidy profit, and then into Software focused VC firm #1. As Founding Partner at Hummer Winblad, the first VC firm focused exclusively on software, formed in the late '80s she was turned down by hundreds of would-be LP investors at the time. Ann wound up funding many great co's including MuleSoft, Five9, Hyperion acquired by Oracle, Wind River and dozens others - now she's overseeing and coaching startups and investments in various markets including space and technology, while still cheerleading in her philanthropic adventures.

software oracle vc lp federal reserve hyperion wind river mulesoft five9 open systems ann winblad

It's All About Networking - Victor Karpenko

Merchants of Change

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2023 53:45

Awesome conversation with Victor Karpenko, Channel Sales Manager at Five9. Victor's athletic background as a track athlete and powerlifter (0:56-15:40) His transition out of sports/ first interest in a sales career (15:40-22:30) Advice on that transition period (22:30-27:30) What he would change from his early days in sales (27:30-31:15) What you should focus on in your first role/ what to look for in your first company (33:55-37:30) Channel software sales vs traditional sales (37:30-44:50) Victor's favorite mentors through his career (44:50-49:30) As always we finish with our two favorite questions, what is your sales skill that makes you elite (49:30-51:55) What being a technology sales professional means (51:55-55:12)

advice networking careers career development career transition college athletes pro athletes sales training sales leaders sales tips sales professionals five9 technology sales

Talkin Hoops W/ Taylor Brewster

ClutchTalk

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2022 46:15

POD SPECIAL!!! In this episode I bring on a Five9 legend, Taylor Brewster. Taylor is my manager & my homie! Enjoy as we discuss hoops around the league.

hoops brewster five9

Nuveen's Nick: A 'soft-ish landing,' mild recession and good yields lie ahead

Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2022 59:54

Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at Nuveen, says that a soft landing for the economy is achievable, so long as inflation comes down without dramatically increasing the unemployment rate. He says it's 'so far, so good,' in terms of current conditions, though he notes it is still early. Nick expects a mild recession in 2023, but says 'Investors can get some pretty good deals with some of the yields that are available across the spectrum in fixed income, and that includes the equity markets too,' noting that dividend payers and growers are well positioned for the New Year. Dave Breazzano of Polen Capital Credit talks about the state of the corporate credit and high-yield markets, noting that the market's expectation that high interest rates will create more bankruptcies has priced paper attractively for investors who don't expect a spike in defaults. Also on the show, investment analyst Kyle Guske of New Constructs puts Five9 in 'The Danger Zone' as the latest 'zombie stock' with a destiny of running out of cash before it can run up any profits, plus Chuck answers a listener's question about deciding the best time to take Social Security.

new year recession landing social security mild yields nuveen five9 brian nick

Five9, Inc., Q3 2022 Earnings Call, Nov 07, 2022

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2022 63:05

Five9, Inc., Q3 2022 Earnings Call, Nov 07, 2022

10. Laura Padilla of Airtable: Crystal Clear Platform Building

The Platform Journey

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2022 30:53

In this episode, you can hear Laura and Avanish discuss:Expanding single channels and products to create more value (7:00)The importance of internal alignment on products and partners (10:48)Using modeling to optimize partnerships and platform strategy (13:35)Key measures of success when growing partnership ecosystems (16:47)The benefit of defining clear metrics of success (21:12)Laura's advice: Start where you know you can have an impact, but don't be afraid to disrupt (28:57)Guest: Laura Padilla, VP, GLobal Partners, AirtableLaura Padilla is currently the VP of Global Partners and Services at Airtable where she is building the partner and services delivery strategy. She brings over 20 years of leadership experience in leading/building complex business units and new revenue streams to scale small, private companies to +$1B post-IPO revenue including Zoom, Nutanix, Box and Riverbed. Leadership experience across marketing, alliances/business development and partner/channel sales roles in the SaaS, Enterprise Software and Hardware industries. She most recently was at Zoom where she led the global partner and platform sales business unit that was composed of over 300 team members and over $500M in revenue. This included indirect sales with and through VAR's, service providers/carriers, OEM's, referral partners, ISV's and SI's, as well as influenced revenue with technology partners such as Slack, Dropbox, Box, Okta, Five9, Twilio and others. She is known as a function builder where her strength is in scaling new organizations to drive incremental revenue and customer value. Host: Avanish SahaiAvanish Sahai is a Tidemark Fellow and has served as a Board Member of Hubspot since April 2018 and of Birdie.ai since April 2022. Previously, Avanish served as the vice president, ISV and Apps partner ecosystem of Google from 2019 until 2021. From 2016 to 2019, he served as the global vice president, ISV and Technology alliances at ServiceNow. From 2014 to 2015, he was the senior vice president and chief product officer at Demandbase. Prior to Demandbase, Avanish built and led the Appexchange platform ecosystem team at Salesforce, and was an executive at Oracle and McKinsey & Company, as well as various early-to-mid stage startups in Silicon Valley.About TidemarkTidemark is a venture capital firm, foundation, and community built to serve category-leading technology companies as they scale. Tidemark was founded in 2021 by David Yuan, who has been investing, advising, and building technology companies for over 20 years. Learn more at www.tidemarkcap.com.LinksFollow our guest, Laura PadillaFollow our host, Avanish SahaiLearn more about Tidemark

Five9 (FIVN) Sinks After CEO Resigns

TD Ameritrade Network

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2022 6:13

Five9 (FIVN) is today's overlooked stock. George Tsilis joins Oliver Renick to discuss FIVN as the company's CEO Rowan Trollope resigns. He talks about how FIVN provides cloud software for contact center in the U.S. and internationally. He goes over how FIVN has been selling off after its CEO resignation announcement and is on pace for its worst year on record. He also mentions how FIVN is expected to report its full fiscal third-quarter results on November 7th. Tune in to find out more about the stock market today.

ceo resigns sinks five9 rowan trollope

How to Clean Your CX Software when moving to the Cloud

That's Genius!

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2022 26:07

Without regular maintenance, your contact center's back-end software can pile up, causing a drop in performance and even larger issues down the line. Even more concerning, if you are planning a move to the Cloud, you want to ensure you don't carry legacy problems and dirty data with you. McGee-Smith Analytics President & Principal Analyst Sheila McGee-Smith and Blackchair CEO & Co-Founder Jason Owen share their tips for keeping your CX software clean and adaptable for future challenges. Ready to rethink what's possible in CX? Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, our website, or anywhere you get podcasts.

spotify moving software cloud cx five9

The Value of AI in Contact Center