Yesterday, I had a chance to talk to Greg Gianforte, who is the CEO and founder of RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW). Back in 1997, he had the foresight to realize the power of Internet technologies to help with customer service.
And, according to RightNow's Q2 earnings report (which came out yesterday), the vision continues to gain traction. Revenues increased from $35.2 million to $36.3 million. While this does not sound like much, it is certainly an achievement in light of the tough information technology (IT) spending environment.
In fact, RightNow was able to snag ten deals over a million dollars in value (it's the highest in any quarter for the company). The total customer wins came to 46 (keep in mind that Gianforte visited over 75 customers and partners across the globe).
For the most part, RightNow's solutions help improve customer retention. In light of the struggling economy, this is a big value proposition. Plus, RightNow's solutions can handle millions of transactions and span across diverse channels like email, chat, phone, and even Twitter. Yes, the company knows how to stay ahead of the technology curve.
Going forward, the pipeline looks promising for RightNow. The outlook is for 2009 revenues of $147 to $151 million and net income of $0.06 to $0.10 per share.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook,
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