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Bright Pattern Executive Interview

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In this conversation, Sheri Greenhaus, Executive Director, CrmXchange interviews Ted Hunting, Senior Vice President, Marketing, from Bright Pattern, a cloud Omni channel contact center company. Ted highlights their solutions and target audience, emphasizing their successful deployments and positive customer feedback. He discusses the competitive advantages of Bright Pattern, including their user-friendly platform, powerful capabilities, and fast deployment times. Ted addresses customer retention, mentioning their positive churn rate and consistent growth. The conversation concludes with a focus on innovation, challenges, and Bright Pattern's plans for the future.

Sheri Greenhaus: Thank you for providing an overview of your solutions and target audience. It's impressive to hear about your successful deployments and customer satisfaction. Could you elaborate on the specific competitive advantages that set Bright Pattern apart from other companies in the cloud Omni channel space? 

Ted Hunting: Absolutely, Sheri. While it is indeed a crowded space, Bright Pattern stands out in a few key areas. Firstly, our customers are our biggest advocates, and their feedback speaks volumes. Customer Reviews from TrustRadius have ranked us #1 among all contact center vendors for 2 years running.  We have also been rated as fastest to deploy in the industry per  G2 Crowd customer reviews and for our ease of use.  

Secondly, we have a track record of success and a strong leadership team. Our CEO, Michael McCloskey, played a pivotal role in taking Genesys public as the CEO; our founder led the original engineering team at Genesys, and I led corporate, Americas, and APAC marketing while there.  We have created the most powerful Omni channel solutions while ensuring they are user-friendly and easy to deploy without the complexity and cost of other vendors.

Sheri Greenhaus: That's impressive. Customer retention is crucial in the software industry. How do you ensure that your customers stay with Bright Pattern and choose not to migrate to other solutions? 

Ted Hunting: The cloud-based nature of our platform eliminates many of the barriers to leaving that were present in traditional systems. Our customers have consistently expressed their satisfaction with our services as seen in our customers reviews and we don’t lose customers.  In fact, our customer base has been growing every quarter for the past four years over 70% per year.   We have also had 10 straight quarters of profitability vs our competitors who have recently struggled financially and had large reductions in their workforce. 

Sheri Greenhaus: While your achievements and customer satisfaction are commendable, differentiation in a crowded market remains important. How does Bright Pattern differentiate itself from other cloud Omni channel companies? 

Ted Hunting: You're right. Standing out in a crowded market is a challenge. However, we differentiate ourselves through tangible results and customer success stories. Our customers' experiences and feedback speak volumes about the effectiveness of our solutions. For example, Office Works, the largest office supply chain in Australia, witnessed significant improvements in their customer experience after deploying our solution. By utilizing our mobile app, store associates were able to connect with customers, resulting in increased store answer rates and improved customer satisfaction.  In 2 months they increased answer rates 270%, reduced NPS detractors 90% after we replaced their legacy contact center solution. 

Office Works also leveraged our trademarked Omni Enterprise CX approach sets us apart. Many organizations suffer from silos where only the contact center has visibility into the customer experience. With our enterprise capability, we developed the Bright Pattern mobile app, enabling any employee in the company to handle voice or digital interactions from their mobile phone. This empowers the entire organization to contribute to the customer experience, breaking down communication barriers and improving overall efficiency.  In the case of Office Works all in-store associates used our mobile app to help customers – these are people outside the contact center.  They gained visibility into their in-store associates' activities through our app, enabling them to track customer interactions and improve the overall customer experience. They can now see why people were calling into the stores. They went from zero metrics on what employees were doing to a 100% visibility. To improve, CX is a big thing. You can now have anyone in the team help as well has a greater productivity.

Sheri Greenhaus: Security and control are critical considerations, especially when implementing a mobile solution like the Bright Pattern app. How do you ensure security and control for organizations using the app? 

Ted Hunting: Security and control are paramount concerns for us. Bright Pattern adheres to all compliance standards such as PCI, HIPPA and others so all data is secure.  

Sheri Greenhaus: I appreciate your insights on security and control. Now, let's talk about your partnerships and reseller channels. How important are these relationships in your go-to-market strategy? 

Ted Hunting: Partnerships are a significant part of our go-to-market strategy, along with our direct sales efforts. We work closely with various BPO partners, including VIPdesk, TTEC, Naver in Korea, and others throughout Latin America and Europe.  By leveraging our partnerships, we have expanded our reach and established a strong presence in the market. These alliances allow us to provide comprehensive services and solutions to a broader range of clients. Additionally, our direct sales efforts have contributed to our growth, and we continue to explore new opportunities for collaboration. 

Sheri Greenhaus: It's great to hear about your successful partnerships and growth. As Bright Pattern looks toward the future, what are your top challenges, and how do you plan to address them? 

Ted Hunting: Brand awareness remains one of our primary challenges. While our customers love us and we are growing at a faster rate than our competitors, increasing our visibility in the market is crucial. We plan to address this challenge by continuing to provide the most powerful and user-friendly contact center solutions. Additionally, we maintain a close relationship with our customers, actively listening to their feedback and incorporating their suggestions into our product development. By staying nimble and responsive, we can overcome challenges and continue to innovate and expand. 

Sheri Greenhaus: That's an excellent approach. Innovation is essential in a rapidly evolving industry. How does Bright Pattern foster innovation, and how much of it comes from customer input? 

Ted Hunting: At Bright Pattern, we value innovation and agility. We foster a culture that encourages innovation from within, and our leadership team is actively involved in the development process. For example, our CEO participates in development meetings multiple times a week, ensuring that customer feedback and requests are incorporated into our product roadmap. We provide white-glove service to key companies, collaborating closely with them to innovate our products and meet their specific needs. We also serve a diverse range of customers, including major brands like Pepsi, Randstad, EY, Toyota, and retailers, financial services companys, and hospitality companies.  Their unique requirements and challenges drive us to innovate and deliver tailored solutions. 

Sheri Greenhaus: It's evident that customer input plays a significant role in your innovation efforts. Lastly, what can we expect from Bright Pattern in 2024? 

Ted Hunting: In 2024, you can expect Bright Pattern to have an even stronger presence and increased visibility. We will continue on our growth trajectory, maintaining our position as the most powerful and easiest-to-use contact center solution. Our focus remains on delivering new and innovative capabilities, such as our Omni Enterprise CX approach. We have witnessed many companies turning to us for their innovative needs, and we have displaced larger accounts from other vendors. We will continue to prioritize customer success and provide seamless, efficient, and transformative solutions to meet their evolving requirements. 

Sheri Greenhaus: Thank you, Ted, for sharing your insights and future plans for Bright Pattern. It's been a pleasure discussing your solutions and understanding your competitive advantages. We wish you continued success and growth in the coming years.