8×8’s CEO told investors at its Q3 2023 earnings call that its revenue low-point is close before announcing a new customer experience (CX) product line.
Samuel Wilson, CEO of 8×8, was responding to an analyst’s question when he explained that the bottom “feels like it is close”.
That comes after total revenues for the quarter landed at $180MN, down from $184.4 million 12 months ago.
Indeed, 8×8 has struggled to regain momentum in a tricky microenvironment, with share prices dropping 90 percent over the past three years.
Despite this, Wilson was optimistic about the company’s outlook, citing new product growth that’s up 60 percent year-over-year (YoY), an increase in quarter-on-quarter bookings, and its latest product releases.
Kevin Kraus, Chief Financial Officer at 8×8, echoed Wilson’s sentiments in his own expectations for the company’s financial future: “I believe that our continued focus on profitability while maintaining our targeted investments and innovation, plus our go-to-market retooling is the correct strategy for us at this time.
This strategy will enable a return to revenue growth while we also return value to our investors, initially by reducing our debt.
“Our goal is to show improving revenue trends in fiscal 2025. I would like to thank the entire 8×8 team for working together to deliver this quarter’s solid results.”
Now, 8×8 plans to return $250 million to investors via debt repayments between the fiscal years 2024 to 2026.
A New CX Product Line
To turn around its current revenue slump, 8×8 is pumping out new product innovations, including a new “CX product line”.
According to 8×8, the product line will help bridge the gap between UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) and CCaaS (Contact Centre as a Service) by effectively weaving customer interaction data throughout the entire organization.
New insights will allow for more effective decision-making and a combination of native and third-party data, plus AI, enable companies to improve interactions and, as a result, create positive customer experiences.
The products will essentially help to meet employee needs, which 8×8 believes will have a knock-on effect of raising customer outcomes too.
Wilson spoke about some of the benefits of its new product line: “Organisations that excel at customer service and experiences understand that orchestrating exceptional customer journeys is an organization-wide responsibility.
By introducing an innovative new product line that expands cross-organization customer engagement, 8×8 is providing organizations with intentionally engineered capabilities that empower every customer-facing employee to make the most of every interaction, leading to superior customer satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately, business success.
Learn more about 8×8 future plans, by reading our article: 8×8 Will Now Lead with CCaaS, Not UCaaS
