For decades, the capacity to automate and operationalize outbound calls being made for sales, promotions or collections calls were a tightly isolated and specialized toolset. Contact center leaders were typically forced to manage the operations and orchestration of inbound calls separately from outbound calls, with the data and intelligence in those calls being trapped within individual communications solutions. Mix those channel streams and chaos ensued. In highly regulated and sensitive markets like finance and healthcare, this is doubly true.
Enter the age of customer experience strategy that realizes carefully orchestrated, data-driven communications like proactive calls, texts or emails would be welcome by customers and could help turn a potentially negative experiences into exceeding positive ones. From campaigns designed to help customers stay on track for payments, to setting appointments or even managing renewals, these interactions could not only impact the bottom line favorably, but in the long run, would have a massive impact on customer lifetime value and loyalty.
This is the strategy of proactive engagement…and this is the underlying opportunity for Five9 customers thanks to the intended acquisition of Revenue Execution Platform, Acqueon.
What We Know About the Deal: The announcement was short on financial details, but what we do know (aside from the deal expecting to close in 2024) is that Acqueon and the revenue potential and customer base it brings to Five9 is hardly an unknown quantity. The two organizations know each other well, establishing a successful technology partnership since 2022 when Acqueon called itself a conversational intelligence platform.
In a briefing just prior to the formal acquisition announcement, executives from both Five9 and Acqueon told Constellation Research that beyond the technology integrations, most notably around the EPIC Electronic Health Record (EHR) Connector, the two organizations have been effectively selling together and have seen significant common ground from both a vision and culture perspective. Both are also eagerly eyeing a larger role in the larger customer experience stack that would have both move beyond their current positions in the contact center.
What Makes Acqueon so Interesting: From appointment setting sent in a preferred channel to payment reminders for mortgages to utilities sent to customers most likely to pay late, Acqueon has taken a very familiar approach for marketers and applied it to revenue execution: establishing personalized engagements with the right customer, at the right time and in the right channel. Where Acqueon has built a shining reputation is in orchestrating customer communications that are purpose-built for revenue realization be it through sales or collections. Currently servicing over 200 customers, Acqueon boasts an impressive logo list of large banks, financial institutions, healthcare, government agencies, utilities and mortgage and lending institutions, working exclusively with B2C brands, many in regulated markets. This plays exceedingly well with Five9’s own industry focus and continued investment into moving upmarket in larger enterprise accounts. It also could prove to be an interesting companion and natural partner of the data and analytics solution for the contact center, Aceyus, that Five9 acquired in 2023.
What it Means for the Market: This acquisition brings Five9 into that cadre of contact center and communications players that know and understand that a customer’s experiences refuse to remain in a single channel, let alone single silo. Others in the market have moved in a similar direction with NICE closing their acquisition of LiveVox in late 2023. On the customer interaction data front, players like 8x8 have introduced their Customer Interaction Data Platform (CIDP) as the core data repository from which a company can make more intelligent customer and agent experiences.
What it Means for Existing Customers: According to Five9, Acqueon’s customers should expect the same exceptional levels of service and innovation they receive today. Five9 has noted they expect to operate the company as a business unit of Five9, similar to Aceyus. Acqueon had spent a good part of 2023 forging deeper partnerships with contact center players like Genesys, NICE and Twilio. Built atop AWS, it is also no surprise that there is also a partnership with Amazon Connect. For the immediate future, and similar to the operational structure and practices of Aceyus, Acqueon customers should not expect any major disruptions while Five9 customers will be eager to see more native integrations and a carry-over of the AI innovations (especially around automations) that Acqueon has built into their solution.
My Parting Thoughts: This is a nice round-out to Five9’s capabilities, delivering a truly comprehensive modern contact center experience that sheds the baggage of the industry’s history and developmental path. Through acquisition and platform innovation, Five9 is delivering on a far more “total experience” as opposed to cementing old operational lines drawn decades ago. The pain and complexity of revenue clawbacks and collections should not be minimized. While the ethical and regulatory guidelines for all phone-based communications are well discussed and debated, there are far more stringent and costly regulations set forward to specifically protect consumers from predators that have used voice and digital channels to terrorize, torment and turn awkward and sensitive moments into some of the worst experiences of a customer’s life. Bringing these key experiential actions into a single pane of glass to align the best of intentions with the best of our innovations is not something to overlook. This acquisition adds depth to the Five9 offering and brings revenue opportunity into view for the contact center…and who doesn’t like revenue?
