Hiring plans put on hold. Bonuses cut. Employees let go.
This was the story shared by many companies throughout 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the U.S. business landscape.
Still, pockets of industries shined, especially those that helped clients navigate a heavily digital era.
Take Freshworks, a company that provides AI tools for businesses to alleviate mundane tasks and free up staff for greater responsibilities.
In the last year, Jose Morales, the chief revenue officer, reported an increase in customer requests for remote customer support, cloud telephony and other AI-powered products that help businesses better engage with their customers virtually. As 2021 approaches, Morales said he sees no signs of the need for AI products slowing down.
Yext, a search engine for businesses and organizations, also chalked up a successful key year in company history that included the addition of the U.S. State Department and World Health Organization (WHO) as clients looking for help in keeping the public well-informed.
As leaders at both companies look to next year, they feel optimistic and plan to continue expanding their headcounts. Morales and Yext’s Director of Strategic Marketing Isalyn Connell reflected on their successes in 2020 and shared what’s to come.
Freshworks Chief Revenue Officer Jose Morales said that in times of uncertainty, businesses turn to technologies to run more efficiently, like AI. This has led to an increase in demand for Freshworks’ services, which include AI-powered chatbots that help organizations respond faster to customer inquiries. Morales said he expects AI implementations to continue to increase through the new year.
Why was your business well-poised to not just weather but thrive throughout the last six months and beyond?
It’s important to recognize that in every challenge there’s also opportunity to innovate. Customers and companies alike are looking for technologies that drive greater efficiency and greater productivity. At Freshworks, we are helping businesses with product offerings that enable these companies to do both and beyond the pandemic. We’ve seen heavy demand for remote customer support, cloud telephony, chat, chatbots and other AI-powered products that help businesses better engage with their customers.
Customers are the lifeline of the business. Our end-user focus and customer-first approach to building and delivering software means that businesses are getting powerful software that works right out of the box and delivers a great return on their technology investment.
It’s important to recognize that in every challenge there’s also opportunity to innovate.”
How does your team define success and what has been a major win for your business recently?
Our success is in our people. The Freshworks leadership team has worked tirelessly to ensure the continued success and health of our 3,400-plus team members throughout the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, our CEO Girish Mathrubootham immediately instituted a “no-one-left-behind” strategy and successfully maintained a no-layoff policy. We made it a top priority to support our employees’ physical, emotional and professional wellness through programs like yoga and meditation to help them stay physically and mentally fit, online classes and celebrations to help them stay connected with their peers, and stipends to help them adjust to working from home. To that end, we are extremely gratified to be named by Battery Ventures/Glassdoor as one of the top 25 private companies to work for during the pandemic.
We’ve also been fortunate to see continued rapid growth and product adoption. Our products have been lauded by analysts and have been featured in four Gartner Magic Quadrants, and Forbes just named Freshworks as the No. 16 private cloud company.
What big trends do you predict for your industry in 2021? How is Freshworks positioned to capitalize on these trends?
During economic uncertainty, companies gravitate toward technologies that demonstrate essential value, drive greater efficiency and increase productivity. AI and automation eliminate costly, time-consuming repetitive tasks — so the need for quality AI has never been greater.
In customer service, AI can be a powerful tool to deepen customer engagement through timely and precise responses to customer needs. AI can quickly expedite complex processes like refunds and exchanges without human intervention, freeing up employees to focus on more complex and strategic initiatives. For instance, businesses use Freshworks’ AI chatbots to automate self-service, making it easy for their customers to answer their own questions, saving time and money. AI can also accelerate a company’s response to inquiries, helping customer service agents by anticipating questions and then proactively providing answers. Expect AI adoption to continue increasing in 2021.
“People will always have questions — especially in times of change or uncertainty,” said Yext Director of Strategic Marketing Isalyn Connell. The company’s search and answer tool sits on thousands of business websites, providing current and official answers found within the sites. As the pandemic drove more people and businesses online, Yext responded by offering new languages, launching a major partnership and entering new verticals.
Why was your business well-poised to not just weather but thrive throughout the last six months and beyond?
Consumers have been shifting toward more convenient and seamless digital experiences over the past decade. This trend accelerated when the pandemic hit and social distancing and stay-at-home directives came into effect. As consumers went online to transact, they brought with them new and complex questions about safety protocols, service offerings, contactless delivery options, product availability, cancellation and return policies, and more.
Amid this explosion of questions, Yext was in a unique position to help with our hallmark site search product, Yext Answers. In the last six months, we have launched Answers in five new languages, become the first search technology partner to join the Adobe Exchange program, and collaborated with some of the world's biggest businesses and organizations, including the U.S. State Department and World Health Organization (WHO), to do our part in keeping the public informed. We’ve even been able to make an impact in new verticals like higher education, where students have just as many questions as consumers and patients during the pandemic.
People will always have questions — especially in times of change or uncertainty. As we’ve shown this year, Yext will be there to provide them with the most accurate, up-to-date and official answers.
Brands that don’t have accurate, up-to-date and easily accessible answers online simply won’t be worth their trust or dollars.”
Define “success” at Yext. What has a recent major win for your business been?
2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. If it has taught us one thing, it’s that we should be grateful for what we have and take stock of what really matters. Which is why being named a “Best Workplace in New York” by Fortune for the fourth year in a row was a special win for us.
Since Yext’s founding in 2006, we’ve pivoted our go-to-market strategy, diversified our product offerings, expanded to offices around the globe, and more. Through all the changes, one principle has remained true: we are nothing without our people. Without their dedication and innovation, the company would not be where we are today. Being honored on Fortune’s list only reinforced that belief and our motivation to continue providing the most comfortable, conducive, inclusive, and fun workplace possible — not just during a pandemic, but always.
What big trends do you predict for your industry in 2021? How is Yext positioned to capitalize on these trends?
As businesses cross over to the new year, we can expect to find digital experiences here to stay and, with them, consumers who emphasize trust and transparency while they discover and transact online. Every customer journey starts with a question, whether that’s on a brand’s website, a search engine, chatbot, voice assistant, or another digital platform. For customers in 2021, the brands that don’t have accurate, up-to-date and easily accessible answers online simply won’t be worth their trust or dollars and they’ll move on to those that do.
Yext’s entire platform helps businesses and organizations in any industry tackle these changes in service of our mission to deliver official answers everywhere. With products like Answers, they can use the most advanced technology to optimize their search experiences and gain customers’ trust while meeting them with the answers they’re looking for, the moment they ask.
