With business activity slowing elsewhere, Esker, a Madison-based technology firm, recently reported record growth in employees, sales, and revenue during the third quarter of 2022. The happy totals include double digit growth in all global regions, with the U.S. leading the way, up 15%. Sales revenue is up 13%, augmented by 23% revenue growth for cloud-based revenue and 19% for all business combined, solidifying Esker’s status as a key player in the payments automation industry. In this Take Five interview, we spoke to COO Steve Smith about the company’s prospects heading into what could be a recessionary year.
Explain how your investment in recruitment enabled you to add 93 workers last year, and talk about the role remote working opportunities played in your success in that area.
“Esker’s investment in recruitment starts with offering an employment experience that generates goodwill and a positive reputation with candidates. This has been built over years of cultivating a strong culture, excellent benefits, and a workplace that adapts in time of change. Our additional investments in technology allow us to remain nimble and provide flexibility, which includes remote work opportunities that our employees appreciate and allows Esker to expand the talent pool nationally. And with growth comes additional career opportunities for new and existing employees, which is also attractive to candidates. As of May 2022, 93% of employees in the U.S. would recommend Esker as a good place to work.”
In terms of open positions that remain, what skills/positions are you still looking for?
“Open positions fluctuate, and we remain open-minded about talent and skills that are needed now and in the foreseeable future. First and foremost, we want to make sure those who are interested are motivated, have the aptitude for learning new skills, and have a great attitude. Naturally, there are core competencies that we look for based on the position, and there are going to be new skills and knowledge they’ll have to pick up — which is why we look for those unique qualities, so that person has a successful runway to their career at Esker. It’s always a safe bet that we’re looking for technical skills, including software developers and development consultants, as well as sales and marketing skills, such as digital marketing and sales development.”
Compare your business performance before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It would appear that the pandemic served as a bit of a launch pad for you, but I’ll let you explain that.
“Before the pandemic, automating mundane tasks accompanied with document workflow provided a great return on investment, but could still be done manually since everyone was in the office. That need accelerated when it became a requirement to work from home, as the way businesses interfaced with their customers or suppliers was completely disrupted. Companies quickly realized their existing tech stack was very inefficient and lacked visibility and governance as their staff worked from home. Organizations had a greater sense of urgency to progress their digital transformation, which includes further investments in cloud infrastructure to remain agile for any future disruption. Depending on where organizations were in their digital transformation journey, some took the leap of faith and haven’t looked back, while others have accelerated to hyper-automation.”
The global accounts payable automation market was estimated to be worth $2.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to almost double to $4.47 billion by 2026. One of the many ways you help business customers is making cash flow more efficient and effective, and with predictions of a recession in 2023, cash flow management is going to take on even more importance. What’s your guess as to how economic conditions will impact your sales?
“We have always done well for the very reason mentioned. Automation is a huge driver for improved cash flow and a more efficient operation, which is even more important during difficult economic times. Companies that need to find ways to improve turn to solutions like ours to improve process efficiency, visibility into cash flow, and the ability to better forecast, reduce fraud, and reduce costs — all of which help the bottom line. We expect to continue to have strong sales as we have in the past. We also strongly believe the growth will spill over to our order-to-cash solutions to help companies reduce cycle times and remain competitive.”
Since your future bookings look strong, is there any area — procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, documents, product lines, or technology (cloud, AI, security, etc.) — that concern you if there is indeed a downturn?
“We do have customers who see reduced order quantities during recessionary times, which affects the order-to-cash business. Additionally, as companies migrate toward digital document processing, we foresee that there will be a continued downturn in printed financial documents, such as invoices and statements. However, it generally is offset by the addition of new customers looking to automate for the reasons already discussed.”
Unless I miscounted, you’re already in 14 countries, but do you have any expansion plans, either here in Madison, Wisconsin, the U.S., or globally?
“We will be announcing a new subsidiary soon overseas and are always looking for areas to expand. In Madison and the U.S., we will continue to grow our staff to meet the demands of the market.”
What about product expansion? What role, if any, could cryptocurrency play in your future business development?
“Our focus is to enhance our existing solutions because our customers are always asking for new features and functionality from them. We remain informed of the emerging ways businesses interact with each other, which includes how they receive and pay for goods or services. Cryptocurrency could impact our Esker Pay platform in the future, but the demand from our customer base is not there yet. Enhancing our payment and financing options is a significant growth area, especially with the economic concerns we see today.”
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