E2open Parent Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ETWO) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Greg Randolph: Mark, great to hear from you. Great question. Sales compensation drives sales behavior, and it is super important. I will tell you that, I made some modifications, for the second half, by the way. Day one when I joined, I tweaked, made a modification to the comp plan to ensure the right behavior in the second half, but I will tell you there has been one of the things that Lisa, our new operations leader in the commercial organization is taking on an initiative to simplify our FY ’25 comp plan. And I love a scenario, where a sales organization is highly motivated and incented to drive the behavior that results in top-line profitable growth. And she and I have done this before, and she is in really the final stages of finalizing an initiative to put forth an optimized plan for next fiscal year. So, I appreciate the question. It is something that I am super excited to roll it out quite frankly.

Andrew Appel: Let me add there. I think what Greg has done organizationally, which is to refocus the organization on a separation between sales, delivery and the life retention, whatever you want to call it, makes the opportunity for simple pay for growth, that’s sales in before. We would wanna pay more sales comp because that means we are selling more stuff. At the same time, I think we need to figure out how people get rewarded for keeping what you got, which is a completely separate thing. It doesn’t always have to be commissioned, doesn’t always have to be something. But people even feel like I get benefits from keeping, not just from winning. And so, that’s also something we are focusing on together.

Operator: The next question comes from Chad Bennett with Craig-Hallum. Please proceed.

Chad Bennett: Great. Thanks for taking my questions. Whether it is Andrew or Greg, just as you meet with clients and review the product portfolio and all the assets that the company has acquired over the years. Just curious kind of, do you think everything kind of fits in the platform or in the portfolio going forward, just curious on kind of how you think about the competitive positioning or product strength within the different segments, where you think you are stronger? Where you think you could improve?

Andrew Appel: This is Andrew. Look, I would point out that, the first three months has been very laser-focused on churn, retention, clients, implementations and delighting new clients and bookings. So, I will say that that has been the focus, what I would say in that process, I’m pretty impressed with the position of our main product lines. Nothing comes to mind. We’re not in the portfolio optimization world. We are in my grade all our clients to our latest versions of our great products and solutions. So, we have a pretty significant R&D spend that to make sure our products retain their competitiveness. And when we look at non-wins they’re not out of whack with what you’d expect in an industry with three or four players in each micro space.

Greg Randolph : And hey, this is Greg. I would just add that I’ve spent a lot of time with customers. I have in the last 90 days I’ve been to Europe twice. I’ve been throughout North America. I’ve got a West Coast tour next week focused on meeting with customers. I am super connected with Pawan our Head of Product. He and I spend a lot of time talking about the future of our product platform our competitiveness near term. And if I look at the wins that we had in Q3 and the interactions I’ve had with our existing customers, I am more energized, and optimistic about our future that I’ve been — since I’ve been here. And if I think about the value proposition that our existing customers get from our platform, it’s remarkable. And if I think about the wins that we experienced in Q3 and the level of value and honestly the competitiveness of our sales team was super impressive to be a part of.

And so, like any company that has a broad product portfolio, we will always evaluate the fit to the market. But I couldn’t be more excited about what we have to take to market and the value proposition that exists across our portfolio.

Chad Bennett: Got it. And then maybe I appreciate the color. That’s great. Just maybe on the — as we look into next year, and I understand you’re not given guide in the next year, but it appears, this is obviously, as you’ve indicated, a multiple quarter transition and revenue likely will be under pressure heading into next year, probably even the first half. Just in terms of the durability or sustainability of the EBITDA margins in that mid-30 range is that something that is non-negotiable from your standpoint? Andrew?

Andrew Appel : Sorry, I stepped away for a second. It sounds like a Marje question.

Chad Bennett: Either way. Sorry. Yes. Marje or Andrew, either way.

Andrew Appel : Look, I think, our cash flow and our margin are incredibly important to us to maintain the momentum that we have. So, the short answer is yes, we’re going to retain our target margin at the level that it’s at today. We invest in clients, and we invest in clients to make sure that they’re excited about what we do. And I think, we’ve demonstrated even in the last couple months that there’s an ability to do that without changing the margin profile of the business.

Operator: The next question comes from Andrew Obin with Bank of America. Please proceed.

Unidentified Analyst : This is David Ridley Lane on for Andrew. So, churn is expected to remain elevated in the fourth quarter. You also noted churn decisions are made significantly in advance. So, when do you expect sort of the changes in the work that you’re doing to really read out in the reported churn metrics?