RightNow opens office in New Jersey, expands sales force

RightNow Technologies http://www.rightnow.com/ is opening a new office in the Northeast as part of a major growth spurt for the company that has increased its revenue every quarter for nearly five years.

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL, Chronicle Staff Writer

"We have some very good customers in the Northeast, like Polaroid and the New York Department of Motor Vehicles," RightNow CEO and founder Greg Gianforte said. The new office will give the sales staff personal contact with customers.

For now, the office is located in Mt. Laurel, N.J., in a temporary space. But Gianforte said the company hopes to move into a permanent space by early next year. The new office will employ eight to 10 mostly sales people by the end of this year.

The Bozeman-based high-tech company plans to keep its engineering and marketing departments here, but Gianforte said he’s found it is important for sales people to be closer to their customers.

"They want to see us," he said. "As we partner with our customers often we have to sit down with them face to face on our business needs."

RightNow has other offices in Dallas, San Mateo, Calif., London and Sydney, Australia.

The company makes customer-service software for groups that do business on the Web.

RightNow made its biggest product launch ever in September and is funding expansions here and in Europe through cash flow from operations, Gianforte said.

"We finished our 19th consecutive quarter of revenue growth," he said. "We made a decision to double the size of our sales organization in North America and Europe."

The new Northeast office is the beginning of that expansion. Along with growth in other locations, RightNow has 13 job openings at its Bozeman headquarters.

"They are the kind of company you want to have in a town like this," said Cynthia Evans, acting director of the Gallatin Development Corp.

The GDC uses RightNow as an example of a successful technology company when trying to recruit new businesses to the Bozeman area, Evans said.

"I’ve had several much smaller tech companies contact me in the last month," she said. "They think, ‘If RightNow can attract people and make it here we should go for it.’ They act as a magnet."

As far as Gianforte is concerned, being based in Bozeman gives his company a competitive edge.

"We have great employees in Bozeman. They are smart, hardworking and have very high ethics," he said. "And it’s sort of the Montana, ‘We’ll-get-her-done attitude.’ Customers recognize that and they appreciate it."

Kayley Mendenhall is at [email protected]

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/11/22/news/rightnowbzbigs.txt