Toople PLC Trading Statement (6225W)
November 16 2017 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTOOP
RNS Number : 6225W
Toople PLC
16 November 2017
16 November 2017
Toople Plc
("Toople" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Trading Update for the period from June to October 2017
Toople Plc (LSE: TOOP), a provider of bespoke telecom services
to UK SMEs, provides the following update on trading.
-- Customer orders have increased every month since the Company's fundraise in June 2017.
-- Digital marketing strategy has increased monthly customer
lead generation numbers by over 100% compared to June.
-- Customer sales order conversion averaging 43% against all
leads generated, which are being converted into an order either
online or over the phone with Toople agents.
-- Cloud business phones over the same period have been the
fastest growing product line driving longer customer contract
tenure typically of 36 months.
-- Sales resource now transitioning from outsourced to in-house.
-- Despite the competitive market, monthly revenues have consistently exceeded GBP100k.
Customer orders have grown every month since the Company raised
aggregate gross proceeds of GBP1.41 million, in June 2017. The
Company announced in August 2017 that it had reached the 1000(th)
customer landmark, an important milestone especially in terms of
brand acceptance. Customer base now exceeds 1300 customers and
revenue generating units (RGUs) now exceed 1700 services.
This growth in customer order numbers follows the implementation
of the Company's sophisticated digital marketing campaign. The
digital marketing strategy has increased the average number of
customer leads generated per month by over 100% compared to the
levels seen in June.
In the last three months Toople has averaged a sales conversion
rate of 43% against all leads (digital and non-digital) that were
generated by the Company. Some 50,000 potential small business
customers per week now have visibility of the Toople brand and the
compelling fixed price proposition, thanks to the Company's revised
marketing campaign.
Toople's hosted cloud based business-phone offering has been the
fastest growing product line for the Company during the period.
This product line also serves as the Company's highest margin
product and the longest tenure customer contract with a duration of
up to 36 months.
To date Toople has been employing the services of a third-party
sales agency. To further accelerate organic growth the Board has
made a decision to terminate this relationship and transition to
its own in-house dedicated sales office. The Board believe this
will drive further customer growth and increase the RGUs per
customer early in 2018. This transition is expected to take circa
60 days. The Company will be hiring a number of new salespeople
which the Directors expect will lead to an improvement in gross
margin on its SME focussed connectivity solutions in H2 2018.
Importantly, the Company will be in control of the entire sales
cycle and have full insight into which strategies generate the
highest interest levels and conversion rates.
Currently the Company has over 1,300 small businesses directly
contracted with in excess of over 1,700 RGUs across the customer
base.* As this base reaches critical mass Toople sees a growing
opportunity to cross-sell and upsell further services from its
suite of small-business focussed services. Toople continues to
outperform the market average in the independent Trustpilot scores,
supporting the core values of cost transparency and great UK based
customer service.
The cost of customer acquisition continues to remain within the
range previously announced of GBP40 to GBP91 per customer.
*Wholesale numbers are excluded from this figure.
Andy Hollingworth, CEO, Toople Plc, said, "The Company's RGU
numbers continue to grow every month and Toople is making solid
progress towards becoming a significant player in the UK small
business connectivity space. As the Company grows we have a better
understanding of what our potential customers want and how to reach
them. We have demonstrated excellence in delivering an outstanding
customer experience. By taking full control of our sales cycle, we
intend to bring our proposition to a wider audience and further
grow our market share. We look forward to the future with
optimism."
- ENDS -
For further information:
0800 0499
Toople PLC 499
Andy Hollingworth,
Chief Executive Officer
Hybridan LLP
Claire Louise Noyce 020 3764 2341
Darshan Patel 020 3764 2345
Notes to Editors
Toople Plc offers broadband, VoIP and landline services and
mobile phone packages to SMEs in the UK. Customers can visit the
Toople.com web site to buy online, request a quote or instantly
chat with an agent and choose the services relevant to their
business.
The web site is powered by Toople.com proprietary Merlin
software; a cloud based telecoms resourcing platform that acts as a
portal for transparent, live pricing for services across the main
four providers. Merlin also makes it easy for customers to add new
services to their bespoke packages at any time.
Toople Plc has three core elements to its business. First
Toople.com, its initial approach for small businesses where
customers can buy connectivity, mobility and business telephony in
an easy online journey. Customers can do this by simply requesting
a quote or instantly engaging into a chat with an agent. Potential
customers experience Toople.com through digital media channels like
Google, Bing, cost comparison web sites and social media. Second,
the wholesale business has a number of other telecoms companies
that buy services wholesale, white label the propositions and
resell on to their own customers. Third, the Merlin software
platform gives access to wholesalers who want to interconnect with
carriers for provisioning and billing services for their own
customers, where a monthly licence fee is applicable to access
Merlin.
Toople plc is addressing a market of over 5 million companies in
the UK that are employing less than 50 people. These companies are
looking for straightforward telecom solutions, explained in a way
that they can understand, provided at attractive consistent prices
and backed up by high quality service support. Toople aims to be
easy to do business with, offering transparent, competitive pricing
and excellent UK based customer service. The Company is rapidly
increasing brand awareness and building its client base through
strategic, on-line marketing campaigns.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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