FREEDyourMind

ForeSee Timeline

Our press release is out today formally announcing our expanded capabilities, shortened name, and new logo. Our website is updated with a fresher look (you can use www.foresee.com or www.foreseeresults.com) that reflects our company's deep expertise.

I got a few questions yesterday about other milestones in our history, so here's a more expanded time line of the last ten years. Thanks again for all the emails and support!

2001

• March 2001: Larry Freed tapped to build a new company designed to bring scientific customer satisfaction measurement to web-based marketing initiatives
• September 2001: ForeSee Results, Inc. officially incorporates after being jointly founded by CFI Group and Compuware
• September 2001: ForeSee’s first beta client launches one week after 9/11

2002

• January 2002: ForeSee signs first paying customer
• August 2002: ForeSee moves from Compuware offices to its first location on Plymouth Rd in Ann Arbor.

2003

• December, 2003: ForeSee surpasses 1 million completed surveys

 2004

• May 2004: First ForeSee Public Sector Summit in Washington DC

 2005

• ForeSee surpasses 100 customers
• September 2005: ForeSee moves into 10,000 square feet in Avis Farms

 

2006

• August 2006: ForeSee surpasses 10 million completed surveys

2007

• March 2007: Updata Partners and Investor Growth Capital purchased ForeSee shares from Compuware
• September 2007:  First ForeSee User Summit in Ann Arbor
• September 2007: ForeSee acquires usability firm Red Spade for usability insight review offering

 

2008

• January 2008: ForeSee staff exceeds 100
• July 2008: ForeSee obtains Mega Grant from MEDC Michigan and starts delivering on commitment to create 275 jobs by 2015

 

2009

• June 2009: ForeSee acquires Session Replay technology from Nitobi 
• March 2009: ForeSee moves into 40,000 square feet at current location on Green Rd. in Ann Arbor to accommodate continued growth.
• November 2009: ForeSee expands offerings to apply technology to measure satisfaction of call centers and store locations

 2010

• ForeSee announces 9^th consecutive year of revenue growth of 25% or higher and 36^th consecutive quarter of revenue growth
• ForeSee expands offerings to apply technology to measure mobile optimized websites, mobile apps, social media sites, and social media experiences
• July 2010: ForeSee surpasses 50 million collected surveys
• September 2010: ForeSee hires country manager in UK to support international growth

 

2011

• ForeSee surpasses 500 customers
• January 2011: ForeSee staff exceeds 200
• August 2011: ForeSee celebrates 10^th anniversary in University of Michigan football stadium (aka The Big House)
• August 2011: ForeSee updates logo and shortens name from ForeSee Results to ForeSee

ForeSee Turns Ten

We’ve been gearing up for our tenth anniversary this fall here at ForeSee, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the early days at ForeSee lately. The last ten years has been an amazing ride, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next ten.

Ten years isn’t such a long time if you’re a bank or a newspaper or a manufacturer. But it’s a very long time for an analytics company.

We have not only survived a decade that has been very tough on American business (not to mention Michigan business!), we have thrived. We’ve done it because we make satisfying our own customers a priority and because I truly believe we provide a solution that is unmatched. We allow executives and managers to confidently prioritize investments that will have the greatest impact on future business. In other words, we help companies figure out where to spend their money and how to keep their customers.

There is no more powerful strategy, whether you’re in a challenging economy or a booming one.  And we can do it across channels and across customer touch points so that you can understand how what happens on one channel affects what happens on another, and how the customer experience across channels impacts the bottom line.

Ten years ago, I decided to take a chance and leave a great job at Compuware to help build a new company that was going to bring the methodology of the ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) to the quickly growing world of websites and other online marketing initiatives. Our first beta client was the week after September 11th. What we thought would be our biggest competitor went out of business the week before we were incorporated. Over the last ten years the global economy has been the most volatile that we have seen since the Great Depression, and we are headquartered in Michigan, one of the states that has been hardest hit by the series of economic downturns over the last decade.

But working with the team here at ForeSee to build a company from the ground up has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. With a great team of people, we built a business that helps other businesses. We quickly expanded our capabilities from measuring online customer satisfaction to measuring the complete customer experience across all channels and touch points. We’ve grown in revenue, market share, and staff every year since we started. We’ve built something we’re really proud of; something that we think can make a difference to businesses in good economies and in bad.

The thousands of clients we’ve worked with over the years have been a big part of why this job is so rewarding for me. I’ve gotten to meet so many of our clients over the years at various tradeshows, industry events, and our own summit here in Ann Arbor (this September—register here). I have learned a LOT from our clients about what to do, what not to do, how to improve our own offerings to meet their needs, and more.

As a result of our expanded capabilities and just in time for our tenth anniversary, we decided to update the way we talk about what we do, shorten our name, and freshen up the logo. We’re not changing what we do, just the way we talk about it, and we’ll be putting out a press release Friday about our new name and logo. The name change was a pretty obvious choice, since 99% of our clients, analysts, journalists, and employees already call us ForeSee. So that was an easy decision to make. Starting tomorrow, you’ll see us start referring to ourselves as ForeSee. You'll be able to reach us at www.foreseeresults.com or www.foresee.com.

Our new logo is really just an updated, modern version that we think reflects who we are today: a customer experience analytics firm that helps clients continuously measure satisfaction and confidently prioritize the efforts that will have the greatest business impact. We also wanted a logo that would still be recognizable and familiar to the millions of people who take our surveys every year. We have survey response rates much higher than industry averages and we want to keep it that way. Clients of ours will be getting communications on how and when to change the logos on their surveys, but we designed it and are rolling it out in a way that will have no impact on response rates.

 
The logo and the name change are in effect tomorrow. But over the next six months, our clients will start to see slight changes in the way we talk about our solutions and the way they work together. We’re going to be working on our website. We’re going to be offering new solutions that allow our clients to take advantage of the unique combination that only we offer:  continuous measurement, trusted technology, proven methodology, and world-class analysis. You won’t find that combination anywhere else.

Oh, and I just finished my first book. It’s about how to manage the future using analytics rather than measuring the past using metrics. It will be released in late September/early October, but we’re going to give a copy to everyone attending the ForeSee summit in Ann Arbor this fall. Hopefully some people other than just my Mom will buy a copy from Amazon.

We had a great party at the University of Michigan football stadium last week and are planning a few more celebrations this fall. We're putting some pictures up on our Facebook page today. We thought about a press release saying “ForeSee Celebrates Tenth Anniversary in the Big House” but realized that people who are not fans of Michigan football might think we meant another kind of big house!

Thanks to all ForeSee employees and all ForeSee clients for an amazing ten years. We couldn’t do it without you. Here’s to the next ten!

 

ForeSee Timeline, First Ten Years, 2001-2011 

2001

• March 2001: I was tapped to build a new company designed to bring scientific customer satisfaction measurement to web-based marketing initiatives
• September 2001: ForeSee Results, Inc. officially incorporates after being jointly founded by CFI Group and Compuware
• September 2001: ForeSee’s first beta client launches one week after September 11th

 

2002

• January 2002: ForeSee signs first paying customer

 

2003

• December 2003: ForeSee surpasses 1 million completed surveys

 

2004

• May 2004: First ForeSee Public Sector Summit in Washington DC

 

2005

• ForeSee surpasses 100 customers

 

2006

• August 2006: ForeSee surpasses 10 million completed surveys

2007

• September 2007:  First ForeSee User Summit in Ann Arbor
• September 2007: ForeSee acquires usability firm Red Spade

 

2008

• January 2008: ForeSee hires 100th employee

 

2009

• June 2009: ForeSee acquires Session Replay technology from Nitobi 
• November 2009: ForeSee announces expanded offerings to apply technology to measure satisfaction of call centers and store locations

 

2010

• ForeSee expands offerings to apply technology to measure mobile optimized websites and mobile apps
• July 2010: ForeSee surpasses 50 million collected surveys

 

2011

• ForeSee surpasses 500 customers
• January 2011: ForeSee hires 200th employee
• August 2011: ForeSee celebrates its tenth anniversary at the University of Michigan football stadium
• August 2011: ForeSee updates logo and shortens name

Farewell and Good Luck!

It is going to be announced today that Kevin Ertell is leaving ForeSee Results.  I have known Kevin for about 8 years now.  We first met when he was at Tower Records and they became one of our clients.  We then continued our relationship when he moved to Ann Arbor to take a senior position at Borders.  And for the last couple of years I have had the pleasure to have Kevin on our team at ForeSee Results as our VP of Retail Strategy.  As a client Kevin was a great partner to ForeSee Results, challenging us to be our best.  And as a member of our team he continued helping us to provide great value to our customers and expand our offerings.  And I am confident with Kevin back as a retailer and our customer he will continue to be a great partner challenging us to be our best.

While we will miss Kevin working at ForeSee Results, he will continue as a close member of the extended ForeSee Results family as he moves back into the retail world as CMO of onlineshoes.com in Seattle.  The good news is that onlineshoes.com is also a client, and who knows, maybe he could swing a discount for his former colleagues here at ForeSee Results (hint, hint). 

Hopefully you will continue to follow Kevin on his personal blog, RetailShakenNotStirred, where he plans to keep sharing his thoughts about retail management, marketing, online strategy, and anything else that strikes his fancy.  At ForeSee Results we will continue blogging about the retail industry, and you can always get our latest blog posts and retail research on our website.

All of us at ForeSee Results wish Kevin the best in his new role.

 

Welcome Walter Rothschild

We're thrilled to announce that Walter Rothschild is joining us to act as Chief Marketing Officer, a newly created position to help us advance strategically in the coming years.

Walter has actually been with us a little while, and we've just had such a busy spring, it took us awhile to get the release out. He's already helping us develop our brand and expand our full range of marketing initiatives.

You can read all about his background in the press release, and you'll have a chance to meet him at our upcoming user summit at the end of May in Ann Arbor. He's a great guy with experience and vision that will really strengthen our capabilities.

It's already shaping up to be a great year!

Welcome Dave Lewan!

Our work in the government and nonprofit space has been exploding lately...between our thought leadership (our new e-gov transparency research, our report on satisfaction with nonprofit websites, and the quarterly ACSI E-Gov Index) and our client work (hundreds of federal, state, and local clients, along with numerous nonprofits and associations), we needed someone great to lead our work in this area.

Enter Dave Lewan, our new Director of Government and Public Sector Markets. You can read all about his excellent qualifications in our press release or on Linked In, but the main point is that we're excited about his strong leadership, which will help us continue to serve government and nonprofit clients with the solutions, methodology, and technology that will help them make the most of their online initiatives.

Feel free to email Dave (dave.lewan@foreseeresults.com) or visit him on Twitter to say hello (@davelewan) and we hope he'll be contributing to a new e-gov blog we have in the works. You'll have a chance to meet him and share your ideas with him next week at the Gov2.0 Summit in DC and again at our annual public sector user conference: Digital Citizen (Oct.8th in DC).

Welcome, Dave!

In a Blind Search Test, Which Do You Choose?

Our annual ACSI rating of search engines and portals is coming up next Tuesday, and in doing some research about the measured companies, I found this article in TechCrunch about the Blind Search Tool.

Here's the theory: Google gets a lot of credit just for being Google. If you take Yahoo or Bing search results and put a Google logo at the top, people will like it better, but when you compare head-to-head functionality, Bing and Yahoo hold their own. Google's market share hovers around 70% of searches, but in a blind test of which search results are actually the ones you're looking for, people choose Google as the best 44% of the time, Bing 33% of the time, and Yahoo 23% of the time.

This kind of distribution would suggest that there is room for more than one search engine. I did the test four times and chose Bing twice and Google twice in the blind test, requiring a tie-breaker, in which I chose Yahoo. Pretty representative of the numbers above, actually.

It is interesting to look at those results and compare them to the market share numbers.

Which do you choose in the blind search test? And is it time for a Facebook quiz: what search engine result are you? (in other words, enough with the Facebook quizzes, already!) 

Welcome Kevin Ertell, our new VP of Retail Strategy!

I couldn't be happier to announce that Kevin Ertell has joined ForeSee Results as Vice President of Retail Strategy. For those of you who don't know Kevin, he was SVP of e-business at Borders, and before that, he was SVP at towerrecords.com. Kevin has actually been a client of ours for years now, so he's a true believer in the ability of online customer satisfaction metrics, and more specifically the ACSI, to transform the way retailers are doing business online and across channels.

We brought him on board for a few reasons. Our retail business is growing so much, that we really needed someone to ensure that the quality of our products and services remained as high as it has been, even as we grow. And I don't think you'll find someone with more expertise, thought leadership, and the respect of the retail community than Kevin. Because he comes from a retail background and had so much success transforming the online businesses of Borders and Tower, he's going to bring a unique perspective that will really help our product, delivery, and marketing teams create and implement solutions that retailers really need.

Kevin is blogging at Retail: Shaken Not Stirred--so go check it out and leave him a comment. Hes also on Twitter @kevinertell.

Happy Earth Day!

More and more corporations are figuring out that one easy way to go green is to drive more business online. Think of all the paper saved by bills and statements and newsletters and information that can be viewed online instead of on paper.

Ann Arbor Comes Out On Top - Go Blue!

Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, takes the top spot in Forbes Top College Sports Town ranking edging out Palo Alto (Stanford).  And this coming off a 3-9 football season and breaking the longest running streak of going to a bowl game.  Just imagine where we will be next year!

The study was not only based on the strength of the Sports environment but also the quality of life.  And I couldn't agree more.  Ann Arbor is a great town for many reasons, not only the strength of the sports programs but also the culture, entertainment options, quality of schools, high quality of the educated workforce and the economic environment environment and community support for entrepreneurial pursuits.

 

Almost Famous

Remember that television ad that the state of Michigan filmed at ForeSee last year? Well, it's up and running all over the place--CNN, CBNC, Fox, etc. A friend's family even saw it on CNN in Bangladesh! Supposedly there will be billboards in airports all over the country too--so let me know if you see one!