Transversal Seeks Partners For Cloud Customer Services

Automated customer service pioneer Transversal is looking for reseller partners for its cloud delivered retail technology. The Cambridge University spin-off start-up aims to quadruple its channel business and needs resellers and systems integrators with good vertical market knowledge.

Co-founder Davin Yap (pictured) wants technology to put power in the hands of the consumer. Transversal’s automated customer service uses algorithms and artificial intelligence to deal with enquiries from the public.  The cloud based intelligence talks to the existing IT systems of companies like Tesco, John Lewis and the BBC to try to anticipate what people want, based on historical information about shoppers, to create “anticipatory interactions”.

“We try to figure out the things you need to know,” said Yap.

Customer service as a service

There’s too much demand for the 64 employees that currently run Transversal’s SaaS (software as a service) business so Yap is trying to extend the company’s channel beyond Capita. Publicly spirited resellers who know the business processes of particular vertical markets are invited.  “Unlike most retail technology, this one actually empowers the customers,” he said.

Transversal has created a £6 million turnover from what it describes as real-time decision support – which allows companies to analyse their customers’ interactions across all channels, the better to predict their needs and cater for them.

In addition to specialist vertical market knowledge, resellers need to be able to work across multiple channels such as web self-service, contact centre, mobile, chat and social media, said Yap. “Eighty percent of our business is sold direct and 20 percent through the channel but we want to reverse by next year,” he added.

Analyst Clive Longbottom said he has tracked Transversal since inception. “The technology is sound and being cloud-based means that companies can be up and running very rapidly with the software and gaining benefits from it. The other strength of this is that a company can try it and, if it isn’t want they want or they feel it doesn’t produce on its promise, then it’s just a case of removing some basic HTML code from the site, rather than deep integrations,” he said.