Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Gil Shwed: I think we’ve invested a lot in the sales force last year. We want to see it pays off. We want to see that it’s being digestible. If we see that, as I said, when we see an area that we believe that we can hire more people to increase customer coverage or productivity will not be shy to do that. We have the resources to do that. I think our sales engagement can be much higher. I think we are not meeting enough CISOs. I think we’re not — we can convey better our story at higher levels in the organization. I think we can engage our customers in multiple ways. We see good examples of that every day. When we are meeting with customers and say, well, I know Check Point. I’ve been working with you for 20 years. I didn’t know that you have such an amazing platform today. I didn’t know that you have this architecture. I should consider you for other projects. So I think we can do so much more even with the people that we have today, and we have good people.

Kip Meintzer: All right. Thank you, Michael. Next up, Ittai.

Ittai Kidron: Thanks and thanks for the time, Gil. I guess I had a question about the productivity that you just talked about. You’ve tried for quite some time to improve productivity. So what is it do you think that you’re not doing internally to get the productivity. Why is it so hard? What are things that you’re trying that are not working. What is the process to fix the things that are not working right.

Gil Shwed: First, we are doing, and we are improving, and I’m glad to see that. And again, we have a lot of new people in the sales force in the management ranks and in all the different tracks that we are doing. I think the main thing is how the sales force is being structured. It’s been — it’s a very distributed organization that over the years grew in an environment that’s not very structured. That’s been a pool mode, that’s being how to provide the best technology, how to best serve our customers. And I think we can instill far more discipline in being more aggressive, going to more outbound, going to more customers, fighting for the customers or for the — for getting to the people that don’t know us, not just for the people who know us — and I think creating that environment creating that change in 3,000 people distributed organization that doesn’t have the discipline is challenging.

By the way, in some cases, that may be the good thing in our sales force that we have very good people that know how to work with customers, to keep the customers happy to keep the customers loyal, but know the technology. But some of it can be changed and can be improved.

Ittai Kidron: Thank you.

Kip Meintzer: Thank you, guys, all for joining us today. That’s going to conclude our call. We’ll look forward to seeing you guys throughout the quarter and the best to everybody. Thank you, guys. Bye-bye.

Gil Shwed: Thank you very much. Bye-bye. Thank you.