Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE:FC) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Paul Walker : Yes, it was not a meaningfully – materially meaningfully easier comp in the fourth quarter, that flips, as we said, at the beginning of Q2 next year, so towards the end of the fall here. But what’s giving us confidence in the growth is, one, we are – we do see the revenue retention rates coming back nicely after the dip in Q2 and a little bit in Q3 here. So that’s a big driver. That’s the biggest number we have to influence, right, is that revenue retention number, and we’re seeing that strengthen. Second, as we’ve reported, we’ve been – we’ve sold more new logos this year in the first three quarters of the year than we did a year ago, and we expect that’s going to continue. And those – and both – the sales of new logos is higher and the average revenue per new logo continues to tick up as well.

So that increases the base that we have to renew and the base of subscriptions to which we have to attach services. I think the third is, we’ve hired a lot of client partners. While this year, we’ll end the year about where we – on the client partner front about where we ended last year at 300, that – you got to remember that we added over the prior three years or so significant number of client partners who are ramping and becoming more [indiscernible] and more effective. At the same time, we’re seeing client partners who are already ramped their ability to go far beyond what we thought was possible is increasing. And so, I think the combination of those factors is giving us confidence that there’s – while there’s been a bit of a slowing in the year-over-year subscription growth, again, partially related to the amount of growth we had last year and comping over that, that will – the subscription business will grow enough to throw off the amount of revenue growth we needed at the total company level for us to be able to hit the EBITDA targets we put out there.

Nehal Chokshi: Okay. Great. And then, Paul, you mentioned much that I’m not sure I quite understand, but I think you said that for the customers that are entering into a multi-year contract, at renewal, you’re seeing 50% higher value renewal. Can you just repeat where it is that you said there?

Paul Walker : Yes. So, it’s interesting doing an analysis – so the question is, how much better our multi-year contracts and single-year contracts? And of course, we’re happy to have all contracts, single or multi-year. But we’re really happy to have multi-year. And one of the things we’ve watched is, what happens to a client at the end of their initial multi-year term, whether it’s two years, three years, four years? What do they do? Do they feel like they’re done and they don’t renew at all, do they renew and renew for just the same value as they had in place, do they renew and expand? And the analysis is showing that those clients who, at the conclusion of that multi-year contract, whether it’s two years, three years, four years or more, when they do renew, the value of that next contract is 50% larger than the value of the contract that they were coming out of was.

Nehal Chokshi: Just to be clear, is that a total contract value or annual contract value that’s higher [indiscernible]?

Paul Walker: Annual.

Nehal Chokshi: Wow. So secondly, that’s – if it’s on average, a three-year contract, and you’re seeing a 50% uplift three years later, that’s effectively like [Multiple Speakers] revenue retention rate.