Bob Dechant: No, I think I would expect to see some ramp up. We’ll see some notable improvement in Q3. And if you look at our first half of the year, our margins, EBITDA margins came in around 11%. And we said for the year, we expect them to be 12% to 13%, which implies a margin in the back half of the year, but the back half to be between 13% and 15%. And I would expect that to ramp up a bit between those two quarters.
Jack Wilson: Okay, thanks for that. Then sort of a follow up on the utilization as well. So once the full shift to more offshore is complete, is that 91% utilization sort of sustainable, or is this sort of a, I don’t know, part of that ramp or a high point?
Taylor Greenwald: That’s great question, Jack. And how I look at it is, especially with seasonality that we have, which is typically our Q2, that kind of flexes up into the 90s. That’s a good metric for us. And so – but I would say that running in the 90 plus is not really that sustainable. Our goal is probably in the 85% range. That’s a good range. So somewhere between 75% to 85% are the guardrails that we run at. And that – what we’re excited about this year is as we have some of the seasonality ramps that kind of dissipate, this new logo engine is really picking up a lot of pace and the ramps that we are currently underway are filling up. And so we feel that that will – and the lion’s share of that sitting in the, let’s say, offshore and nearshore markets.
So we think that that’s going to continue to layer in those markets, strengthening utilizations in those, keeping it pretty high, which then we should be generating some pretty good gross margins in those regions in the back half.
Jack Wilson: Okay, that makes sense. And then just one last one for me. So when you’re talking to clients about AI, is that something you’re pitching to them and sort of using it as a differentiator, or is that something they’re asking you about – sort of asking for?
Taylor Greenwald: Oh, great. Boy, that’s a fantastic question. And I would say that you have engagements that cover both as you described. Some clients are looking at us and saying, hey, what are you seeing out there in the marketplace? What have you solved, et cetera? And in that scenario, we’ll come in and say, look, we’ve built this solution. We’ve built a smart IVR solution or a voice bot type solution. These things have impacted call volumes driven CSAT up. Things like that where we’re proactively selling what we’ve already built and serviced. And those give us a lot of credibility in this space as BPOs really start moving. Other clients, though, are sitting and saying, hey, we’re kind of trying to whiteboard here and engaging us more in a consultative approach where we’re trying to figure out what the right strategy is for them and maybe not have kind of a can solution pack.
So, they’re spanning, I think, both areas. Most importantly, though, is clients are looking at BPO partners that are strong in both. And so you really have to win the day not just as a great BPO in a market like the Philippines, but you have to also be able to check the box and say, look, we have that ability, we have the development and the experience to develop an AI solution. And we’re winning in that against, I’ll tell you, the much bigger players. And so kind of leveraging our speed, our focus and just really the strength of us as a tech-led company. And so I really like our position as the clients are looking for both out of a BPO partner. And so, hence, we have a pipeline that’s building that we feel pretty good about and getting a lot of traction inside our embedded base, too.
Jack Wilson: Thank you so much for that added color there. I’ll turn it over.
Taylor Greenwald: All right, thank you.
Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Potter from Citi.
Ryan Potter: Hey, thanks for taking my question. Wanted to start on the volume softness that you mentioned that you saw in the quarter, and you expect to continue in 3Q. I know you talked about the FinTech vertical and the impacts you’re seeing there, but I guess what other factors would you attribute this softness in volumes to? Is it mostly coming from macro related factors, or is there some impact from technology factors, or are you showing up like AI impacts and stuff like that? Also, is the volume softness concentrated in any other verticals to call out beyond FinTech?
Bob Dechant: Sure. So probably the first place – and Ryan, thanks the question and also thanks for joining and all. The logistics part of our transportation vertical, the clients that we serve there, package delivery is down pretty sizably, and you can read across really all the logistics players, front page Wall Street Journal articles, et cetera. So that’s an example where you would say a sub-segment might be impacted, but flipping it over to, let’s say, in our world of retail and ecommerce, and we service several of the largest players in those areas, you have some strength that’s going in there, and we’re excited about that. The downturn, though, in those select clients for us is a little bit more than historical. And so when I look at those, I would attribute it mostly to their volumes aren’t down.
