Brett Johnston: Yeah. So I’ll take that one. As we mentioned, we feel really confident with the efficiency initiatives we’ve got going on, continue to build out the platform. So, I would look at our operating leverage to continue and be keep – we should be able to maintain relatively flat operating expenses over the year, despite a little bit of initial, maybe a little bit of pickup in some additional spending, as you said, to support the growth. We want to make sure we’re funding that and excited about the accelerated growth around new customers. So, I do feel we’ll have a little bit of spin continue. We’re still building out some of those operating platforms. As we get closer to the back half of the year, we’ll start seeing those efficiencies come through and start, so you’ll start offsetting some of that need on the customer to support the new customer revenues.
Gerard Sweeney: Got it. So, SG&A’s percentage of sales probably comes down in the second half, or is that a fair way to look at it?
Brett Johnston: Yeah. Absolutely. That’s a very fair way to look at it.
Gerard Sweeney: Ray, a little open-ended question here, went to RWS, spent a lot on technology, sounds like the sales pipeline is, and conversions picking up. There’s still a lot on the plate there, I don’t want to get the cart before the horse. But, in your mind, what is the biggest goal for 2024 with some of that I just laid out, or is it other items?
Ray Hatch: Well, it’s at a macro level, Gerry. We’re really excited about the new revenue, and don’t forget, I think the ops team is doing a fantastic job of penetrating and driving new revenue from the existing clients as well. When you put those together, we see some really nice top-line momentum, and combined with, I can’t say enough about, we used the word technology, I was noticing when I was reading this, it’s in there so many times, but it is an area of emphasis, and the technology is enabling us to scale and drive EBITDA margins. So I think it’s a perfect storm. We’ve been investing with that team for almost 2 years, I guess, and driving a platform and driving towards zero-touch environment on invoicing and all the paperwork internally here.
I can’t tell you how huge that is. So as you look at Quest, larger scale 2024, you should see lower SG&A as we move into the back half and really get implementation on this stuff, nice margins and revenue growth, which is going to yield us, I think, some improvement in EBITDA margins, Gerry. A lot of companies I’ve been with them, you’re either really touting your growth and that’s it, or you’re touting your cost savings and that’s it, but I really think we have both levers going right now. So that’s pretty exciting for us in 2024.
Gerard Sweeney: Got a growth and efficiency. Got it. All right. Yeah, very much appreciate it. I’ll see you in a few days, so I look forward to connect in.
Ray Hatch: You bet. Thanks, Gerry.
Operator: The next question comes from Greg Kitt of Pinnacle Fund. Please go ahead.
Greg Kitt: Hi, Ray and Brett.
Ray Hatch: Hi, Greg.
Brett Johnston: Hi, Greg.
Greg Kitt: On the Q3 earnings call, you said there were several very large opportunities that have progressed to the final stages of approval, and so I would assume that this one food distributor customer was one of those opportunities in that funnel of several late stage opportunities. Is that right?
Ray Hatch: Yeah, a couple of those wins we were talking about in Q3. So, yeah, for sure.
Greg Kitt: Thank you. Okay. So you had a couple of close. Do you have – when you look at your pipeline now. And obviously, congratulations, this was a great quarter. I’m really excited to see 6 wins in a quarter several years ago. There were not 6 wins in a year, I think.
Ray Hatch: No, you’re right. You’re right.
Greg Kitt: …start for the year. Are there still other customers, when you’re looking at your pipeline today, that you say, hey, there’s still other stuff out there that we’re excited about? Or did you see a lot of the opportunities in your pipeline kind of come through and close already?
Ray Hatch: No, we’ve got – we’re excited about what’s in that pipeline now. What we’re talking about, obviously, the 6 we mentioned are there. There are some more that are closer than further away, I guess. I’m trying to describe it. I’ll figure out how to describe it. But, no, the pipeline is very healthy and strong, it’s as good as I’ve seen it. And you would think after signing 6 clients, considering our track record in the past, I guess, you’d think that might have emptied it out, if that’s what you’re asking. But, no, we’re very encouraged about what remains in there. And we mentioned in the remarks, I just want to re-emphasize it. We talked about investment in sales and marketing. But part of the investment in sales is a bit of a structural change.
And I mentioned that in there, the sales operations folks to allow and get more out of that existing sales force, where they’re spending more time closing, unless time doing, I mean, proposals take forever. So a lot of our investment has to do with enabling these folks to be able to be more focused on driving that pipeline and building it forward. And one of the roles that we’ve added as a director of sales operations. And that person is a veteran in the industry that knows how to implement large new clients. And implementing large new clients is what we’re doing now and what we hope to continue to do. The worst thing that could happen, Greg, is you do a great job of selling but then you can’t onboard them in a reasonable period of time.
