A successful entrepreneur, Gianforte founded RightNow in 1997 off the beaten path in Bozeman, Mont. With a goal of creating a world-class enterprise software company in Montana, within three years time Gianforte had 500 customers, 100 employees and an on demand solution that could dramatically improve the quality and effectiveness of client's online customer service operations. In 2004 Gianforte took the company public with one of the most successful initial public offerings that year; RightNow stock rose 130 percent in 2004. By 2006 Gianforte had hired more than 500 employees and RightNow had facilitated more than one billion customer interactions.
Most recently, Gianforte oversaw the company's biggest product release ever with the introduction of RightNow 8. Designed with the end-consumer in mind, RightNow's on demand CRM solution helps companies and public institutions deliver exceptional experiences to customers in person, over the phone, on the web or via email. In 2007 RightNow introduced five industry-specific on demand CRM packages including Higher Education, Federal Government, Retail, Telecommunications and Consumer Electronics/High Tech Appliance Manufacturing.
The focus at RightNow has always been on the customers. As noted in Gianforte's induction into the Hall of Fame, CRM Magazine wrote, RightNow is a "rare firm that tells its customers what to expect. That very directly reflects the customer-centric focus that is the promise of CRM. This is a company practicing what it preaches… it reflects Greg's 'I'm going to be straight with you' personality."
RightNow and Gianforte were particularly thrilled this year when RightNow clients Shaklee Corporation and TomTom were selected as finalists and RightNow client Electronic Arts was honored with the Gartner CRM Excellence Award. Ian Jacobs, senior analyst at Frost & Sullivan, commented, "RightNow truly 'gets' the concept of customer centricity; and that is all down to Greg's vision and fortitude."
About RightNow Technologies
RightNow (NASDAQ: RNOW) delivers the high-impact technology solutions and services organizations need to cost-efficiently deliver a consistently superior customer experience across their frontline service, sales and marketing touch-points. Approximately 1,800 corporations and government agencies worldwide depend on RightNow to achieve their strategic objectives and better meet the needs of those they serve. RightNow is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. For more information, please visit www.rightnow.com.
RightNow is a registered trademark of RightNow Technologies, Inc. NASDAQ is a registered trademark of the NASDAQ Stock Market.