We put out our first half operating update this morning.
Xero Operating Update to 30 September 2009
Xero has over 12,000 customers and now has customers in 50 countries. How cool is that!
Just 12 months ago we had 2200 customers. As you can imagine there has been a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes to ensure that we scale all aspects of the business to deal with this level of growth. With the additional capital raised in May we’ve been able to gas up on development as well as build out our sales team with senior people in NZ, the UK and Australia.
We’re delighted we’ve been able to lock in our growth rate after our seasonal high of March and feel that we’ve put the foundations in place for the next step up.
Selling software to the vast and fragmented small business market is really hard. There are few companies who have cracked it. The way people are using the web is evolving quickly and we’re all just starting to understand the impact of social media. Over the last half we’ve experimented with a number of marketing and sales approaches to find what works in our space and in each country. I’ve really enjoyed this stage of the business and I think we’re evolving sales models and processes that work. There is no doubt we are still learning.
Our entire team have worked really, really hard over the last half. There is a buzz inside Xero as all the hard work we’ve been doing is beginning to pay off. We just love the feedback and hearing how people enjoy using our software.
Thank you to our valuable customers and partners. We really appreciate your support and the great ideas and feedback. Our list of things to do has not got any smaller. And thank you again to our shareholders who have given us the opportunity to build a company that we all at Xero are proud of.
@rod – do you have numbers against which we can parse these results?
Great report….
I would particularly like to comment on Xero introducing the first live bank feed in the UK. I know how difficult that was to achieve, given the extreme apathy of the banks over here. I well remember Hamish pulling his hair out over it, many times…. and consoling him with (too many) beers.
Congratulations Xero
[…] Drury has blogged: We put out our first half operating update this […]
Congrats to all at Xero!
Regards
James
Hi Dennis, we get our high level operating metrics out as soon as we can. Our interim report with financials and commentary will be out in November. We look forward to your magnifying glass then.
Rod
@rod – polishing that magnifying glass even as we speak…
…and from this distance I might need a telescope (lol)
Way to go, Xero! Rod, it sounds like Xero has found its niche. Guess you’re now ready to “boldly go” into the Canadian SMB marketplace? You know that resistance is futile -:)
Hows that hockey stick chart looking now?!
Great ! i have a few questions – why Xero does not pay attention to U.S customers ?
– they have been saying since April that Salesforce integration is done – yet they are not releasing it
– No code samples for .NET API yet
Hi World Ship. It must be nice to live on a boat.
We have lots of US customers using our global version and we are certainly listening. We’ve addressed the markets we know about first and have been refining the product ready for a full US version.
Our SalesForce connector will go live soon. We’re in the last stages of our security review. It does seem to get through the machine of those larger companies.
Code samples coming but there is a 10 minute video that goes through the basics. We’ll have an updated api wrapper shortly.
Woah. Salesforce Connector. Rod – when are details of this expected? Just a taste of a date?
Thanks for your answers , Rod . i hope salesforce connector comes out very soon – it has been more than a month since they said”Security Review” – and i am sure many U.S business would love Xero for that .
The .Net component is very important element – since it makes the job much easier for developers to implement Xero.
OMG – Salesforce integration ? is it a full integration , i.e can i see transactions from Salesforce ? Any date ?
i am a salesforce consultant and would really love to know more details for my clients.
We don’t know how people will use Xero and Salesforce together so we’ll get our first version up, then listen to feedback and prioritize what you want.
It’s quite a different pace working with Salesforce compared to our other great partners. Sorry it’s taking a while to clear these hurdles.
[…] customer every month. In order words, we need to convince our customers to stick with using Xero 12,000 times a month, and the moment any customer feels like they’re being asked to compromise more than […]
ROD – Isn’t Xero as most SAAS models with wide potential – ideal for a referral discount for existing customers. A model where a user who recommends a friend then receives a discount, say 10% and thus can earn themselves to a lifetime of free usage – but the upside is plain to see, 12,000+ strong sales force.
Yes – or something like that 🙂
15,000? 16,000? 17,000? more?
[…] said recently is now has over 12,000 customers in 50 countries. I can see why. I started using Xero a few months […]