Durchslag: Angie’s List Positioned For Growth
CEO Scott Durchslag says the board and management team are "united" behind Angie's List.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief executive officer of Indianapolis-based Angie’s List Inc. (Nasdaq: ANGI) sees opportunities for growth, including a potential sales "headcount expansion." During a conference call with investors, Scott Durchslag discussed details of the company’s first full-year profit in its 21-year history. He says Angie’s List will announce additional details in the coming weeks about a new digital platform he believes will help the online marketplace "leapfrog" competitors in terms of user experience.
One such competitor, Colorado-based HomeAdvisor, has opened an office in downtown Indianapolis. It’s parent company InterActiveCorp. (Nasdaq: IACI) made a $512 million cash acquisition offer that was turned away late last year by Angie’s List.
Durchslag launched measures in October to "redesign" its sales force, particularly in the ranks of origination, and has taken steps to improve effectiveness and productivity of its sales team as a whole. He said the lessons learned in the first phase have been taken over to the account management side and will move on to e-commerce in the current quarter.
Durchslag was named president and CEO in September, taking over for co-founder Bill Oesterle. He says there are opportunities to grow with service providers that "do high-quality work, but may not have the reputations" of more established competitors. In the earnings call, he was joined by Chief Financial Officer Tom Fox, who added the company is continuing to target $10 million in cost-saving measures for 2016.
Angie’s List reported a full-year net income of $10.2 million in 2015, compared to a 2014 loss of $12.1 million.
Durchslag says reorganization of sales processes are continuing “with a degree of rigor and discipline that hasn’t been seen here before.”