Stella Connect has raised $11 million in funding from Harbert Growth Partners, Zendesk and other investors. In a related move, Stella Connect's sister business -- a mystery shopping software platform -- has been sold off to PowerReviews.
Stella Connect is a SaaS platform that improves the performance of contact center agents and their managers. The platform supports real-time customer feedback, recognition, and rewards. The net result: Customer service teams can identify areas for improvement, enable on-the-spot microcoaching, and drive friendly competition through features like leaderboards. Key adopters include Mercedes-Benz, Quicken Loans, and Warby Parker.
Zendesk Invests In Stella Connect: Executive Perspectives
Zendesk VP Ben Barclay, explaining the Stella Connect investment, offered this prepared statement:
"Zendesk always strives to continue innovating in customer experience, and the exciting thing is that we're not the only software provider trying out new ways of approaching old problems. Stella Connect is a fantastic example of a company that shares our mission to help businesses build better relationships with their customers, and we are thrilled to be deepening our partnership with them."
Add Tom Roberts of Harbert Growth Partners:
“There’s no question that the workforce in the U.S. is changing. Millennials and Gen Z need transparency, collaboration, and empowerment to be professionally fulfilled, and traditional methods of improving employee performance, particularly in contact centers, are outdated and ineffective. Stella Connect provides a modern approach to people success and the results really speak for themselves.”
Zendesk Partner Program Push
Zendesk and Stella Connect synergies could give partners and IT service desks a boost. The synergies are especially timely, considering Zendesk's recent partner ecosystem moves.
In recent months the company has:
- Disclosed growing relationships with global systems integrators;
- hired Oracle veteran Jeff Porter as director of partner programs;
- hired VP of Channels Ricardo Moreno; and
- acquired FutureSimple and Base, a small business sales automation platform.
Roll that all together, and Zendesk is recruiting more partners to resell and install its platforms, while also showing partners how their own service desks can potentially benefit from the SaaS offerings.