VerticalResponse Acquired by Deluxe Corporation
We’ve got great news here at VerticalResponse! We announced today that we’ve been acquired by a wonderful company …
Why did we do it?
I’ve always told our employees, our loyal investors (12 years loyal!) and even our customers that one day we’ll find the right match with a company that values us for our ability to:
- Be experts at what we do with our talented team
- Acquire and retain small businesses worldwide
- Be profitable for many years while still being able to invest back into the company to grow
In my opinion, if we found a company that would value us for all of these things, want to acquire us and pay us what we’re worth, then all our shareholders would benefit. After all that’s where my responsibility lies. (Did I mention it’s 100x harder to take money from your family and friends than from VCs or a bank?)
Over the course of 12 years we’ve had many conversations, and I mean many. Companies big and small, public and private, too many to even think about. And every time we walked away from a conversation it was because the company didn’t value us for our abilities and wouldn’t have given our shareholders what they deserve.
But this one was different. It was great, it was time and it was perfect.
But Janine, they PRINT CHECKS!?
Yep they do, and they do a killer job at that. But they do a ton of other things just as well that you might not even know about, including:
- A web hosting business
- Business email so you can have john@yourbusiness.com.
- A logo design business for folks just getting started.
- Pay-per-click and search engine optimization services through award-winning Orange Soda – another company they acquired that’s got a pretty cool name.
- A web-to-print service, PSPrint, that’s also located in the Bay Area, but serves a national customer base.
But what’s missing for any small business in this list? You got it. Email marketing and social media. That’s where we come in.
I must say it’s with mixed emotions that we sell right now. We’re on the cusp of a brand new product (coming soon!) and we’re geared for greatness all on our own.
So I had to weigh it all, taking care of customers, employees and shareholders. And with a great brand like Deluxe and millions of small business that trust them with services that help their companies grow, it feels like the right thing, at the right time and the right way to take care of everyone.
The Next ChapterÂ
Deluxe also shares a vision we’ve had here at VerticalResponse for a long time: To be the best destination for small business marketing. This gets them even further to completing a pretty cool picture.
What’s going to change? A lot, but for the better. Soon you’ll see a new version of our email marketing and social media product roll out, and it’ll be faster and better than ever! You’ll see features flying out the door quicker then you did before (cheers to our product and engineering teams) and you’ll see a whole new look that we’ve been working on before this deal was in motion.
What’s more, over time you’ll see other services offered by Deluxe through our new product so it’s even more seamless to do all your marketing from one central place.
To my very much-loved VR employees, this is going to be pretty fun. Now we’ve got 4 million customers that might just need our services. Are you ready? I am!
So did we get acquired by a company that prints checks? Nope. We got acquired by a company that wants small businesses to save time, money and ultimately Work Happy. We can get behind that. 🙂
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Sounds like a very positive step for you, your employees, and us users. I look forward to seeing the new and improved product opportunities. Good luck down the road.
Wow… I am SO late to the game to congratulate Janine and the VR team! Well, better late than never!
My company (www.UsedCardboardBoxes.com) is a HUGE VR use and fan. VR has allowed us to do MANY things we could not have alone, and we’ve referred a ton of our partners, suppliers and customers to them, for that reason. I’ve been watching Jeanine and her team for YEARS and love what they have done. I’m not surprised at all that a great company like Deluxe would want them! WELL DONE, Janine and VR! Don’t forget us little people!!! 🙂
Marty Metro
Founder / CEO
UsedCardboardBoxes.com – proud VR user!
Hi Christian!
We don’t plan any changes to our non-profit program at this time. And the new app should make it even better. Stay tuned!
Cheers,
Kim
Thanks Ron! We want to make sure our non-profit customers get a consistent response, but you can be assured they are coming from a real person 🙂
Cheers,
Kim
Janine, that was a nice, personal and comprehensive note re being acquired by Deluxe!
You might think about the responses to the queries re non-profits, though. The identical response to the many queries kind of indicate an automated response!
Though I’ve only used VR a few times, I liked the service.
We certainly will utilize it again.
(I also consider it a smart move by Deluxe, as paper checks are clearly going the way of the buggy whip.)
Does this mean that the non-profit accounts will no longer be free later this year when the new app with the big improvements comes out?
Hi Mike!
We don’t have any plans to discontinue our Pay-as-You Go pricing option, so all should be well! Thanks for the congrats!
Congratulations to VR! This sounds like a terrific move for the company and I hope, as well, for my small business. I have been a client for twelve years and have appreciated the ease of use, upgrades, accessible and friendly phone tech support, and affordability. As a heavy email campaign user, I hope to see more templates available as I have used most of them more than once. Could the entertainment templates also include classical music venues or ones of that nature in addition to pop, rock, blue grass and rock and roll? Thank you! I look forward to reviewing the many new features you will be offering through Deluxe Corp.
Best Wishes,
Lisa Koehler, Sole Owner
Singer Source LLC
http://www.singersource.com
Our concern is that you would do away with bulk pricing and go to a pay-per-year or monthly system. We are small users and the bulk pricing system works great for us. If that changes we will have to find a different solution. But congratulations on the new development.
Cheers to VR, this has made a huge difference for our grassroots civil movement and we are only just learning the use of the Surveys and Postcards, so looking forward to learning what´s next. Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve and its guardians thank you for the contribution of 10,000 mails per month, it makes a huge difference.
Congrats to the whole team! A lot of hard work leading up to this.
Congrats to the VR team. As a 10+ year client, you’ve been outstanding, and I expect even more so post-acquisition. Kim: please tell Janine congrats from me.
Joe Rizzo, iNeoMarketing
Great work Janine and team! This is great news to hear. – Ryan Allis
Hi Richard,
You’re just in luck! We’ve partnered with Digioh which allows you to send various files including attachments, pdfs, etc. You can read all about it here: https://verticalresponse.com/blog/product/send-files-in-emails-with-digioh/
I hope this change is a beneficial one for VR. As a new customer, I have come to like and appreciate VR services. If this is good for VR, it will probablby be good for us customers, too. Let’s hope!
Congratulations! And I hope the integration into Salesforce will stay as smooth as it ever was.
I know that Delux has a rep for the small business. Maybe VR will give us small business that need to send attachments, pdf & csf files. Then I would give VR a whirl. Tanks
Hi Fran,
Thanks for being part of our non-profit program! We don’t plan any changes to our non-profit program at this time, although our new app (due out later this year) should be a big improvement for most of our non-profit customers. Stay tuned!
Thanks Paul!
Hi Fauhn,
Thanks for being part of our non-profit program! We don’t plan any changes to our non-profit program at this time, although our new app (due out later this year) should be a big improvement for most of our non-profit customers. Stay tuned!
Hi Zuli,
Thanks for being part of our non-profit program! We don’t plan any changes to our non-profit program at this time, although our new app (due out later this year) should be a big improvement for most of our non-profit customers. Stay tuned!
Hi Wayne,
Thanks for being part of our non-profit program! We don’t plan any changes to our non-profit program at this time, although our new app (due out later this year) should be a big improvement for most of our non-profit customers. Stay tuned!
Hi Philip,
Thanks for being part of our non-profit program! We don’t plan any changes to our non-profit program at this time, although our new app (due out later this year) should be a big improvement for most of our non-profit customers. Stay tuned!
It’s always exciting to see a small company with a big vision get to see that vision actualized. Congrats! Any idea what will happen to tiny non-profits like mine that use VR when the acquisition is complete?
Hi Ruth,
VerticalResponse will always be in service to our customers. Today, tomorrow and in the future. We look forward to a bright future!
Congrats on the acquisition. As a very happy VR user, I think it’s a brilliant move to bring all SMB marketing under one roof. And I hope Deluxe printed VR a big check!
How will this affect non-profits who use Vertical REsponse?
How will this affect nonprofit users? Will the service still be free?
Congratulations, Janine! Sounds like a good fit!
looking forward to seeing what’s ahead!
Congrats VR team – you guys rock!
Hello Janine & Staff, please tell me that Vertical Response is not going the Constant Contact way… I would sure hate to loose the personal touch and effortless mailings with Vertical Response!
Congratulations though!
How will non-profits be affected?
So happy for you guys! All off your hard work has definitely paid off, Congrats!
– S&S
Congratulations Janine and the VR team! I’m excited to hear about the changes and your new product! To infinity and beyond…… 🙂
As a non-paying non-profit, I’m hopeful that this does not mean the end of our free service.
Congrats, Janine!
Janine, you have built a fantastic company. We are thankful for your excellent team and service. Will you be continuing on with VR?
congrats guys – awesome news!
I can just forsee the amazing cross-polination forthcoming 🙂
Congratulations. I look forward to your new offering, although you had a pretty darn good one already.
Congratulations Janine, John, & the whole wonderful world of VR!
John Caine & Brett Klinker, your personal barroom at Hidive.
Congratulations. Not sure what this means for us but I do hope it is only improvements.