1 00:00:03,780 --> 00:00:07,170 Jennifer Duke: Welcome to the Fear and Greed business interview. I'm Jennifer Duke. 2 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:09,750 Jennifer Duke: Anyone who's tried to get a tradie over the last 3 00:00:09,750 --> 00:00:12,600 Jennifer Duke: couple of years would know that it's not always easy. 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,330 Jennifer Duke: There was this big surge in demand for home improvements 5 00:00:15,330 --> 00:00:17,789 Jennifer Duke: during the pandemic. And when you couple that with supply 6 00:00:17,789 --> 00:00:21,840 Jennifer Duke: chain challenges, waiting times blew out. But as demand weakens, 7 00:00:22,140 --> 00:00:25,290 Jennifer Duke: are we seeing more flexibility come back into the market? Now, 8 00:00:25,290 --> 00:00:29,220 Jennifer Duke: hipages is kind of like an ASX-listed marketplace, but for tradies, 9 00:00:29,250 --> 00:00:31,440 Jennifer Duke: it's also a company with a wealth of data on 10 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,259 Jennifer Duke: the trends in the industry and hopefully an idea where 11 00:00:34,260 --> 00:00:37,379 Jennifer Duke: we're headed as well. Roby Sharon-Zipser is the founder and 12 00:00:37,380 --> 00:00:40,110 Jennifer Duke: CEO of hipages. Roby, welcome back to Fear and Greed. 13 00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:42,390 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Oh, it's a pleasure. Thanks for having me. 14 00:00:42,930 --> 00:00:45,028 Jennifer Duke: So, Roby, you've spoken to Sean Aylmer a couple of 15 00:00:45,030 --> 00:00:47,309 Jennifer Duke: times, but for my benefit here, can you take me 16 00:00:47,309 --> 00:00:50,098 Jennifer Duke: through the hipages business model and it's where tradies pay 17 00:00:50,098 --> 00:00:52,138 Jennifer Duke: a regular fee to get access to job leads? Right? 18 00:00:52,889 --> 00:00:57,330 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah, it's pretty straightforward. Trades buy a subscription off hipages. 19 00:00:57,390 --> 00:01:01,980 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Usually, they subscribe for a 12- month period, and they pay that subscription 20 00:01:01,980 --> 00:01:06,300 Roby Sharon-Zipser: fee monthly. And what those trades receive from us is 21 00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:10,289 Roby Sharon-Zipser: access to consumers that want trade services done around their 22 00:01:10,289 --> 00:01:12,209 Roby Sharon-Zipser: house so they can pick and choose the type of 23 00:01:12,209 --> 00:01:14,700 Roby Sharon-Zipser: work they want when they want that work and in 24 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:18,240 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the location of that work. So yeah, it's really a 25 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,970 Roby Sharon-Zipser: connection service in a way. And yeah, the trades pay 26 00:01:20,970 --> 00:01:24,450 Roby Sharon-Zipser: subscriptions to have access to those opportunities of work. 27 00:01:25,020 --> 00:01:26,610 Jennifer Duke: So you obviously get to see a lot of that 28 00:01:26,610 --> 00:01:29,580 Jennifer Duke: backend of, "Who's asking for what jobs and who's applying 29 00:01:29,580 --> 00:01:31,830 Jennifer Duke: for what jobs?" What have you sort of seen happen 30 00:01:31,830 --> 00:01:33,570 Jennifer Duke: in the industry over the past 12 months? 31 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,080 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah, look, there's a lot of data that we capture, 32 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,919 Roby Sharon-Zipser: as you said in the introduction. We process through our 33 00:01:40,950 --> 00:01:44,939 Roby Sharon-Zipser: marketplace about one and a half million jobs, and we're 34 00:01:44,940 --> 00:01:49,080 Roby Sharon-Zipser: also offering our trades as well, other services for them 35 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,870 Roby Sharon-Zipser: to be able to do their scheduling and quoting, and invoicing. 36 00:01:51,870 --> 00:01:55,290 Roby Sharon-Zipser: So we get a lot of information in hipages, and what 37 00:01:55,290 --> 00:01:58,500 Roby Sharon-Zipser: that data's showing is exactly what you said. There was 38 00:01:58,500 --> 00:02:03,179 Roby Sharon-Zipser: a serious period of time from, I'd say, "When the 39 00:02:03,179 --> 00:02:05,340 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Delta (COVID) strain hit, if we can cast our minds back." 40 00:02:05,369 --> 00:02:06,660 Jennifer Duke: It's feels like a long time ago. 41 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,810 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah, I think people were a bit restricted on what 42 00:02:09,810 --> 00:02:12,150 Roby Sharon-Zipser: they could do in terms of how they could dispose 43 00:02:12,150 --> 00:02:14,520 Roby Sharon-Zipser: of their income. The government was doing quite a lot 44 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,630 Roby Sharon-Zipser: of quantitative easing, so people were relatively flush with cash. 45 00:02:18,630 --> 00:02:20,760 Roby Sharon-Zipser: I mean, many people may not remember it, but the 46 00:02:20,820 --> 00:02:23,939 Roby Sharon-Zipser: data says that people had more cash in their bank 47 00:02:23,940 --> 00:02:26,700 Roby Sharon-Zipser: accounts than they have had for a while. And the 48 00:02:26,700 --> 00:02:29,220 Roby Sharon-Zipser: idea is that it would stimulate people to spend it 49 00:02:29,250 --> 00:02:31,620 Roby Sharon-Zipser: and keep the economy going while a lot of other 50 00:02:31,620 --> 00:02:34,829 Roby Sharon-Zipser: things are restricted. And interestingly enough, a lot of that 51 00:02:34,830 --> 00:02:38,790 Roby Sharon-Zipser: went into home renovations, home maintenance, repairs, which is where we 52 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,510 Roby Sharon-Zipser: operate in, and we saw record numbers of job volumes, 53 00:02:42,510 --> 00:02:46,950 Roby Sharon-Zipser: and yes, we also saw material prices increasing, subcontractors getting 54 00:02:46,950 --> 00:02:51,179 Roby Sharon-Zipser: harder to get, and the numbers were just astronomical. And 55 00:02:51,179 --> 00:02:52,740 Roby Sharon-Zipser: at the end of the day, it was hard to 56 00:02:52,770 --> 00:02:55,230 Roby Sharon-Zipser: get matched up or connected with the trade. What we 57 00:02:55,230 --> 00:03:00,119 Roby Sharon-Zipser: saw, though, is in January of this year, that flipped around, and 58 00:03:00,119 --> 00:03:03,060 Roby Sharon-Zipser: it's become a little easier to find trade. It doesn't 59 00:03:03,060 --> 00:03:06,750 Roby Sharon-Zipser: mean it's cheaper. The price of materials is still pretty high. 60 00:03:06,750 --> 00:03:07,650 Jennifer Duke: That's unfortunate. 61 00:03:07,830 --> 00:03:10,620 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah, I know, but it is more competitive. So you 62 00:03:10,620 --> 00:03:12,870 Roby Sharon-Zipser: know that you're getting probably a fair price, and that 63 00:03:12,870 --> 00:03:16,350 Roby Sharon-Zipser: changed really around January this year. We saw some little 64 00:03:16,350 --> 00:03:19,590 Roby Sharon-Zipser: green shoots of behaviour in the data changing prior to 65 00:03:19,590 --> 00:03:24,270 Roby Sharon-Zipser: that around October, November last year. But really a proper 66 00:03:24,450 --> 00:03:29,280 Roby Sharon-Zipser: sustained change where consumer demands started to ease, trades started 67 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,469 Roby Sharon-Zipser: to get caught up in the backlog of work that 68 00:03:31,469 --> 00:03:35,790 Roby Sharon-Zipser: they've been accumulating, and they're coming back to the marketplace 69 00:03:35,879 --> 00:03:38,550 Roby Sharon-Zipser: for more of what we have to offer, which was 70 00:03:38,850 --> 00:03:41,040 Roby Sharon-Zipser: those one and a half million jobs that we offer 71 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:41,580 Roby Sharon-Zipser: per annum. 72 00:03:42,210 --> 00:03:44,580 Jennifer Duke: Are you finding that demand's really different in the different 73 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,790 Jennifer Duke: sectors for tradies? So sort of a plumbers in higher 74 00:03:47,790 --> 00:03:50,399 Jennifer Duke: demand than sparkies right now. What can you see? 75 00:03:50,759 --> 00:03:52,770 Roby Sharon-Zipser: So it's interesting. I mean, one of the things that's 76 00:03:52,770 --> 00:03:56,760 Roby Sharon-Zipser: interesting about hipages is, we're not really big construction. Well, we 77 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,450 Roby Sharon-Zipser: do offer new homes and extensions, and additions as one 78 00:04:00,450 --> 00:04:04,259 Roby Sharon-Zipser: of the primary services. We have a huge number of 79 00:04:04,380 --> 00:04:08,549 Roby Sharon-Zipser: job or quote requests coming in for those maintenance and 80 00:04:08,549 --> 00:04:12,299 Roby Sharon-Zipser: repair type work. What we have noticed is that some 81 00:04:12,299 --> 00:04:17,070 Roby Sharon-Zipser: of the architectural type work, the building design, the large 82 00:04:17,070 --> 00:04:22,680 Roby Sharon-Zipser: landscape projects, new builds, extensions, and additions are down meaningfully. 83 00:04:22,889 --> 00:04:27,210 Roby Sharon-Zipser: And when I say meaningfully down, like 20, 25% of regular volumes, 84 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:29,729 Roby Sharon-Zipser: but what we're seeing is other things are up or 85 00:04:29,730 --> 00:04:33,360 Roby Sharon-Zipser: at least stabilising where people might be using things like 86 00:04:33,540 --> 00:04:37,110 Roby Sharon-Zipser: trades for refreshers, like a tiling job or a painting 87 00:04:37,110 --> 00:04:41,490 Roby Sharon-Zipser: job for the home. So those jobs are still in abundance, and, 88 00:04:41,490 --> 00:04:45,029 Roby Sharon-Zipser: in fact, in some categories, they are higher. So there's 89 00:04:45,029 --> 00:04:49,140 Roby Sharon-Zipser: still opportunity, and there's renovations and repairs, and maintenance going on, 90 00:04:49,140 --> 00:04:51,540 Roby Sharon-Zipser: it's just moving around in different spaces. 91 00:04:52,050 --> 00:04:54,420 Jennifer Duke: And as you sort of alluded to there, the construction 92 00:04:54,420 --> 00:04:58,080 Jennifer Duke: sector has been pretty fragile lately. And even though you're 93 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,229 Jennifer Duke: not obviously getting a lot of those construction jobs, I'm 94 00:05:01,230 --> 00:05:02,339 Jennifer Duke: pretty sure no one is saying, "I want to build 95 00:05:02,339 --> 00:05:04,409 Jennifer Duke: my entire house and put it on hipages." As you say, 96 00:05:04,410 --> 00:05:07,110 Jennifer Duke: it's more that sort of renovation architectural stuff and those 97 00:05:07,110 --> 00:05:09,210 Jennifer Duke: sorts of jobs. But are you finding that there are 98 00:05:09,210 --> 00:05:11,430 Jennifer Duke: more trades that are looking at the platform now as 99 00:05:11,430 --> 00:05:12,180 Jennifer Duke: an opportunity? 100 00:05:12,270 --> 00:05:15,960 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah, we definitely are. So we have the most active 101 00:05:16,020 --> 00:05:20,129 Roby Sharon-Zipser: trade database we've ever had, where they're actually connecting with 102 00:05:20,130 --> 00:05:23,188 Roby Sharon-Zipser: consumers, and obviously, consumers are getting a great experience because 103 00:05:23,190 --> 00:05:26,039 Roby Sharon-Zipser: they're getting responses from trades. So our commitment is to 104 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,320 Roby Sharon-Zipser: get up to three trades to respond to your job. 105 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,270 Roby Sharon-Zipser: So if you're in a metro area and you have 106 00:05:30,270 --> 00:05:32,369 Roby Sharon-Zipser: a plumbing job, or an electrical job, or any of 107 00:05:32,370 --> 00:05:35,219 Roby Sharon-Zipser: those traditional trades, you will get those three connections. It's 108 00:05:35,219 --> 00:05:38,159 Roby Sharon-Zipser: very, very likely, unless it's something really, really weird about 109 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,609 Roby Sharon-Zipser: your job, but in most cases, you will get a 110 00:05:41,609 --> 00:05:45,930 Roby Sharon-Zipser: really, really good response. In fact, we're seeing around 40% 111 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:50,700 Roby Sharon-Zipser: increase in trades registering in our platform year over year. So there's 112 00:05:50,700 --> 00:05:53,880 Roby Sharon-Zipser: definitely a lot more trades coming back in. Now, there 113 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,849 Roby Sharon-Zipser: could be many reasons for that. Obviously, consumer sentiment, is 114 00:05:56,849 --> 00:06:00,448 Roby Sharon-Zipser: a general thing at the macroeconomic level, has softened, and 115 00:06:00,449 --> 00:06:02,250 Roby Sharon-Zipser: as a result, trades they were seeing that come through 116 00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:05,250 Roby Sharon-Zipser: in their forward book of work, and as a result, 117 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,140 Roby Sharon-Zipser: they need to fill that forward book of work up. 118 00:06:07,140 --> 00:06:10,770 Roby Sharon-Zipser: So they're coming to hipages for that. But then also, there 119 00:06:10,770 --> 00:06:13,380 Roby Sharon-Zipser: are people coming back in, maybe from other sectors where 120 00:06:13,380 --> 00:06:16,738 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the things are slowing down, like the construction industry, a 121 00:06:16,740 --> 00:06:20,700 Roby Sharon-Zipser: lot of subcontractors might've been used up building bigger projects. 122 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,790 Roby Sharon-Zipser: There's been some turbulence there. Obviously, there's been some insolvencies 123 00:06:23,790 --> 00:06:27,510 Roby Sharon-Zipser: and our businesses going administration, those subcontractors coming back in, 124 00:06:28,110 --> 00:06:30,570 Roby Sharon-Zipser: wanting work, and maybe just dealing more at the smaller 125 00:06:30,570 --> 00:06:33,659 Roby Sharon-Zipser: level, where they get a bit more certainty on payment and more 126 00:06:33,660 --> 00:06:37,469 Roby Sharon-Zipser: certainty about regular, sustained work. So we're seeing those numbers really, 127 00:06:37,470 --> 00:06:37,979 Roby Sharon-Zipser: really being high. 128 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:40,350 Jennifer Duke: Stay with me, Roby, we'll be back in a minute. 129 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,490 Jennifer Duke: My guest today is Roby Sharon-Zipser, founder and CEO of hipages. 130 00:06:51,270 --> 00:06:53,099 Jennifer Duke: This has obviously been a lot of change over the 131 00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:55,109 Jennifer Duke: last 12 months. Do you have any thoughts on what 132 00:06:55,110 --> 00:06:56,790 Jennifer Duke: the next 12 months might look like? 133 00:06:57,930 --> 00:07:01,050 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah, I think we look at the interest rates, they 134 00:07:01,050 --> 00:07:05,639 Roby Sharon-Zipser: appear to be stabilizing, there's some discussion around recession or 135 00:07:05,639 --> 00:07:09,210 Roby Sharon-Zipser: technical recession, and all that. But I feel like we 136 00:07:09,299 --> 00:07:12,239 Roby Sharon-Zipser: are reaching a point where we are all really understanding 137 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,220 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the rules of the game. We know where the interest 138 00:07:14,220 --> 00:07:19,020 Roby Sharon-Zipser: rates are, consumer sentiment will start to stabilize. There's also 139 00:07:19,020 --> 00:07:22,440 Roby Sharon-Zipser: discussion that some of the pricing pressures, particularly on raw 140 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,679 Roby Sharon-Zipser: materials, is stabilizing, probably go up a little bit more 141 00:07:25,679 --> 00:07:28,109 Roby Sharon-Zipser: but not too much more. I think supply chains are 142 00:07:28,109 --> 00:07:32,190 Roby Sharon-Zipser: starting to be restored, some of the international relations that 143 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:35,429 Roby Sharon-Zipser: may have put some restrictions in play. They're sort of 144 00:07:35,430 --> 00:07:38,220 Roby Sharon-Zipser: easing a little bit. So I feel like we know 145 00:07:38,220 --> 00:07:41,639 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the game and we know what's going on, and therefore, 146 00:07:41,639 --> 00:07:44,190 Roby Sharon-Zipser: makes it a little bit more predictable. So my take 147 00:07:44,190 --> 00:07:45,870 Roby Sharon-Zipser: on what's going to happen in the future is this 148 00:07:45,870 --> 00:07:49,530 Roby Sharon-Zipser: environment where consumer sentiment might be still a bit weaker, 149 00:07:49,530 --> 00:07:51,210 Roby Sharon-Zipser: but that's probably going to be like that for probably 150 00:07:51,210 --> 00:07:55,140 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the next 24 months. And I think we'll start to 151 00:07:55,140 --> 00:07:58,889 Roby Sharon-Zipser: see maybe a bit more of a balanced approach to 152 00:07:58,889 --> 00:08:00,809 Roby Sharon-Zipser: what's going on. So where we were at a year 153 00:08:00,809 --> 00:08:04,259 Roby Sharon-Zipser: ago was unbalanced, was just too much demand in the 154 00:08:04,260 --> 00:08:08,940 Roby Sharon-Zipser: market, not enough trades to service the market. Whereas now 155 00:08:08,940 --> 00:08:10,800 Roby Sharon-Zipser: we're in a situation where it's a little bit more 156 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,340 Roby Sharon-Zipser: balanced, and that makes sense. I think that's going to 157 00:08:14,340 --> 00:08:16,110 Roby Sharon-Zipser: be consistent for the next 24 months. 158 00:08:16,410 --> 00:08:18,660 Jennifer Duke: And some of that would've been a drawing forward of 159 00:08:18,660 --> 00:08:21,239 Jennifer Duke: demand as well. So we've got the cost of living 160 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,340 Jennifer Duke: pressures on the one hand, and on the other hand, we 161 00:08:23,340 --> 00:08:25,140 Jennifer Duke: had all those building grants and all the rest of 162 00:08:25,140 --> 00:08:26,220 Jennifer Duke: it, and everyone went a little bit crazy through COVID. 163 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,060 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah. A little bit. Yeah, they did. Absolutely, they did. We do, but let's admit we all 164 00:08:30,060 --> 00:08:30,630 Roby Sharon-Zipser: did a little bit. 165 00:08:30,630 --> 00:08:31,110 Jennifer Duke: Yes, we did. 166 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,130 Roby Sharon-Zipser: I think from the hipages business point of view, what I 167 00:08:35,130 --> 00:08:37,349 Roby Sharon-Zipser: can say is that what it's done is, it's given 168 00:08:37,349 --> 00:08:40,800 Roby Sharon-Zipser: us some pretty good confidence around looking ahead. So for us, 169 00:08:41,490 --> 00:08:45,000 Roby Sharon-Zipser: as the largest marketplace for trade services in Australia, we're 170 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,720 Roby Sharon-Zipser: transitioning our business to be a platform. And what we 171 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,379 Roby Sharon-Zipser: can see is that trades want to engage with the technology, 172 00:08:52,380 --> 00:08:55,260 Roby Sharon-Zipser: they want to provide a better service, they get very 173 00:08:55,410 --> 00:08:59,069 Roby Sharon-Zipser: good satisfaction by giving a good service, which we can see 174 00:08:59,309 --> 00:09:03,120 Roby Sharon-Zipser: is happening based off on consumer NPS and customer satisfaction 175 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,360 Roby Sharon-Zipser: scores that we track. So it's becoming a bit more 176 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,059 Roby Sharon-Zipser: balanced in a better environment, which gives us confidence as 177 00:09:09,059 --> 00:09:12,660 Roby Sharon-Zipser: a business to provide a little bit of more clearer targeting. 178 00:09:12,660 --> 00:09:16,468 Roby Sharon-Zipser: So we're targeting around low to mid-teen growth as a business, 179 00:09:17,369 --> 00:09:19,890 Roby Sharon-Zipser: hopefully we can make that better. But that's based off 180 00:09:19,890 --> 00:09:24,660 Roby Sharon-Zipser: our strategy of improving pricing in our marketplace and then 181 00:09:25,230 --> 00:09:27,870 Roby Sharon-Zipser: also providing more services per customer as a platform to 182 00:09:27,870 --> 00:09:28,889 Roby Sharon-Zipser: traders in the future. 183 00:09:29,429 --> 00:09:32,370 Jennifer Duke: Definitely. And I hate to ask this, but earlier this 184 00:09:32,370 --> 00:09:35,010 Jennifer Duke: year, the ACCC did take exception to the way that 185 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,270 Jennifer Duke: hipages was managing renewals and termination fees. What changes have 186 00:09:39,270 --> 00:09:40,410 Jennifer Duke: you made since then? 187 00:09:40,890 --> 00:09:45,389 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah, I think that's a good callout, and look really 188 00:09:45,389 --> 00:09:47,549 Roby Sharon-Zipser: transparent about that. I want to be clear as well, 189 00:09:47,550 --> 00:09:52,769 Roby Sharon-Zipser: we worked really closely with the ACCC, Australia's regulator, on 190 00:09:52,770 --> 00:09:56,640 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the matter. We have developed a process of subscription where 191 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,880 Roby Sharon-Zipser: customers join us for an introductory six months so far, 192 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:02,670 Roby Sharon-Zipser: and then they auto-renew for 12 months. The findings from 193 00:10:02,670 --> 00:10:04,980 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the ACCC was that they didn't have an issue with 194 00:10:04,980 --> 00:10:08,490 Roby Sharon-Zipser: the business model per se but wanted us to be 195 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,780 Roby Sharon-Zipser: clearer about how our auto renewals worked and our termination fees 196 00:10:12,780 --> 00:10:15,660 Roby Sharon-Zipser: would work if they exited the contracts that they entered into. 197 00:10:16,050 --> 00:10:18,809 Roby Sharon-Zipser: And we took that on board, and we also enhanced 198 00:10:18,809 --> 00:10:22,860 Roby Sharon-Zipser: our customer handling processes as well. So in a way, 199 00:10:23,010 --> 00:10:27,718 Roby Sharon-Zipser: I think we acknowledged that what the ACCC's concerns were, 200 00:10:27,719 --> 00:10:31,560 Roby Sharon-Zipser: and we've addressed that by improving our lines of communication, 201 00:10:31,830 --> 00:10:36,090 Roby Sharon-Zipser: we provide multiple notifications to customers about their subscription. Very, 202 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:41,460 Roby Sharon-Zipser: very clear contractual terms made abundantly clear upfront, multiple methods 203 00:10:41,460 --> 00:10:45,929 Roby Sharon-Zipser: of communication about auto- renewal, increased cooling off periods, better 204 00:10:45,929 --> 00:10:49,530 Roby Sharon-Zipser: handling processes when customers have concerns about things that might 205 00:10:49,530 --> 00:10:52,559 Roby Sharon-Zipser: come up in our marketplace. So I feel like we've 206 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:54,868 Roby Sharon-Zipser: done a really good job and probably could write a 207 00:10:54,870 --> 00:10:57,209 Roby Sharon-Zipser: white paper on how to work closely with a regulator 208 00:10:57,210 --> 00:10:57,391 Roby Sharon-Zipser: on the topic. 209 00:10:57,391 --> 00:10:57,721 Jennifer Duke: Please do. 210 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,480 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Yeah. And it's concerning, you get that, we have always 211 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,110 Roby Sharon-Zipser: had good intentions. Remember, we're an Australian company, we're based all in 212 00:11:07,110 --> 00:11:10,500 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Australia. Our customers are Australian. We're up against some big, 213 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:14,280 Roby Sharon-Zipser: big international competitors that offer a different solution and service. 214 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,069 Roby Sharon-Zipser: But all our people are in Australia, our customers are 215 00:11:17,070 --> 00:11:18,958 Roby Sharon-Zipser: in Australia. I actually now in New Zealand, I should 216 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,940 Roby Sharon-Zipser: say. So, of course, we want to do the right 217 00:11:20,940 --> 00:11:24,059 Roby Sharon-Zipser: thing, and if we can enhance the customer outcomes and 218 00:11:24,059 --> 00:11:26,820 Roby Sharon-Zipser: expectations and we'll work towards that as part of our 219 00:11:26,820 --> 00:11:29,610 Roby Sharon-Zipser: values of providing great service to our customers. 220 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:32,069 Jennifer Duke: I love that you're able to take some positive out 221 00:11:32,070 --> 00:11:34,110 Jennifer Duke: of that and turn that into something really beneficial for 222 00:11:34,110 --> 00:11:36,390 Jennifer Duke: the business. I think that's a good lesson for everyone. 223 00:11:36,870 --> 00:11:38,700 Jennifer Duke: And look, Roby, thank you very much for talking to 224 00:11:38,700 --> 00:11:38,970 Jennifer Duke: Fear and Greed. 225 00:11:38,970 --> 00:11:42,150 Roby Sharon-Zipser: And it's a pleasure. Thanks for having me, and I hope to esee you again. 226 00:11:42,208 --> 00:11:42,630 Roby Sharon-Zipser: Thank you. 227 00:11:42,990 --> 00:11:46,468 Jennifer Duke: That was Roby Sharon- Zipser, the founder and CEO of hipages. 228 00:11:46,590 --> 00:11:48,900 Jennifer Duke: This is the Fear and Greed daily interview. Join us 229 00:11:48,900 --> 00:11:51,179 Jennifer Duke: every morning for the full episode of Fear and Greed, 230 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,320 Jennifer Duke: Australia's best business podcast. I'm Jennifer Duke, Economics Correspondent for 231 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,569 Jennifer Duke: Capital Brief, and filling in for Sean Aylmer. Have a 232 00:11:57,570 --> 00:11:58,140 Jennifer Duke: great day.