Surgepays Inc (SURG) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the SurgePays, Inc. Fourth Quarter and 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) And as a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 SurgePays, Inc. 第四季和 2022 年財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce to you Brian Prenoveau with Investor Relations. Thank you, Brian. You may begin.

現在我很高興向您介紹投資者關係部門的布萊恩‧普雷諾沃 (Brian Prenoveau)。謝謝你，布萊恩。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the SurgePays Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Webcast and Conference Call. Today's date is March 30, 2023. And on the call today from SurgePays are Brian Cox, President, Chief Executive Officer; and Tony Evers, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，接線生。大家下午好。歡迎參加 SurgePays 2022 年第四季財報網路廣播和電話會議。今天的日期是 2023 年 3 月 30 日。SurgePays 今天的電話會議由總裁兼執行長 Brian Cox 主持。和財務長托尼·埃弗斯。

Before we begin, we'd like to let everybody know that the press release is in queue. The wire service is a bit backed up, a bit of a log jam, but we have been notified that it should be up momentarily. So you should see anything necessary in the next few minutes.

在開始之前，我們想讓大家知道新聞稿正在排隊。有線服務有點備份，有點堵塞，但我們已收到通知，它應該立即恢復。因此，您應該在接下來的幾分鐘內看到任何必要的內容。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this call may contain forward-looking statements as they are defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, please see SurgePays' recent filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements made today reflect our current expectations only, and we undertake no obligation to update any statement to reflect the events that occur after this call.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議可能包含根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》定義的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述存在一定的風險和不確定性，可能會導致實際結果發生變化。與前瞻性陳述中所表達的內容有重大差異。有關此類風險和不確定性的討論，請參閱 SurgePays 最近向 SEC 提交的文件。今天發表的所有前瞻性聲明僅反映我們目前的預期，我們沒有義務更新任何聲明以反映本次電話會議後發生的事件。

Also, during the course of today's call, the company will be discussing 1 or more non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the press release and Form 10-K. Copies of today's press release will be accessible on SurgePays' Investor Relations website at ir.surgepays.com. In addition, SurgePays' Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, is also available on SurgePays' Investor Relations website.

此外，在今天的電話會議期間，該公司將討論一項或多項非公認會計準則財務措施。這些非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的調整表包含在新聞稿和 10-K 表格中。今天新聞稿的副本可在 SurgePays 的投資者關係網站 ir.surgepays.com 上取得。此外，SurgePays 截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表格也可在 SurgePays 的投資者關係網站上取得。

And now I'd like to turn the call over to President and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Cox.

現在我想將電話轉給總裁兼執行長布萊恩考克斯。

Thanks, Brian. The fourth quarter of 2022 feels like a lifetime ago, so I want to remind our listeners of some important items announced in our last quarter. We announced that we had eclipsed 200,000 subscribers in our wireless business through the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP.

謝謝，布萊恩。 2022 年第四季感覺就像是很久以前的事了，所以我想提醒我們的聽眾我們上一季宣布的一些重要項目。我們宣布，透過平價連線計畫 (AC​​P)，我們的無線業務用戶數量已超過 20 萬名。

We announced the addition of Jeremy Gies as President of SurgePays Fintech. Adding Jeremy has ignited our efforts to grow our convenience store network, which will take on an increased importance in 2023, as I will discuss. Jeremy is playing the lead role in expanding store count as we build our business for sustained growth and expansion.

我們宣布任命 Jeremy Gies 擔任 SurgePays Fintech 總裁。 Jeremy 的加入激發了我們發展便利商店網路的努力，而這個網路將在 2023 年變得更加重要，正如我將討論的那樣。在我們建立業務以實現持續成長和擴張的過程中，傑里米 (Jeremy) 在擴大門市數量方面發揮主導作用。

We announced the closing of a senior credit facility on November 18. This dedicated financing allows us to move away from ordering tablets on the high-cost secondary market and order direct from the manufacturer. Going direct reduces our per device cost over 20% and allows us to utilize our financing facility more cost efficiently. I think it's important to state that switching from real-time spot buying devices on the secondary market to purchasing, manufacturing and the shipping logistics of buying direct from the factory overseas did force us momentarily to take our foot off the gas, no different than shifting gears, in order to accelerate at a higher velocity.

我們於 11 月 18 日宣布關閉高級信貸安排。這項專門融資使我們能夠不再在高成本的二級市場上訂購平板電腦，而是直接從製造商訂購。直接融資可將我們的每台設備成本降低 20% 以上，並使我們能夠更經濟高效地利用我們的融資設施。我認為有必要指出的是，從二級市場上的即時現貨購買設備轉向從海外工廠直接購買的採購、製造和運輸物流確實迫使我們暫時放下了腳步，這與轉移沒有什麼不同齒輪，以便以更高的速度加速。

For example, we were faced with the decision of air versus ocean freight. The timing for ocean was an additional 35 days difference, but the cost savings averaged over $35,000 per staged shipment of which there were 13 shipments. When forced to choose between optimizing the appearance of growth or maximizing the present value of current and future cash flows, we'll always choose the cash flows. I'm happy to say these shipments started arriving in March and are now in a rhythm. A dedicated staff of 40 people are now managing the activation, distribution and fulfillment of our inventory. During this transition, we did grow our wireless base, but at a controlled and disciplined pace to minimize overpaying for devices simply to attain subscriber numbers, we believe, we will ultimately achieve either way.

例如，我們面臨空運還是海運的決定。海運時間額外相差 35 天，但每次分批裝運平均節省成本超過 35,000 美元，其中有 13 批裝運。當被迫在優化成長的外觀和最大化當前和未來現金流的現值之間做出選擇時，我們總是會選擇現金流。我很高興地說，這些貨物從三月開始抵達，現在正在按節奏進行。目前，40 名專職員工正在管理我們庫存的啟動、分配和履行。在這一轉變期間，我們確實擴大了我們的無線基礎，但以受控和有紀律的速度，最大限度地減少僅僅為了獲得用戶數量而為設備支付的過高費用，我們相信，我們最終將實現任何一種方式。

In December, we announced the resignation of Jay Jones from our Board of Directors and the election of Laurie Weisberg and Rich Schurfeld. This announcement will be a boon to SurgePays as we continue to scale the company. Jay resigned as an independent Board member only to move into a closer advisory role where he will work with us and the company's senior management. Laurie and Rich are either current or former CEOs with extensive executive experience in the tech and telecom industries. In addition to operational expertise in their respective fields, Laurie and Rich bring invaluable next-level familiarity with the critical legal and governance issues we expect as SurgePays continues to grow.

12 月，我們宣布 Jay Jones 從董事會辭職，並選舉 Laurie Weisberg 和 Rich Schurfeld。隨著我們繼續擴大公司規模，這項公告將為 SurgePays 帶來福音。傑伊辭去了獨立董事會成員的職務，只是為了擔任更密切的顧問角色，他將與我們和公司的高階管理層合作。 Laurie 和 Rich 是現任或前任首席執行官，在科技和電信行業擁有豐富的管理經驗。除了各自領域的營運專業知識外，隨著 SurgePays 的不斷發展，Laurie 和 Rich 也對我們預計的關鍵法律和治理問題帶來了寶貴的新知識。

Subsequent to year-end, in February 2023, we announced a new distribution agreement with Capital Candy, a family-owned wholesale distributor to convenience stores in New England. The agreement with Capital Candy will allow SurgePays to sell our prepaid telecom and financial products for the underbanked, including ACP sign-ups, into over 3,000 convenience stores. It's deals like these where we start to see the impact of adding someone like Jeremy Gies to our team. As a matter of fact, we recently added another 20-year veteran to the team as VP of Sales directly reporting to Jeremy to assist in working through a funnel of over 35 more partnerships, integrations and similar agreements, with several of those being 10x the number of convenience stores.

年底後的 2023 年 2 月，我們宣布與新英格蘭便利商店家族企業批發經銷商 Capital Candy 達成新的經銷協議。與 Capital Candy 達成的協議將允許 SurgePays 向 3,000 多家便利商店銷售我們的預付費電信和金融產品，供銀行服務不足的人群使用，包括 ACP 註冊。正是在這樣的交易中，我們開始看到像傑里米·吉斯這樣的人加入我們團隊的影響。事實上，我們最近在團隊中增加了另一位擁有20 年經驗的資深人士，擔任銷售副總裁，直接向Jeremy 匯報，協助完成超過35 個合作夥伴關係、整合和類似協議的漏斗，其中一些協議的規模是我們的10 倍。便利商店的數量。

In the fourth quarter, revenue exceeded $36 million, a 1.5x increase compared to last year, and we exited 2022 with $144.8 million revenue run rate. 2022 revenue increased by 138% compared to 2021. And it's important to note that this was during the time frame where sales were intentionally throttled by management to grow without dilution. The disciplined growth plan we laid out earlier this year will be rewarded with continued revenue growth, profitability and increased shareholder value.

第四季度，營收超過 3,600 萬美元，比去年增長 1.5 倍，2022 年的營收運行率為 1.448 億美元。與 2021 年相比，2022 年的收入成長了 138%。值得注意的是，這是在管理層故意限制銷售額成長而不稀釋的時期。我們今年稍早制定的嚴格成長計畫將帶來收入持續成長、獲利能力和股東價值增加的回報。

As previously discussed, due to us taking the foot off the gas to shift to buying devices direct, the fourth quarter clarifies that SurgePays generates a lot of cash when it doesn't have to expense customer acquisitions fully upfront, and much more of our revenue reached the bottom line with a net gain of $3 million.

正如前面所討論的，由於我們不再大力轉向直接購買設備，第四季度表明，SurgePays 在不需要預先完全支付客戶獲取費用時會產生大量現金，並且會產生更多的收入淨利潤達到300 萬美元。

Looking forward, we're excited about the earnings potential of SurgePays. I have been providing prepaid telecom products to the underbanked community through convenience stores for 20 years, and I've never seen the response like what we're seeing in our beta testing for in-store ACP sign-ups. Not just from the customer's response inside of a store that sees a poster or sticker, but from the store owner's willingness to sign on with us, which gives us access to offer all of our fintech and prepaid wireless products for the underbanked through his store.

展望未來，我們對 SurgePays 的獲利潛力感到興奮。 20 年來，我一直透過便利商店向銀行服務不足的社區提供預付費電信產品，但我從未見過像我們在店內 ACP 註冊的 Beta 測試中看到的那樣的反應。這不僅來自顧客在商店內看到海報或貼紙的反應，還來自店主與我們簽約的意願，這使我們能夠透過他的商店為銀行服務不足的人群提供所有金融科技和預付費無線產品。

If a customer is on SNAP, EBT, they qualify for ACP. In many cases, the SNAP benefits are used at the store closest to the residents, which is usually the convenience store. Our store owners already have a good idea of their subsidized customer base and immediately are realizing the potential.

如果客戶享有 SNAP、EBT，他們就有資格享受 ACP。在許多情況下，SNAP 福利是在距離居民最近的商店（通常是便利商店）使用的。我們的店主已經對他們的補貼客戶群有了很好的了解，並立即意識到了潛力。

Also, by enrolling a customer from a brick-and-mortar store versus a pop-up tent, we anticipate retention will be higher if the customer knows where he can go to get help if needed, and the store owner is making a residual commission. So he has a vested interest to make sure these subscribers remain active and happy.

此外，透過從實體店而不是彈出式帳篷招收顧客，如果顧客知道需要時可以去哪裡尋求幫助，並且店主正在收取剩餘佣金，我們預計保留率會更高。因此，他有既得利益來確保這些訂戶保持活躍和快樂。

Ultimately, it is our goal to utilize the ACP program to gain access to tens of thousands of convenience stores nationwide and maximize those relationships by deploying our entire suite of prepaid and fintech products for the underbanked. The early data is really encouraging, and we anticipate this being a major revenue growth driver across several verticals.

最終，我們的目標是利用 ACP 計劃進入全國數以萬計的便利商店，並透過為銀行服務不足的人群部署我們的整套預付費和金融科技產品來最大化這些關係。早期數據確實令人鼓舞，我們預期這將成為多個垂直領域收入成長的主要動力。

To further prepare for this growth, we've more than doubled our bilingual sales, support and back-office team at our operations center in El Salvador, where we now have over 200 people strong.

為了進一步為這一成長做好準備，我們將薩爾瓦多營運中心的雙語銷售、支援和後台團隊人數增加了一倍以上，目前擁有 200 多名員工。

As I sit back and visualize how I see the model unfolding, being able to watch both main revenue channels grow in synergy, spearheaded by experienced sales leaders, this is really electric for me. Now is the time where we work aggressively to build the foundation for a multibillion-dollar revenue company, serving millions of subscribers and tens of thousands of convenience stores with operational excellence and value-minded efficiency.

當我坐下來想像我如何看待該模式的展開時，能夠看到兩個主要收入管道在經驗豐富的銷售領導者的帶領下協同增長，這對我來說真的很激動。現在是我們積極努力為一家收入數十億美元的公司奠定基礎的時候了，以卓越的營運和注重價值的效率為數百萬用戶和數以萬計的便利商店提供服務。

We believe that a fundamental measure of our success will be the shareholder value we create over the long term. This value will be a direct result of our ability to add convenience stores to our network and leverage those stores as points of distribution into the underbanked community. The larger our national network of stores, the more powerful our economic model and more viable platform for an M&A strategy in the near future. We believe increasing our network of stores can translate directly to higher revenue, higher profitability and correspondingly stronger returns on invested capital.

我們相信，衡量我們成功的一個基本標準是我們長期創造的股東價值。這一價值將是我們將便利商店添加到我們的網路中並利用這些商店作為進入銀行服務不足的社區的分銷點的能力的直接結果。我們的全國商店網路越大，我們的經濟模式就越強大，在不久的將來併購策略的平台就越可行。我們相信，增加我們的商店網路可以直接轉化為更高的收入、更高的獲利能力以及相應更強的投資資本回報。

We continue to focus on managing our cash flow and deploying that cash best. I generally look at current assets as a gauge of where we've been, where we are and where we want to be. Accounts receivable have increased throughout the year from $3.2 million at the end of 2021 to $9.2 million at the end of 2022 with $7 million of cash.

我們繼續專注於管理現金流並最好地部署現金。我通常將流動資產視為衡量我們過去、現在和未來的指標。應收帳款全年從 2021 年底的 320 萬美元增加到 2022 年底的 920 萬美元，其中現金為 700 萬美元。

Turning to guidance for 2023. We believe leveraging new alignments with distributors and additional in-store ACP sign-ups will allow SurgePays to generate revenues of at least $190 million. We expect first quarter revenues to be relatively in line with fourth quarter 2022 given that our devices started arriving in March. We anticipate growth accelerating quickly the remainder of the year. We expect 13,000 stores to be operating on the SurgePays network and expect to see positive operating cash flow during the year.

轉向 2023 年指導。我們相信，利用與分銷商的新聯盟和額外的店內 ACP 註冊將使 SurgePays 創造至少 1.9 億美元的收入。鑑於我們的設備於 3 月開始到貨，我們預計第一季的營收將與 2022 年第四季的營收相對一致。我們預計今年剩餘時間成長將迅速加速。我們預計將有 13,000 家商店在 SurgePays 網路上運營，並預計年內將實現正營運現金流。

I'll turn the call over to Tony to briefly review our financial results before summarizing today's call. Tony?

在總結今天的電話會議之前，我會將電話轉給托尼，簡要回顧一下我們的財務表現。托尼？

Thank you, Brian, and good afternoon, everyone. I'll begin my overview of the fourth quarter and full year's financial results.

謝謝你，布萊恩，大家下午好。我將開始概述第四季和全年的財務表現。

For the quarter, we reported revenues of $36.2 million compared to $23.3 million in the fourth quarter of '21, representing an increase of 155%. During 2022, we reported revenues of $121.5 million, an increase of 138% over the prior 12-month period. The increased sales for the year were primarily attributable to subscriber growth and our mobile broadband business.

我們報告的本季營收為 3,620 萬美元，與 2021 年第四季的 2,330 萬美元相比，成長了 155%。 2022 年，我們的營收為 1.215 億美元，比前 12 個月成長了 138%。本年度銷售額的成長主要歸因於用戶成長和我們的行動寬頻業務。

Gross profit increased 272% in the fourth quarter to $6.7 million compared to $2.5 million in the same period a year ago. Gross profit for the year increased 118% to $13.5 million compared to $11.4 million the prior year.

第四季毛利成長 272%，達到 670 萬美元，而去年同期為 250 萬美元。與前一年的 1,140 萬美元相比，本年度毛利成長了 118%，達到 1,350 萬美元。

SG&A expenses increased by 4.4% during the year. The increase was primarily driven by onetime bonuses paid to various management personnel and increased insurance expense related to the NASDAQ uplisting.

年內，SG&A 費用增加了 4.4%。這一增長主要是由於支付給各管理人員的一次性獎金以及與納斯達克上市相關的保險費用增加。

Income from operations were positive for the year at $0.6 million compared to a loss of $6 million in the prior year.

今年營運收入為正數 60 萬美元，而前一年則虧損 600 萬美元。

Net loss for the year was $0.7 million or a loss of $0.05 per share compared to a net loss of $13.5 million or a loss of $3.09 per share last year. Of the $7 million loss, 2022 included much lower interest expenses in the prior year and certain nonrecurring items, including $89,000 loss on the investment of Centercom, a $336,000 gain on the PPP loan and $115,000 loss from amortization of debt discount.

本年度淨虧損為 70 萬美元，即每股虧損 0.05 美元，而去年的淨虧損為 1,350 萬美元，即每股虧損 3.09 美元。在 2022 年 700 萬美元的損失中，上一年的利息支出和某些非經常性項目大幅減少，其中包括 Centercom 投資損失 89,000 美元、PPP 貸款收益 336,000 美元以及債務折扣攤銷損失 115,000 美元。

EBITDA for the year was $2.5 million compared to a negative $5.1 million in 2021. In the fourth quarter, EBITDA was positive $4.1 million compared to $3.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.

本年度 EBITDA 為 250 萬美元，而 2021 年為負 510 萬美元。第四季度，EBITDA 為正 410 萬美元，而 2021 年第四季為 350 萬美元。

Turning to the balance sheet, liquidity and cash flow. Our cash balance as of December 31 was $7 million compared to $6.3 million at the end of '21. Accounts receivable have increased by over $7 million from year-end '21 to $2.92 million. The receivable is from the U.S. government for the mobile broadband subsidy. Payment usually occurs approximately 30 to 60 days after a new customer is verified and signed up. Given our strengthened financial position, higher cash balance and capital structure, our cash allocation priority is focused on increasing the business, investing in the business and maintaining ample liquidity for future growth.

轉向資產負債表、流動性和現金流。截至 12 月 31 日，我們的現金餘額為 700 萬美元，而 2021 年底為 630 萬美元。應收帳款較 2021 年底增加了 700 萬美元以上，達到 292 萬美元。應收帳款來自美國政府的行動寬頻補貼。付款通常在新客戶經過驗證並註冊後約 30 至 60 天發生。鑑於我們增強的財務狀況、更高的現金餘額和資本結構，我們的現金分配優先重點是增加業務、投資業務並為未來成長保持充足的流動性。

I will now pass the call back to Brian for some closing remarks. Brian?

現在我將把電話轉給布萊恩，讓他做一些結束語。布萊恩？

Thanks, Tony. We couldn't be more excited about the opportunities ahead. It's encouraging to know we have a value-differentiating business model that has only begun to show its true potential. The foundation we are building today could set the company on a trajectory that is limited only by our imagination.

謝謝，托尼。我們對未來的機會感到無比興奮。令人鼓舞的是，我們的價值差異化商業模式才剛開始展現其真正的潛力。我們今天所建立的基礎可以讓公司走上一條僅受我們想像力限制的發展軌跡。

The past year's successes and I believe our future successes are the product of a talented, smart and hardworking group of folks. And I take a lot of pride and I'm thankful for being a part of this great SurgePays team, who are all working to build something important.

過去一年的成功，我相信我們未來的成功是一群才華洋溢、聰明又勤奮的人們的成果。我非常自豪，也很感謝自己成為這個偉大的 SurgePays 團隊的一員，他們都在努力打造重要的東西。

Lastly, I greatly appreciate the support and interest of our shareholders as we continue this growth journey.

最後，我非常感謝股東在我們繼續這趟成長之旅時的支持和興趣。

We will now open the call for questions. Operator?

我們現在開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) And the first question comes from the line of Michael Diana with Maxim Group.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自Maxim Group 的Michael Diana。

Brian, so I heard you about how late the new tablets arrived. You have been talking about surpassing the 500,000 customer -- ACP customer mark. Is that still a 2023 event? Or does that get pushed out some?

布萊恩，我聽說新平板電腦到貨的時間有多晚。您一直在談論超越 50 萬名客戶——ACP 客戶大關。這還是 2023 年的活動嗎？或者這會被推出一些嗎？

Michael, no, I appreciate the question. No, absolutely, that's still a 2023 event. And if there was not, as Brian P. mentioned, the log jam in the press release, you'd see that in the press release as well. But no, that's absolutely a part of where we see the growth trajectory going this year. As a matter of fact, I think we've put it out there a couple of times, this initial PO round of tablets that are coming in, 15,000, 20,000 at a time was over 300,000 devices. So we're definitely prepped and ready to get that rolling up.

邁克爾，不，我很欣賞這個問題。不，絕對，這仍然是 2023 年的事件。如果沒有像 Brian P. 提到的那樣，新聞稿中出現原木堵塞，您也會在新聞稿中看到這一點。但不，這絕對是我們今年成長軌跡的一部分。事實上，我想我們已經發布過幾次了，第一輪採購平板電腦，一次 15,000、20,000 台，超過 300,000 台設備。所以我們絕對已經做好準備並準備好將其捲起來。

What's interesting is this -- I don't want to call it a pause. It was strategic. We looked at attrition, and we wanted to make sure and add every month. We're very careful about it. And just as I said before, I didn't want to overspend on tablets when I knew we could get them a couple of months later at a much better rate.

有趣的是——我不想稱之為暫停。這是戰略性的。我們研究了人員流失情況，希望每個月都進行確認和增加。我們對此非常小心。正如我之前所說，當我知道我們可以在幾個月後以更好的價格購買平板電腦時，我不想在平板電腦上超支。

So what we did was -- just a second. In doing so, we were able to spend a little bit more time developing, looking internally, negotiating with carriers, looking at our software. So it did give us a couple of moments to spend to plan and prepare, retrain, cross-train our folks down in our operations center. So we didn't just sit idly by and twiddle our thumbs. I want to make sure everybody knows that. We're working our tails off in preparation so that we could still go beyond the numbers that we expect to hit this year without hitting any plateaus.

所以我們所做的是——就一秒鐘。透過這樣做，我們能夠花更多的時間來開發、內部研究、與營運商談判、研究我們的軟體。因此，它確實給了我們一些時間來規劃、準備、重新培訓、交叉培訓我們營運中心的員工。所以我們並沒有袖手旁觀，無所事事。我想確保每個人都知道這一點。我們正在全力以赴做好準備，以便我們仍然能夠超出今年預期的數字，而不會達到任何停滯狀態。

Okay. Great. And I know it's probably impossible to answer this, but given the growth of the stores as a sales point for ACP, like in the fourth quarter, what percentage would you say of your new customers in the fourth quarter could come through the stores?

好的。偉大的。我知道可能無法回答這個問題，但考慮到商店作為 ACP 銷售點的增長，就像第四季度一樣，您認為第四季度的新客戶中有多少百分比可以透過商店？

I mean that's going to be a good guess, Michael. My hope -- let's say -- let me replace the word used. Let me replace (inaudible). I hope we maintain our field sales level. Now that's a more expensive customer position, but it's a good baseline of incoming sales force. So we want to maintain that, not necessarily just exploding the outdoor field sales. That's where a lot of competition is, and that's where we feel like a lot of the attrition is. When a tent moves into town, it's there for 2 weeks and then goes on and is out of town, and then somebody else comes in 4 months from now.

我的意思是，這將是一個很好的猜測，邁克爾。我希望——比方說——讓我替換所用的字。讓我替換（聽不清楚）。我希望我們保持現場銷售水準。現在，這是一個更昂貴的客戶職位，但它是新銷售人員的良好基準。因此，我們希望保持這一點，而不必只是大幅增加戶外銷售。這就是競爭激烈的地方，也是我們感覺大量人員流失的地方。當一個帳篷搬進城裡時，它會在那裡待兩週，然後繼續出城，然後其他人會在 4 個月後到來。

So we do feel like that contributes to a little bit of the attrition, but it definitely was 1 of the drivers to get us here. So we want to keep that baseline. The store acquisition cost is about 80% less than the field sale acquisition. So from a cash flow standpoint, we would hope you would start seeing a significant skew of our sales coming from the store because of the -- I mean we're paying such a lower upfront cost for acquiring that customer because that store owner doesn't need the money to travel, pay hotels, pop-up tents, and their livelihood is depending on that 1 commission, their store. This is an add-on product for them. So it's a different dynamic, and I feel it's a far better model for us to sustain long term. And we're the only company -- excuse me, we're the only ACP company that's able to do this through the stores because we're the only ACP company that owns a software platform that does fintech transactions in convenience stores.

所以我們確實覺得這會造成一點消耗，但這絕對是推動我們來到這裡的司機之一。所以我們想保持這個基線。門市採購成本比現場銷售採購低80%左右。因此，從現金流的角度來看，我們希望您開始看到我們來自商店的銷售額出現顯著偏差，因為——我的意思是，我們為獲取該客戶而支付的前期成本如此之低，因為該商店老闆不這樣做他們不需要錢去旅行、支付旅館費用、臨時帳篷，他們的生計就依賴他們的商店這筆佣金。這是他們的附加產品。所以這是一種不同的動力，我覺得這是一個更好的模式，可以讓我們長期維持下去。我們是唯一一家能夠透過便利商店進行金融科技交易的 ACP 公司，因為我們是唯一一家擁有可在便利商店進行金融科技交易的軟體平台的 ACP 公司。

So we want to get out there very quickly. We want to leverage. It's not even a competitive advantage because we really don't have competitors specifically in this channel. We want to land rush this thing as hard as we can. That's why I've basically given Jeremy the green light to bring on as many sales folks as he needs to manage the sales funnel, get all of these deals on board, everything from California to New England, all the way down to Florida. We've got various integrations going all over the country. So we definitely expect to see those numbers continue to skew. And it's my hope that you're looking at 70%, 80% plus by the fourth quarter of our sales coming from the stores.

所以我們希望盡快走出去。我們想要發揮槓桿作用。這甚至不是競爭優勢，因為我們在這個通路上確實沒有競爭對手。我們希望盡我們所能地推動這件事。這就是為什麼我基本上給傑里米開了綠燈，讓他招募盡可能多的銷售人員來管理銷售管道，將所有這些交易納入其中，從加利福尼亞到新英格蘭，一直到佛羅裡達。我們在全國各地進行了各種整合。因此，我們肯定希望看到這些數字繼續出現偏差。我希望到第四季我們 70%、80% 以上的銷售額都來自商店。

And as part of your guidance, I think you said you expect to have more than 13,000 stores by the end of the year. Is that the right number?

作為指導的一部分，我想您說過預計到今年年底將擁有超過 13,000 家商店。這個數字正確嗎？

That's a number we're going to go with right now. My hope is that it's beyond that number. But we want to put out a good number that we feel we can attain. Yes.

這是我們現在要採用的數字。我希望它能超出這個數字。但我們希望給出一個我們認為可以達到的好數字。是的。

And the next question comes from the line of Ed Woo with Ascendiant Capital.

下一個問題來自Ed Woo 與Ascendiant Capital 的對話。

Yes, congratulations on a tremendous growth this year. I think I've asked in the past about how your business is a little bit countercyclical as obviously the consumers that you guys are targeting will have to look for increased opportunity to save money. Have you seen any significant changes in your customer base in the past 3 months, whether people are moving down an economic ladder at all?

是的，祝賀今年的巨大成長。我想我過去曾問過你們的業務如何有點反週期，因為顯然你們所針對的消費者將不得不尋找更多的省錢機會。在過去 3 個月中，您是否發現您的客戶群發生了任何重大變化？人們是否正在沿著經濟階梯向下移動？

That's an interesting question, Ed. That's 1 of those that is going to take us a little while to see. I don't know that it's such -- it's an instant impact. Now I will say this, the federal government, when it comes to ACP, has definitely made it -- I don't want to say made it easier. That's not the right phrase. But they're putting an emphasis on the program. They put a lot of grants out for companies to promote it into areas where there's not an awareness or not companies making an effort to sign folks up.

這是一個有趣的問題，艾德。這是我們需要一些時間才能看到的其中之一。我不知道它是這樣的——這是一種即時的影響。現在我要說的是，聯邦政府在 ACP 方面確實做到了——我不想說讓它變得更容易。這不是正確的說法。但他們正在重點關注該計劃。他們為公司提供了大量贈款，以將其推廣到沒有意識或公司不努力招募人員的領域。

So we know that the program has been a success. But as far as the kind of, call it, the macroeconomic, global impact of everything that's going on in the world, people falling into our category, I don't know that we'd be able to directly see that. And the reason is we're at such a hyper growth-type arena, we basically are pushing out all the devices we have.

所以我們知道該計劃取得了成功。但就世界上正在發生的一切對宏觀經濟和全球的影響而言，我不知道我們是否能夠直接看到這一點。原因是我們正處於一個高速成長的舞台，我們基本上正在推出我們擁有的所有設備。

So I think you almost have to get to that edge of slowing down your growth to see, "Oh, hey, there's a new group that came in, so now we got a blip." We're able to grow so fast right now. I don't know that we would see or can see that the market has expanded. No, we definitely know that there's millions of potential customers out there. So -- and 1 of the things -- without getting way off in the weeds, 1 of the things that I'm passionate about is using 1 of the -- using the ACP to get in the stores, as we've talked about. But also, keep in mind, every 1 of these subscribers that we sign up is using talk, text and data. Well, that's building a relationship with the carriers. That's ultimately giving us more leverage to better negotiate with the carriers on pricing.

所以我認為你幾乎必須到達放慢增長速度的邊緣才能看到，“哦，嘿，有一個新團隊進來了，所以現在我們遇到了一個小插曲。”我們現在能夠發展得這麼快。我不知道我們會看到或能夠看到市場已經擴大。不，我們肯定知道那裡有數百萬潛在客戶。所以，其中一件事，我熱衷的一件事就是使用 ACP 進入商店，正如我們所討論的那樣。但請記住，我們註冊的每一位訂閱者都在使用通話、簡訊和數據。嗯，這就是與運營商建立關係。這最終使我們能夠更好地與營運商就定價進行談判。

So that's going to give us the opportunity to now come back to the market, use these same convenience stores, use the same equipment that's on the counter, use the same relationship to offer the ability for them to upsell prepaid wireless at a lower cost than the other folks out there. A lot of us watched what Móvil just sold to Verizon for, and they had pretty slim margins. We're very familiar with most of the MVNOs out there. We take payments for most of the MVNOs out there.

因此，這將使我們有機會回到市場，使用這些相同的便利商店，使用櫃檯上相同的設備，使用相同的關係，使他們能夠以比傳統零售店更低的成本追加銷售預付費無線網路。那裡的其他人。我們很多人都關注著 Móvil 剛剛賣給 Verizon 的價格，他們的利潤相當微薄。我們對大多數 MVNO 都非常熟悉。我們為大多數 MVNO 收取付款。

To have an ability to be an MVNO that has your own brand that's paid for by the customer with family plans and very aggressive rates to help folks out and then be able to do the transaction over our own platform, so we're not paying a third party 8%, 9%, 10%, 15% to do the transaction, there again is another significant competitive advantage that we want to take -- really maximize by getting in the door through ACP. It's the, oh, by the way, upsell. And then, oh, by the way, we also have a reloadable debit card. Oh, by the way, we have these other products here to help your customers the same way we help them with the Internet.

有能力成為擁有自己品牌的 MVNO，由具有家庭計劃的客戶支付費用，並提供非常激進的費率來幫助人們擺脫困境，然後能夠通過我們自己的平台進行交易，因此我們不支付任何費用第三方8 %、9%、10%、15% 來進行交易，我們也想利用另一個重要的競爭優勢——透過ACP 進入，真正最大化。哦，順便說一句，這是追加銷售。然後，哦，順便說一下，我們還有一張可充值的金融卡。哦，順便說一句，我們這裡還有其他產品可以幫助您的客戶，就像我們透過網路幫助他們一樣。

So that's really our philosophy of this rollout. So I think -- without driving it home too hard, I think you're going to start seeing -- by Q4, you're going to start seeing also not only customers skewing over the ACP customers coming in through the convenience stores, I think you're going to start to see the number of prepaid customers who are paying their own bills.

這確實是我們此次推出的理念。因此，我認為，不用太費勁，我認為您將開始看到，到第四季度，您不僅會開始看到顧客傾向於透過便利商店進來的 ACP 顧客，我我認為您將開始看到自己支付賬單的預付費客戶數量。

Remember, ACP is limited to 1 per household, and there's an average -- as with the survey we did, average of 4 to 5 smartphones per underbanked household. We want to go after those other devices, those other phones, that other service, both in urban and rural areas, and then be able to allow and enable those people to go pay at the convenience store that they're already going to, to save them money, save them travel and be more -- I guess more and more of a partner with the convenience store owner serving his community.

請記住，ACP 僅限於每個家庭 1 部，而且有一個平均值——正如我們所做的調查一樣，每個銀行服務不足的家庭平均擁有 4 到 5 部智慧型手機。我們希望在城市和農村地區尋找其他設備、其他電話、其他服務，然後能夠允許這些人在他們已經要去的便利商店付款，為他們省錢，省去旅行，而且更多——我想越來越多成為便利商店老闆為社區服務的合作夥伴。

Thank you. This reaches the end of the question-and-answer session, and this also concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Have a great rest of your day.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束，今天的會議也到此結束。感謝您的參與。此時您可以斷開線路。祝您有個愉快的一天。