Trupanion Inc (TRUP) 2020 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to Trupanion Fourth Quarter 2020 Results Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 Trupanion 2020 年第四季度業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Laura Bainbridge, Vice President of Corporate Communications. Thank you. You may now begin.

現在我想將會議交給東道主企業傳播副總裁勞拉·班布里奇 (Laura Bainbridge)。謝謝。你現在可以開始了。

Good afternoon, and welcome to Trupanion's Fourth Quarter and 2020 Year-end Financial Results Conference Call. Participating on today's call are Darryl Rawlings, Chief Executive Officer; and Tricia Plouf and Margi Tooth, who were recently promoted to Co-Presidents. Similar to prior earnings calls, Margi will be joining Darryl and Tricia for the Q&A portion of today's call.

下午好，歡迎參加 Trupanion 第四季度和 2020 年年終財務業績電話會議。首席執行官達里爾·羅林斯 (Darryl Rawlings) 參加了今天的電話會議；以及最近晉升為聯席總裁的 Tricia Plouf 和 Margi Tooth。與之前的財報電話會議類似，瑪吉將與達里爾和特里西婭一起參加今天電話會議的問答部分。

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that during today's conference call, we will make certain forward-looking statements regarding the future operations, opportunities and financial performance of Trupanion within the meaning of the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，在今天的電話會議中，我們將在《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款的含義內，就 Trupanion 的未來運營、機會和財務業績做出一些前瞻性陳述1995年。

These statements involve a high degree of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. A detailed discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties are included in our earnings release, which can be found on our Investor Relations website as well as the company's most recent reports on Form 10-K and 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

這些陳述涉及高度已知和未知的風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與討論的結果存在重大差異。對這些以及其他風險和不確定性的詳細討論包含在我們的收益報告中，您可以在我們的投資者關係網站以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的10-K 和8-K 表格中的最新報告中找到該報告。 。

Today's presentation contains references to non-GAAP financial measures that management uses to evaluate the company's performance, including, without limitation, fixed expenses, variable expenses, adjusted operating income, acquisition costs, internal rate of return, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.

今天的演示文稿引用了管理層用來評估公司業績的非公認會計準則財務指標，包括但不限於固定費用、可變費用、調整後營業收入、收購成本、內部收益率、調整後EBITDA 和自由現金流。

When we use the term adjusted operating income or margin, it is intended to refer to our non-GAAP operating income or margin before new pet acquisition.

當我們使用調整後營業收入或利潤率這一術語時，它是指我們在收購新寵物之前的非公認會計準則營業收入或利潤率。

Unless otherwise noted, margins and expenses will be presented on a non-GAAP basis, which excludes stock-based compensation expense and depreciation expense. These non-GAAP measures are in addition to, and not a substitute for, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with the U.S. GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review these reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP results, which can be found in today's press release or on Trupanion's Investor Relations website under the Quarterly Earnings tab.

除非另有說明，利潤和費用將按非公認會計原則列報，其中不包括基於股票的補償費用和折舊費用。這些非公認會計原則衡量標準是對根據美國公認會計原則制定的財務業績衡量標準的補充，而不是替代。我們鼓勵投資者審查這些非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比的公認會計原則結果的對賬，這些結果可以在今天的新聞稿或 Trupanion 投資者關係網站的季度收益選項卡下找到。

Lastly, I would like to remind everyone that today's call is also available via webcast on Trupanion's Investor Relations website. A replay will also be available on the site.

最後，我想提醒大家，今天的電話會議也可以通過 Trupanion 投資者關係網站上的網絡廣播進行觀看。網站上還將提供重播。

With that, I will hand the call over to Darryl.

這樣，我會將電話轉交給達里爾。

Thanks, Laura. Good afternoon. The fourth quarter capped off a strong year for Trupanion. Total revenue grew 31% over the prior year. Adjusted operating income totaled $57 million, up 29% over 2019. We invested approximately $44 million of these funds within our subscription business at an estimated internal rate of return of 41%.

謝謝，勞拉。下午好。第四季度為 Trupanion 強勁的一年畫上了圓滿的句號。總收入比上年增長31%。調整後營業收入總計 5700 萬美元，比 2019 年增長 29%。我們將其中約 4400 萬美元的資金投資於訂閱業務，預計內部回報率為 41%。

Our performance in 2020 is a testament to the consistency of our business model, the strength of our positioning in a large under-penetrated market and the power of the pet. In 2020, against a backdrop of shock and uncertainty, pets reminded us of the importance of unconditional love. From my Zoom screens to yours, pets were everywhere this past year, and not just new pets to the household. Well, much has been written about the rapid rise in pet ownership, our data suggests a modest single-digit increase.

我們 2020 年的業績證明了我們業務模式的一致性、我們在滲透率較低的大型市場中的定位優勢以及寵物的力量。 2020 年，在震驚和不確定的背景下，寵物提醒我們無條件的愛的重要性。從我的 Zoom 屏幕到你的，去年寵物無處不在，而且不僅僅是家裡的新寵物。好吧，關於寵物擁有量的快速增長已經有很多文章了，我們的數據顯示，寵物擁有量的增長幅度是個位數。

To put this in context, in a typical year with 180 million pets in North America, we'd expect 12 million pets to pass away and about 12 million new pets to be born. This year, we've seen the new pet population grow to approximately 13 million, about a 1 million increase.

結合上下文來看，在北美有 1.8 億隻寵物的典型年份中，我們預計將有 1200 萬隻寵物去世，大約有 1200 萬隻新寵物出生。今年，我們看到新增寵物數量增長到約 1300 萬隻，增加了約 100 萬隻。

Although this small increase has been helpful, the bigger opportunity remains increasing the overall penetration rate of the category. What COVID did do is accelerate the pet humanization trend that we've been witnessing over the past several decades. We'd expect this will help grow the penetration rate of the category for years to come.

儘管這一小幅增長有所幫助，但更大的機會仍然是提高該類別的整體滲透率。新冠病毒確實加速了我們在過去幾十年裡目睹的寵物人性化趨勢。我們預計這將有助於在未來幾年提高該類別的滲透率。

Our data suggests veterinary revenue and visits were up in 2020, and we saw strong growth from this important lead source. Outside of the veterinary channel, leads were up across the board, providing additional evidence that we're growing our brand.

我們的數據顯示，2020 年獸醫收入和就診次數有所增加，我們看到了這一重要的主要來源的強勁增長。在獸醫渠道之外，領先地位全面上升，為我們正在發展我們的品牌提供了額外的證據。

We're also keeping pets longer than ever before, about 78 months in 2020 compared to 70 months in 2019. The combination of increasing adjusted operating income and improved retention resulted in an impressive 25% year-over-year increase in lifetime value of a pet. Expansion in lifetime value increases our allowable pet acquisition spend, giving us the opportunity to be more aggressive in the deployment of our capital while maintaining our targeted internal rates of return.

我們飼養寵物的時間也比以往任何時候都要長，2020 年約為78 個月，而2019 年為70 個月。調整後營業收入的增加和保留率的提高相結合，使寵物的生命週期價值同比增長了25%，令人印象深刻。寵物。終身價值的擴大增加了我們允許的寵物收購支出，使我們有機會更積極地部署我們的資本，同時保持我們的目標內部回報率。

More broadly, we believe the category of pet medical insurance is growing in acceptance, and we're seeing additional opportunities as a result. I expect to share more details in my upcoming shareholder letter, which should be available in April.

更廣泛地說，我們相信寵物醫療保險類別的接受度正在不斷提高，因此我們看到了更多的機會。我預計將在即將於四月份發布的股東信中分享更多細節。

Our positioning, coupled with the expansion in our key metrics, sets us up well to continue to grow. This is evident in our fourth quarter results. Total subscription revenue grew 23% in the fourth quarter, led by a 17% increase in subscription-enrolled pets. Underlying this acceleration is net new pet growth, which is a leading indicator for a monthly recurring revenue business.

我們的定位，加上關鍵指標的擴展，使我們能夠繼續發展。這在我們第四季度的業績中顯而易見。第四季度訂閱總收入增長了 23%，其中訂閱寵物數量增長了 17%。這種加速的背後是新寵物淨增長，這是每月經常性收入業務的領先指標。

Net pets increased 72% in the quarter, benefiting from increased leads, conversion and strong retention. Maintaining and improving upon our first year retention remains an ongoing area of investment and focus. As a reminder, we see lower retention among pets within the first year with Trupanion. Please see my past shareholder letters for more details.

受益於銷售線索、轉化率和強勁保留率的增加，本季度淨寵物數量增長了 72%。維持和提高第一年的保留率仍然是我們持續投資和關注的領域。提醒一下，我們發現使用 Trupanion 的第一年寵物的保留率較低。請參閱我過去的股東信了解更多詳情。

Adjusted operating income grew 35% year-over-year to $16.6 million in the quarter. The team was able to deploy approximately $14 million of these funds within our subscription business at an estimated 35% internal rate of return, which is the midpoint of our 30% to 40% target. The team continues to impress as they demonstrate in an ability to invest increasing amounts of capital against our opportunities in this large and under-penetrated market. This sets us up well into 2021 and ahead.

本季度調整後營業收入同比增長 35% 至 1,660 萬美元。該團隊能夠在我們的訂閱業務中部署大約 1400 萬美元的資金，內部回報率估計為 35%，這是我們 30% 至 40% 目標的中值。該團隊繼續給人留下深刻印象，因為他們表現出有能力針對我們在這個龐大且滲透不足的市場中的機會投入越來越多的資本。這讓我們為 2021 年及未來做好準備。

With that, I'll hand the call over to Trish.

這樣，我就把電話轉給 Trish。

Thanks, Darryl, and good afternoon, everyone. As Darryl covered some of our 2020 financial highlights, I'll focus the majority of my commentary on our fourth quarter performance. I will also provide our outlook for the first quarter and full year of 2021.

謝謝達里爾，大家下午好。由於達里爾（Darryl）介紹了我們 2020 年的一些財務亮點，我將把大部分評論集中在我們第四季度的業績上。我還將提供我們對 2021 年第一季度和全年的展望。

I echo Darryl's sentiment that it was a strong quarter for Trupanion. Our outperformance was driven by an acceleration in net pet growth within our subscription business and continued strong performance within our other business.

我同意達里爾的觀點，即這是 Trupanion 強勁的季度。我們的優異表現是由我們的訂閱業務中寵物淨增長的加速以及我們其他業務中持續強勁的表現推動的。

Total revenue for the quarter was $142.7 million, up 35% year-over-year. Within our subscription business, revenue was $106.4 million in the quarter, up 23% year-over-year. Total enrolled subscription pets increased 17% year-over-year to approximately 578,000 pets as of December 31.

該季度總收入為 1.427 億美元，同比增長 35%。在我們的訂閱業務中，本季度收入為 1.064 億美元，同比增長 23%。截至 12 月 31 日，註冊訂閱寵物總數同比增長 17%，達到約 578,000 隻寵物。

Average monthly retention, which is calculated on a trailing 12-month basis, was 98.71% compared to 98.58% in the prior year period. Improvement in retention extended the average pet's life with Trupanion by approximately 8 months, and is impactful to our calculation of lifetime value and internal rate of return when we look at the unit economics of a single average pet.

按過去 12 個月計算的平均每月保留率為 98.71%，而去年同期為 98.58%。使用 Trupanion 後，保留率的提高將寵物的平均壽命延長了大約 8 個月，當我們考慮單個平均寵物的單位經濟效益時，這對我們計算終生價值和內部回報率有影響。

The increase over the prior year can be attributed to our improved service levels, a focus we spoke about on our last call and has continued through the year.

與上一年相比的增長可歸因於我們服務水平的提高，這是我們在上次電話會議中談到的重點，並且這一點在今年一直持續。

Monthly average revenue per pet for the quarter was $62.03, an increase of 6% year-over-year. In local currency, U.S. ARPU increased 6% and Canadian ARPU increased 4% over the prior year period. We are pleased to deliver continued acceleration in ARPU growth in the quarter, which reflects progress on our pricing initiatives, particularly in the second half of the year.

該季度每隻寵物的月平均收入為 62.03 美元，同比增長 6%。以當地貨幣計算，美國 ARPU 同比增長 6%，加拿大 ARPU 同比增長 4%。我們很高興本季度 ARPU 增長持續加速，這反映出我們的定價計劃取得了進展，特別是在今年下半年。

Our subscription cost of revenue includes the cost of paying veterinary invoices and variable expenses. The cost of paying veterinary invoices for our subscription business was 71% of revenue during the quarter. Variable expenses remained consistent with the prior year at 9% of revenue as we continue to focus on the member experience.

我們的訂閱收入成本包括支付獸醫發票的成本和可變費用。為我們的訂閱業務支付獸醫發票的成本佔本季度收入的 71%。由於我們繼續關注會員體驗，可變費用與上一年保持一致，佔收入的 9%。

Subscription gross margin was 20% of revenue in the quarter compared to 19% in the prior year period and within our annual target of 18% to 21%. Our other business segment is comprised of revenue from other products and services that generally have a B2B component and different margin profiles than our subscription business. This now includes revenue from the sale of software solutions.

本季度訂閱毛利率佔收入的 20%，而去年同期為 19%，符合我們 18% 至 21% 的年度目標。我們的其他業務部門包括來自其他產品和服務的收入，這些產品和服務通常具有 B2B 組成部分，並且利潤狀況與我們的訂閱業務不同。這現在包括來自軟件解決方案銷售的收入。

In the fourth quarter, we completed a strategic acquisition of a software company that was predominantly focused on improving our back-end processes and adding talent, but also had a small P&L impact. In total, other business revenue was $36.3 million for the quarter, an increase of 92% year-over-year.

在第四季度，我們完成了對一家軟件公司的戰略收購，該公司主要致力於改進我們的後端流程和增加人才，但也對損益產生了較小的影響。總的來說，該季度其他業務收入為 3630 萬美元，同比增長 92%。

Growth in the number of pets enrolled and products within this segment increased revenue 87% year-over-year. Additionally, the sale of software solutions contributed 6% to the growth of other revenue.

註冊寵物數量和該細分市場產品的增長使收入同比增長 87%。此外，軟件解決方案的銷售對其他收入的增長貢獻了6%。

Cost of revenue for our other business segment was $33.3 million compared to $17 million in the prior year quarter. The year-over-year increase is consistent with the increase in segment revenue over the same period.

我們其他業務部門的收入成本為 3,330 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,700 萬美元。同比增長與同期分部收入增長一致。

Total fixed expenses, which are shared services that support both our subscription and other lines of business, were 5% of revenue in the quarter, consistent with the prior year period.

總固定費用（支持我們的訂閱和其他業務線的共享服務）佔本季度收入的 5%，與去年同期一致。

Adjusted operating income was $16.6 million in the quarter, an increase of 35% over the prior year period, and our net loss was $3.5 million. The vast majority of our adjusted operating income was generated from our subscription business during the quarter at $15.6 million and was 15% of subscription revenue.

本季度調整後營業收入為 1660 萬美元，比上年同期增長 35%，淨虧損為 350 萬美元。我們調整後的營業收入絕大多數來自本季度的訂閱業務，達到 1560 萬美元，佔訂閱收入的 15%。

During the quarter, we deployed $13.8 million of our adjusted operating income to acquire over 47,000 new subscription pets. This resulted in a pack of $272 in the quarter, an estimated 35% internal rate of return for a single average pet.

本季度，我們將調整後營業收入中的 1,380 萬美元用於購買超過 47,000 只新訂閱寵物。這使得本季度的一包價值為 272 美元，預計單個寵物的內部回報率為 35%。

For more detail on how we calculate internal rate of return and adjusted operating income, please refer to our supplemental financial materials on the Investor Relations portion of our website.

有關我們如何計算內部回報率和調整後營業收入的更多詳細信息，請參閱我們網站投資者關係部分的補充財務材料。

As we enter the next phase of our growth, we expect to invest in initiatives that are pre-revenue, including adding new products and international expansion. These development expenses are costs related to product exploration and development that are pre-revenue and historically have been insignificant.

當我們進入下一階段的增長時，我們預計將投資於收入前的舉措，包括增加新產品和國際擴張。這些開發費用是與產品探索和開發相關的成本，屬於收入前且歷史上並不重要。

We view these activities as the uses of our adjusted operating income, separate from pet acquisition spend. In the quarter, we deployed $0.3 million of our adjusted operating income on these activities. Additional detail can be found within our supplemental financial materials.

我們將這些活動視為調整後營業收入的用途，與寵物收購支出分開。本季度，我們將調整後營業收入中的 30 萬美元用於這些活動。更多詳細信息可以在我們的補充財務材料中找到。

Adjusted EBITDA was $2.2 million for the quarter as compared to $3.7 million in the prior year period. Net loss was $3.5 million or a loss of $0.09 per basic and diluted share compared to net income of $0.6 million or $0.02 per basic and diluted share in the prior year period. As a reminder, profitability is impacted during periods of accelerated pet growth, as was the case in 2020.

本季度調整後 EBITDA 為 220 萬美元，上年同期為 370 萬美元。淨虧損為 350 萬美元，或每股基本股和稀釋股虧損 0.09 美元，而去年同期淨利潤為 60 萬美元，或每股基本股和稀釋股虧損 0.02 美元。需要提醒的是，在寵物加速增長期間，盈利能力會受到影響，就像 2020 年的情況一樣。

Free cash flow in the quarter was $1 million compared to $2.7 million in the prior year period. Operating cash flow in the quarter was $4 million compared to $4.5 million in the prior year period.

本季度自由現金流為 100 萬美元，而去年同期為 270 萬美元。本季度運營現金流為 400 萬美元，而去年同期為 450 萬美元。

I'll now turn to our balance sheet, which we meaningfully strengthened during the quarter. Most notably, we received a $200 million strategic investment with a 3-year lockup from Aflac in the fourth quarter. The net proceeds of which were used to fund the strategic software company acquisition that I mentioned earlier as well as to repay all outstanding obligations under our long-term credit facility.

現在我將談談我們的資產負債表，我們在本季度有意義地加強了資產負債表。最值得注意的是，我們在第四季度獲得了來自 Aflac 的 2 億美元戰略投資，且鎖定期為 3 年。其淨收益用於資助我之前提到的戰略軟件公司收購，以及償還我們長期信貸安排下的所有未償債務。

As a result, we ended the quarter with cash and investments of over $230 million and no debt. Our balance sheet at year-end also reflects goodwill and intangible assets related to our software acquisitions. The amortization of the intangible assets increased depreciation and amortization expense by $0.6 million in the quarter.

結果，本季度結束時，我們擁有超過 2.3 億美元的現金和投資，並且沒有任何債務。我們年末的資產負債表還反映了與我們的軟件收購相關的商譽和無形資產。無形資產攤銷使本季度的折舊和攤銷費用增加了 60 萬美元。

Beginning in Q4, we have separated depreciation and amortization from our other operating expenses on our financial statements to make it easier to identify variances compared to the prior year and better align with management's view of operating results. Note that the recent acquisitions are expected to increase depreciation and amortization expense by approximately $1 million per quarter in 2021.

從第四季度開始，我們在財務報表中將折舊和攤銷與其他運營費用分開，以便更容易識別與上一年相比的差異，並更好地符合管理層對運營業績的看法。請注意，最近的收購預計將使 2021 年每季度折舊和攤銷費用增加約 100 萬美元。

In summary, 2020 was a strong year financially. We were able to drive expansion in key metrics, including retention, lifetime value of a pet and adjusted operating margin, while deploying increasing amounts of our adjusted operating income at strong internal rates of return.

總而言之，2020 年是財務強勁的一年。我們能夠推動關鍵指標的擴張，包括保留率、寵物的終生價值和調整後的營業利潤率，同時以強勁的內部回報率部署越來越多的調整後營業收入。

The net result was a 33% increase in net pet growth within our subscription business and $57 million of adjusted operating income or 29% year-over-year growth. Our strong growth was also disciplined at an estimated full year internal rate of return of 41%.

最終結果是我們的訂閱業務中的淨寵物增長了 33%，調整後營業收入達到 5700 萬美元，同比增長 29%。我們的強勁增長也得益於預計全年內部回報率為 41%。

Finally, our strengthened balance sheet sets us up well to execute on the opportunities ahead of us as we move into 2021. We entered the year with strong momentum, which is reflected in our outlook for the full year and first quarter of 2021.

最後，我們強化的資產負債表使我們能夠在進入2021 年時更好地抓住面前的機遇。我們以強勁的勢頭進入了這一年，這反映在我們對2021 年全年和第一季度的展望中。

For the full year of 2021, total revenue is expected to be in the range of $659 million to $669 million. Subscription revenue for the full year is expected to be in the range of $481 million to $487 million, representing 25% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

2021年全年總收入預計在6.59億美元至6.69億美元之間。全年訂閱收入預計在 4.81 億美元至 4.87 億美元之間，同比增長 25%。

At the midpoint, we expect total adjusted operating income for the year of around $73 million, an increase of 28% over the prior year with over 90% being generated from our subscription business. Of this $73 million, we'd expect to invest approximately $60 million in acquiring pets within our subscription business and expect to spend an additional $2 million to $5 million in the development initiatives discussed earlier as well as on our other business.

我們預計全年調整後營業收入總額約為 7300 萬美元，比上年增長 28%，其中 90% 以上來自我們的訂閱業務。在這 7300 萬美元中，我們預計將投資約 6000 萬美元用於在我們的訂閱業務中獲取寵物，並預計額外支出 200 萬至 500 萬美元用於前面討論的開發計劃以及我們的其他業務。

Should we have the opportunity to deploy more adjusted operating income while operating within our IRR guardrails of 30% to 40%, we will likely choose to do so. And for the first quarter, total revenue is expected to be in the range of $151 million to $153 million. Subscription revenue is expected to be in the range of $111 million to $112 million, representing 25% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

如果我們有機會在 30% 至 40% 的 IRR 護欄內部署更多調整後的營業收入，我們可能會選擇這樣做。第一季度的總收入預計在 1.51 億美元至 1.53 億美元之間。訂閱收入預計在 1.11 億美元至 1.12 億美元之間，同比增長 25%。

Also, please keep in mind that our revenue projections are subject to conversion rate fluctuations, most notably between the U.S. and Canadian currencies. For our first quarter and full year guidance, we used a 78% conversion rate in our projections, which was the approximate rate at the end of January.

另外，請記住，我們的收入預測會受到匯率波動的影響，尤其是美元和加拿大貨幣之間的匯率波動。對於我們第一季度和全年的指導，我們在預測中使用了 78% 的轉化率，這是 1 月底的近似匯率。

Thank you for your time today, and I will now turn the call back over to Darryl.

感謝您今天抽出時間，我現在將把電話轉回給達里爾。

Thanks, Trish. 2020 was a year unlike any other. The team navigated through a period of unprecedented change and came together in support of every veterinarian and pet owner who placed their trust in Trupanion. For this, I want to say, thank you to the team. Look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in 2021.

謝謝，翠西。 2020 年是與以往不同的一年。該團隊經歷了一段前所未有的變革時期，並齊心協力支持每一位信任 Trupanion 的獸醫和寵物主人。對此，我想說，謝謝團隊。期待 2021 年我們能夠共同取得什麼成就。

With that, Margi, Trish and I are available for questions.

這樣，我和瑪吉、崔西就可以回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Mark Argento with Lake Street Capital markets.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Lake Street Capital 市場的 Mark Argento。

This is John on for Mark. First of all, just kind of looking back at the past year, maybe could you break out some of the areas where you've seen the highest returns on capital for investments? And if any of that has changed kind of since the pandemic started?

這是約翰替馬克代言。首先，回顧一下過去的一年，也許您可​​以列出一些您認為投資資本回報率最高的領域？自大流行開始以來，這些情況是否發生了變化？

John, we don't break down kind of the categories of our internal rates of return, either by channel or by pet or geography. But what I can say is that we saw increased leads and conversion rates across the board and particularly in the back half of the year.

約翰，我們不會按渠道、寵物或地理位置來細分內部回報率的類別。但我可以說的是，我們看到銷售線索和轉化率全面增加，特別是在今年下半年。

Fair enough. And then second question, I know you guys have put a pretty big focus on the customer experience over the past couple of quarters and really ramping that up. Has -- I know it would be early, but has that translated into any kind of data points or takeaways as far as your goals for Nirvana in certain markets?

很公平。第二個問題，我知道你們在過去幾個季度非常關注客戶體驗，並且確實加大了力度。我知道這還為時過早，但是就您在某些市場的 Nirvana 目標而言，這是否轉化為任何類型的數據點或要點？

Yes. We first started talking about this in Q2 and Q3, where the output of the metric that we're looking at is improved retention rates. And then you talked about Nirvana, which is when existing pets or existing members add pets or tell their friends, and if that can offset the amount of pets that are canceling.

是的。我們首先在第二季度和第三季度開始討論這個問題，我們正在研究的指標的輸出是保留率的提高。然後你談到了涅槃，即現有寵物或現有會員添加寵物或告訴他們的朋友，以及這是否可以抵消取消寵物的數量。

During the year, we had more markets than ever, hit that benchmark, and we'll talk more details about that at the upcoming shareholder meeting. But we are definitely investing more dollars in our customer experience. So it really breaks down into kind of 2 areas.

在這一年中，我們擁有比以往更多的市場，達到了這一基準，我們將在即將召開的股東大會上討論更多細節。但我們肯定會在客戶體驗方面投入更多資金。所以它實際上分為兩個區域。

One is either educating the client at the time or before they enroll or shortly after, and some of those funds show up in our pet acquisition cost. And the other area is about really trying to improve our customer experience from the speed of answering the phones to our 24/7 365 service.

一是在客戶註冊時或註冊前或註冊後不久對客戶進行教育，其中一些資金出現在我們的寵物收購成本中。另一個領域是真正努力改善我們的客戶體驗，從接聽電話的速度到我們的 24/7 365 服務。

And we're investing in areas such as technology, getting our software in more places, more automation. The recent software acquisition that Tricia mentioned are all areas that we're investing. And we're also adding the bodies and people around to make sure that we can continue to try to increase those service levels.

我們正在技術等領域進行投資，讓我們的軟件應用到更多地方，提高自動化程度。 Tricia 提到的最近的軟件收購都是我們正在投資的領域。我們還增加了周圍的機構和人員，以確保我們可以繼續努力提高這些服務水平。

The only challenge that you can expect is with accelerated growth, trying to keep up those operational excellence is a big task, but we are kind of investing to try to make that happen.

您可以預期的唯一挑戰是加速增長，努力保持卓越運營是一項艱鉅的任務，但我們正在進行投資以實現這一目標。

Yes. I'll just add a couple of things, John. I think as Darryl said, the main thing with the member experience that we're really trying to keep the momentum going with retention and how that can impact our results, and so that's a big focus for us. And we want to invest more dollars in the member experience, whether it's the claims experience or also just the general experience that our team provides.

是的。我只想補充幾件事，約翰。我認為，正如達里爾所說，會員體驗的主要內容是，我們確實在努力保持保留的勢頭，以及這如何影響我們的結果，所以這是我們的重點。我們希望在會員體驗上投入更多資金，無論是索賠體驗還是我們團隊提供的一般體驗。

And so in the guidance, it contemplates a -- for our subscription business for adjusted operating income closer to 14% for the year rather than our target of 15%. And that's the reason why is that focus on the member experience. And that's really what we've learned in 2020 is that if we focus on it, we can see results like retention.

因此，在指導中，它考慮了我們的訂閱業務今年調整後的營業收入接近 14%，而不是我們 15% 的目標。這就是為什麼要關注會員體驗的原因。這就是我們在 2020 年真正學到的，如果我們專注於此，我們就可以看到諸如保留率之類的結果。

And so we really want to double down on that going into 2021, and that's driving some of those numbers as this will be a big focus for us and to keep this momentum going.

因此，我們確實希望在 2021 年加倍努力，這將推動其中一些數字的發展，因為這將成為我們的重點，並保持這種勢頭。

And then the other thing, Darryl mentioned slightly, and it's also a key takeaway of Q4 and some of the investments that we made is technology, scalability. The main way, we have a great number of experience long term through technology, through more automation and we're investing in that area as well.

Darryl 稍微提到了另一件事，這也是第四季度的一個關鍵要點，我們所做的一些投資是技術和可擴展性。主要的方式是，我們通過技術和更多的自動化擁有大量的長期經驗，我們也在該領域進行投資。

Our next question is from Maria Ripps with Canaccord.

我們的下一個問題來自 Canaccord 的 Maria Ripps。

Trish, Margi, congrats on your expanded roles. First, can you please expand on this new product initiatives that you mentioned? And what are those investments? And how should we think about sort of any revenue related to that?

翠西、瑪吉，祝賀你們擴大了角色。首先，您能詳細介紹一下您提到的這項新產品計劃嗎？這些投資是什麼？我們應該如何考慮與此相關的任何收入？

Yes. We first started talking about this, Maria, at our shareholder meeting last year, and you can expect more details in the upcoming shareholder letter and the following shareholder meeting.

是的。瑪麗亞，我們在去年的股東大會上首次討論了這一點，您可以在即將發布的股東信和接下來的股東大會中期待更多細節。

As the category expands, as -- we really spent the first 20 years of the company trying to get to operating scale.

隨著品類的擴展，我們確實花了公司成立的前 20 年時間來努力擴大運營規模。

We've built a lot of foundation. Foundation around our data, foundation around our national sales force, what we call Territory Partners, investing in our customer experience to be the only company able to pay hospitals directly at the time of service.

我們已經打下了很多基礎。以我們的數據為基礎，以我們的全國銷售隊伍為基礎，我們稱之為“領土合作夥伴”，投資於我們的客戶體驗，成為唯一一家能夠在服務時直接向醫院付款的公司。

And when we look out the next 5, 10, 15 years, additional growth channels that we're going to be exploring are expanding into other international markets. It's going to be adding new products that are designed specifically for new distribution channels.

當我們展望未來 5 年、10 年、15 年時，我們將探索的其他增長渠道正在擴展到其他國際市場。它將添加專門為新分銷渠道設計的新產品。

The acquisition of the software company will help us take advantage of those areas. But in 2021 the guidance that Tricia provided really doesn't anticipate any of those having any material impact on our P&L in 2021, and 2022 and '23 will start to see it, but it's really -- these are long-term investments.

收購該軟件公司將幫助我們利用這些領域的優勢。但在 2021 年，Tricia 提供的指導確實預計不會對我們 2021 年的損益產生任何實質性影響，而 2022 年和 23 年將開始看到它，但實際上，這些都是長期投資。

Got it. That's very helpful. And then secondly, if we look at your full year outlook for subscription, which is -- which implies 25%, I think. Can you maybe give us some color in terms of what to expect for pet growth versus ARPU expansion?

知道了。這非常有幫助。其次，如果我們看看全年的訂閱前景，我認為這意味著 25%。您能否給我們一些關於寵物增長與 ARPU 增長的預期的信息？

And I believe last quarter, you mentioned that you may need to grow ARPU above your sort of normal 5-ish-percent range. Can you maybe share with us where you are in that sort of price initiative process and whether you have all the necessary regulatory considerations in place for price increases?

我相信上個季度，您提到您可能需要將 ARPU 提高到正常 5% 左右的範圍之上。您能否與我們分享一下您在這種價格倡議過程中的進展情況以及您是否已考慮到價格上漲的所有必要監管因素？

Sure. Thanks for the question, Maria. Yes. I mean, pricing is something that we are constantly monitoring and making sure is as accurate as possible. As we've talked about previously, we really try to price as granularly as possible down to the neighborhood level.

當然。謝謝你的提問，瑪麗亞。是的。我的意思是，定價是我們不斷監控並確保盡可能準確的事情。正如我們之前討論過的，我們確實嘗試盡可能精細地定價到社區級別。

And so that pricing, particularly at a neighborhood level, is something that is continuous. We have a large team that focuses on that and we don't expect that to change. I would highlight that I think we did a good job in 2020 in pricing and particularly in the second half of the year, moving pricing up closer to 6% versus 5%. And we expect that to continue going into 2021 and we'll remain focused on it.

因此，定價，特別是在社區層面，是連續的。我們有一個大型團隊專注於此，我們預計這一點不會改變。我想強調的是，我認為我們 2020 年在定價方面做得很好，尤其是下半年，將定價從 5% 提高到接近 6%。我們預計這種情況將持續到 2021 年，我們將繼續關注它。

As we've mentioned before, in general, our historical ARPU increases over the past 10 years have been 5% to 6%. With some of the things, corporate consolidation and other pricing trends that we see in the space, we think really, we should be in the foreseeable future, targeting closer to 6% to 7%. And our initiatives and kind of analysis of the data is focused on that, so that we can be as accurate as possible. The guidance projects that being closer to 6%, getting closer to 6% in 2021. And then the remainder, obviously, comes from pet growth as well as some semblance of -- we're not projecting dramatic improvements in retention, but we obviously have a lot of initiatives to do that, but we haven't prebaked those into our guidance. So it's really maintaining that retention momentum that we currently have.

正如我們之前提到的，總的來說，過去 10 年我們的歷史 ARPU 增幅為 5% 至 6%。考慮到我們在該領域看到的一些事情、企業整合和其他定價趨勢，我們認為，在可預見的未來，我們確實應該將目標定為接近 6% 至 7%。我們的舉措和數據分析都集中於此，以便我們能夠盡可能準確。該指導預計到 2021 年將接近 6%，更接近 6%。顯然，剩下的部分來自寵物的增長以及一些類似的情況——我們並沒有預計保留率會有顯著改善，但我們顯然有很多舉措可以做到這一點，但我們尚未將它們預先納入我們的指導中。因此，它確實保持了我們目前擁有的保留勢頭。

Our next question is from David Westenberg with Guggenheim Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自古根海姆證券公司的大衛·韋斯特伯格。

Congrats on a great year here. Can you help us reconcile new patient growth at the veterinary clinic? I know you mentioned that new pets was around 13 million versus lost pets at around 12 million. I am curious because kind of industry data says new patient growth is accelerating or has been quite robust at the practice. And I'm just wondering if that's maybe helped you in the year. And then how to maybe think about that reconciled with, of course, pet adoption? Does that make sense?

祝賀您在這裡度過了美好的一年。您能幫助我們協調獸醫診所新患者的增長嗎？我知道您提到過新寵物數量約為 1300 萬，而丟失的寵物數量約為 1200 萬。我很好奇，因為一些行業數據表明，新患者的增長正在加速，或者在實踐中已經相當強勁。我只是想知道這對你今年是否有幫助。當然，如何考慮與寵物收養相協調呢？那有意義嗎？

It does make sense. So in terms of the data that we see, while the traffic is definitely up in the veterinary industry, in general, there is, as we mentioned -- as Darryl mentioned in his remarks, most of that is coming through people visiting as opposed to new pets going in.

這確實有道理。因此，就我們看到的數據而言，雖然獸醫行業的流量肯定有所增加，但總的來說，正如我們所提到的，正如達里爾在他的講話中提到的那樣，其中大部分是通過人們來參觀的，而不是通過參觀的人來的。新寵物進來了。

The bulk of the change that you see there is people are at home with their pets during COVID. They're seeing issues with their pets, and they're taking their pets to vet more frequently. So there's an increased visit pattern there. For us, the way that reconciles with the data we're seeing is naturally, if you're going into the vet more, you're having those conversations, you're taking care -- better care of your pet. And the veterinary channel for us is back in that core moat that really we've developed those relationships with those vets over years through our Territory Partners network that allows them to appreciate the value of high-quality pet insurance.

你看到的大部分變化是，在新冠疫情期間，人們和他們的寵物待在家裡。他們發現寵物存在問題，並且更頻繁地帶寵物去做檢查。所以那裡的訪問模式有所增加。對我們來說，與我們看到的數據相一致的方式很自然，如果你更多地去看獸醫，你會進行這些對話，你會照顧 - 更好地照顧你的寵物。我們的獸醫渠道又回到了核心護城河，多年來，我們確實通過我們的領地合作夥伴網絡與這些獸醫建立了這些關係，使他們能夠欣賞高質量寵物保險的價值。

And so we think about that, coupled with the increased conversation happening in the vet level, people paying more attention to their pets. The power of the pet in the household at times of crisis. They're taking better care of them as well as that slight increase that we see in new pets coming in, so puppies and kittens.

因此，我們考慮到這一點，再加上獸醫層面的對話增多，人們更加關注他們的寵物。在危機時刻，寵物在家庭中的力量。他們正在更好地照顧它們，我們看到新寵物的數量略有增加，比如小狗和小貓。

Overall penetration rates in general are going up slightly in markets, and we can see that, but it generally is down to people taking better care of the pets in times of crisis.

我們可以看到，市場的整體滲透率總體上略有上升，但這通常取決於人們在危機時期更好地照顧寵物。

Got it. Yes, yes, yes. No, no, I got it. So it did help you in the quarter, but the help is because you target the veterinary channel and the veterinary channel itself was robust, is more than the aggregate -- new aggregate pets. Okay. No, that's...

知道了。對對對。不，不，我明白了。因此，它確實在本季度對您有所幫助，但這種幫助是因為您瞄準了獸醫渠道，而獸醫渠道本身很強大，不僅僅是新寵物的總體。好的。不，那是...

I would answer that as well. When you think about the industry in general, having moved to curb site to see the vet lead growth as strong as it was, is particularly promising. And I think just reinforces that value of the relationship that we have there because curbside, as many of us know, it's particularly challenging for the veterinary industry, but to appreciate the value and the use of the insurance is really very good for us.

我也會回答這個問題。當你考慮整個行業時，搬到路邊現場看到獸醫鉛的增長與以前一樣強勁，是特別有前途的。我認為這只是加強了我們之間關係的價值，因為正如我們許多人所知，路邊對於獸醫行業來說尤其具有挑戰性，但認識到保險的價值和使用對我們來說確實非常有好處。

Got it. And second question is for Trish. And sorry, I missed it, I got a new phone, and it's kind of cutting in and out. When you were giving guidance, I think you've said in previous calls, you do expect to increase ARPU at 7% versus 6% historically. And I think you said in the commentary, though, again, it was cutting out a little bit.

知道了。第二個問題是問崔西的。抱歉，我錯過了，我買了一部新手機，有點進進出出的感覺。我想您在之前的電話會議中說過，當您提供指導時，您確實希望將 ARPU 提高到 7%，而歷史上為 6%。我想你在評論中說過，不過，它又被刪減了一點。

You are expecting retention rates to increase and new pets to grow up, I mean new pet growth. So can you help me -- is it indeed still that 7 -- or still an increase in ARPU to kind of catch up to that 71% ratio still? Something you're expecting? And should we expect any kind of or why should we not be -- why should we not -- why should there not be a headwind to new pet growth with ARPU going up?

您預計保留率會增加，新寵物會成長，我的意思是新寵物的成長。那麼你能幫我嗎 - 確實還是那個 7 - 還是 ARPU 仍然增加以趕上 71% 的比率？有什麼你期待的嗎？我們是否應該期待任何一種或為什麼我們不應該——為什麼我們不應該——為什麼隨著 ARPU 的上升，新寵物的增長不會遇到阻力？

Yes. Let me -- I'll try to cover everything. Let me know if I miss anything, but yes. I mean, in general based on what we see in trends in costs and what's going on in the industry and data, we -- ideally, we're executing very well and we're getting closer to ARPU increases of 7% year-over-year. Now keep in mind, this is increases where we need them. And we're targeting that 71% value proposition, as you mentioned. Historically, our increases have been between 5% and 6%.

是的。讓我——我會盡力涵蓋所有內容。如果我錯過了什麼請告訴我，但是是的。我的意思是，總的來說，根據我們所看到的成本趨勢以及行業和數據的情況，理想情況下，我們執行得非常好，並且我們越來越接近 ARPU 同比增長 7% -年。現在請記住，這是我們需要的地方的增加。正如您提到的，我們的目標是 71% 的價值主張。從歷史上看，我們的漲幅在 5% 到 6% 之間。

And so we're targeting 7% over -- to be closer to where we need to be and stay -- kind of stay in that spot that we're targeting. The guidance includes 6% because we won't get to a full year of 7% immediately. So we're going from really a full year at 5% in 2020 and then moving the needle to get closer to 6% in 2021 with the target, with the data we have right now being 7%.

因此，我們的目標是超過 7%，以便更接近我們需要達到並停留的目標，即停留在我們目標的位置。該指導包括 6%，因為我們不會立即達到全年 7%。因此，我們將從 2020 年全年的 5% 的增長率開始，然後將目標轉向 2021 年接近 6% 的目標，目前我們掌握的數據是 7%。

And I think, Margi, do you want to talk about the growth side of it?

我想，瑪吉，你想談談它的增長方面嗎？

Yes. No, happy to. So I think when we think about the headwinds and new pet growth and we look at our performance and the business over the past 12 months, our leads are up, our conversion rates are up and our retention rate is up.

是的。不，很高興。因此，我認為，當我們考慮逆風和新寵物的增長，並審視過去 12 個月的業績和業務時，我們的銷售線索上升了，我們的轉化率上升了，我們的保留率也上升了。

All of that would suggest that the value proposition, the retention rates being as strong as they are, taking it to 7 to 8 months, so a significant increase through the year. Means that there is value in the product and the product is doing what it needs to do. And so the increase in ARPU does not present any headwind to it.

所有這些都表明，價值主張、保留率一樣強大，將其保留到 7 到 8 個月，因此全年都有顯著增長。意味著產品有價值並且產品正在做它需要做的事情。因此，ARPU 的增加不會對其帶來任何阻力。

Our next question is from Jon Block with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jon Block 和 Stifel。

Maybe the first one, just as we think to 2021, and this might build on Maria's question earlier, but the gross adds are really strong in the quarter. We're calculating over 30% year-over-year in the quarter. They were less than 10% in the first half of 2020, and then probably somewhere in between for 3Q. So just when we think about 2021, how do we think about the gross adds year-over-year? Is 20% plus a fair number? And then how about the cadence of that as the comps were dramatically different throughout 2020?

也許是第一個，就像我們對 2021 年的預期一樣，這可能是建立在瑪麗亞之前提出的問題的基礎上的，但本季度的總增加確實很強勁。我們計算本季度同比增長超過 30%。 2020 年上半年這一比例還不到 10%，第三季度可能介於兩者之間。那麼，當我們思考 2021 年時，我們如何看待逐年增加的總收入？加 20% 是一個合理的數字嗎？那麼，由於整個 2020 年的比賽情況截然不同，其節奏又如何呢？

Jon, I can kick this off. In terms of the sort of the flow that you saw back in 2020 with the difference in the quarters, a lot of what was happening in that year, if you look back, is we were doubling down and focusing on the things we can control. In the middle of the year, the pet growth wasn't what we were focused on, it was member experience, making sure we can be there for our members when they needed us. Focusing on the veterinary experience of partnerships. And so we deliberately decided to focus on the member as opposed to growing.

喬恩，我可以開始了。就你在 2020 年看到的季度差異的流程而言，如果你回顧過去，那一年發生的很多事情都是我們加倍努力並專注於我們可以控制的事情。年中的時候，寵物的成長不是我們關注的重點，而是會員體驗，確保我們能夠在會員需要我們的時候為他們提供幫助。重點關注合作夥伴的獸醫經驗。因此，我們特意決定將重點放在會員而不是成長上。

We started gradually as COVID -- what became more of a normality, I suppose. We started to focus on, okay, let's see how we can get that growth, how do we start to dip our toe back into that water as well as maintaining the focus on member, which we did, and we did it very effectively. The teams very skilled, and I think are increasingly skilled on the digital front, helping us to improve that conversion rate. As we look forward in 2021, the cadence of growth, we expect to be somewhat consistent, continuing to drive lead volume where we can and conversion rate help where we can.

我們是從新冠病毒開始逐漸開始的——我想這已經變得越來越常態了。我們開始關注，好吧，讓我們看看如何才能實現增長，如何開始重新投入水中，以及保持對會員的關注，我們做到了，而且做得非常有效。這些團隊非常熟練，而且我認為在數字方面越來越熟練，幫助我們提高了轉化率。展望 2021 年，我們預計增長節奏將保持一定程度的一致性，繼續盡我們所能推動潛在客戶數量，並儘可能提高轉化率。

And I'll hand over to Trish to speak specifically to the pet growth for the year and the 20% that you asked about.

我將請 Trish 專門談談今年的寵物成長以及您提到的 20%。

Yes. Yes. I'm just echoing -- building on what Margi said, we expect good momentum going into the year and then consistency moving through. To your direct question, the year-over-year comps in Q1 and Q2 of last year are lower than the back half of the year. So we'll probably -- you'll see that in the growth rates as they model out. And then when we get further in the year, we can update if trends look to be a little different than the visibility we have now. But to answer your question, yes, we've got definitely lower comps and then higher costs that will impact that calculation.

是的。是的。我只是重複——根據瑪吉所說的，我們預計今年會出現良好的勢頭，然後保持一致性。對於你的直接問題，去年第一季度和第二季度的同比業績低於下半年。所以我們可能會——你會在模型中的增長率中看到這一點。然後，當我們今年進一步發展時，我們可以更新趨勢是否與我們現在的可見度略有不同。但要回答你的問題，是的，我們的補償肯定較低，然後成本較高，這將影響計算。

Okay. And then Trish, the contribution -- I might have missed you a little bit. The contribution from the acquisition in the quarter, if you can revisit that, what that was? And what will the SaaS contribution be in 2021? I mean, the guide was ahead on revenues, but right in line with us on subscription revs. And I'm just curious, the contribution from the acquisition full year in 2021 as well.

好的。然後是崔西，我的貢獻——我可能有點想念你了。本季度收購的貢獻，如果您可以回顧一下，那是什麼？ 2021 年 SaaS 的貢獻是什麼？我的意思是，該指南在收入方面領先，但在訂閱收入方面與我們一致。我只是好奇 2021 年全年收購的貢獻。

Yes. Yes, thanks for the question, and I'll just take a minute to really highlight this acquisition because we're excited about it. We're excited to acquire, Aquarium Software is the name of the company. And the back-end really systems that they can provide to us as well as solutions that can be sold externally. They're a great company and an excellent team, and we've been very happy so far. To their contribution in the 2 months of this past quarter was small, about $1 million of top line revenue and about $300,000 in additional operating margin, and this is within the other business segment is the segment that it's classified in.

是的。是的，謝謝你的提問，我將花一點時間來真正強調這次收購，因為我們對此感到興奮。我們很高興能夠收購，Aquarium Software 是該公司的名稱。他們可以向我們提供後端真正的系統以及可以對外銷售的解決方案。他們是一家偉大的公司和一支優秀的團隊，到目前為止我們都很高興。他們在上個季度的兩個月內的貢獻很小，大約有 100 萬美元的營收和大約 30 萬美元的額外營業利潤，而且這是在其所屬的其他業務部門內。

In terms of strategy, our primary strategy is really to improve Trupanion's back-end systems, build them out so we can better -- our chances of being able to execute are much better with this team working with us and the solutions that they have.

在戰略方面，我們的主要戰略實際上是改進Trupanion 的後端系統，對其進行構建，以便我們能夠做得更好——通過與我們合作的團隊以及他們擁有的解決方案，我們執行的機會會更大。

So a lot of the things that Darryl mentioned in terms of products and initiatives, we're excited about the software to support it. And so 2021 is primarily focused on getting all of this integrated so that we can execute more fully. and also working with that team on the longer-term strategy. But we do have some revenue and other contributions there. So in the other business segment, it's about 4% to 5% of the growth of that segment's revenue is projected to come from this business.

因此，達里爾在產品和計劃方面提到的很多事情，我們對支持它的軟件感到興奮。因此，2021 年的主要重點是整合所有這些，以便我們能夠更全面地執行。並與該團隊合作制定長期戰略。但我們確實在那裡有一些收入和其他貢獻。因此，在其他業務部門中，預計該部門收入增長的 4% 至 5% 左右將來自該業務。

With all of that in mind and then obviously modest adjusted operating income profitability from there with the primary focus in 2021 being on our system.

考慮到所有這些，然後明顯適度調整營業收入和盈利能力，2021 年的主要重點是我們的系統。

Okay. Great. And last one for me, increasing ARPU, that's the allowable spend to increase for pet acquisition, if you would, retentions also improved a good amount. So really, you've had 2 levers on the LVP. Darryl, can retention improve further from here?

好的。偉大的。最後一個對我來說，增加 ARPU，這是允許增加寵物購買的支出，如果你願意的話，保留率也提高了很多。所以說真的，你在 LVP 上有 2 個槓桿。達里爾（Darryl），留存率還能進一步提高嗎？

You've gotten to very sort of a high bar, if you would? And can it improve further, especially in light of the accelerating gross adds? Or to your point, you've talked about a higher year one churn in the past. I would love to get your thoughts there.

你已經達到了很高的標準，如果你願意的話？它能否進一步改善，特別是考慮到總增加的加速？或者就您的觀點而言，您過去曾談論過第一年的流失率更高。我很想了解您的想法。

Yes. I mean our lifetime value improved 25% year-over-year, which is a staggeringly high number for the average pet. In a normal situation where retention stays the same, the lifetime value of a pet would be going up about the same as ARPU, so around 6% or 7%. Unless we are able to do -- increase the retention rates. And our retention rates moving from 70 to 78 months in the last year has created a new high water level for ourselves.

是的。我的意思是，我們的終生價值同比提高了 25%，這對於普通寵物來說是一個驚人的高數字。在保留率保持不變的正常情況下，寵物的終生價值將與 ARPU 大致相同，即 6% 或 7% 左右。除非我們能夠做到——提高保留率。我們的留存率從去年的 70 個月上升到 78 個月，為我們自己創造了新的高水位。

The question is going to be, can we sustain those with higher growth rates? We're making a lot of investments to try to do that. But to your ultimate question is, where can we go?

問題是，我們能否維持較高的增長率？我們正在進行大量投資來嘗試做到這一點。但你的最終問題是，我們能去哪裡？

I ultimately believe that we could get to 99% retention if we could execute perfectly. I think we have road maps on how to get there. I would not speculate in a model that we're going to get there anytime soon. But internally, I think that's where we think perfection would be. And we're going to put our money and resources behind the teams to try to achieve that, but don't expect it over the next couple of years. With the accelerated growth if we can maintain the 98, 71 or the 78 months in 2021, that would be a really impressive result.

我最終相信，如果我們能夠完美執行，我們的留存率可以達到 99%。我認為我們已經制定瞭如何實現這一目標的路線圖。我不會在模型中推測我們很快就會實現這一目標。但在內部，我認為這就是我們認為完美的地方。我們將投入資金和資源支持團隊來努力實現這一目標，但不要指望在未來幾年內實現這一目標。在加速增長的情況下，如果我們能在2021年保持98個月、71個月或78個月，那將是一個非常令人印象深刻的結果。

Our next question is from Andrew Cooper with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自安德魯·庫珀和雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Maybe just to go a little bit different way, thinking about 2021. One of the things we've heard from a lot of peers in the animal health space, not necessarily insurance, was about limited access to clinics.

也許只是想走一點不同的路，想想 2021 年。我們從動物健康領域的許多同行那裡聽到的一件事（不一定是保險）是關於診所的訪問機會有限。

And so just as we think about the growth in 2020 and then looking at 2021, is there anything to consider in terms of Trupanion express installations, potentially having been a little bit tougher to do this year because you did have a little bit more limited access to those new clinics, whereas where you already had the software installed or stronger existing relationships, I think, is the assumption that maybe that's what drove more of the growth appropriate? And just how do we think about that going forward?

因此，正如我們考慮 2020 年的增長，然後展望 2021 年一樣，在 Trupanion 快速安裝方面有什麼需要考慮的嗎？今年的安裝可能會有點困難，因為訪問確實有點受限對於那些新診所，如果您已經安裝了軟件或加強了現有關係，我認為，假設這可能是推動更多增長的原因是否合適？我們如何看待未來的發展？

Yes. Andrew, it's a good question. So I would say, if we look back at 2020, we did -- we obviously had a very strong year. And as you pointed out, one of the areas that we did slow down on with our in-store rate for our software. We are -- as we look forward to 2021, what we've seen is an increase in usage of it. So those that had it really start to use it. And the adoption rate then sort of slow bottom there.

是的。安德魯，這是個好問題。所以我想說，如果我們回顧 2020 年，我們確實度過了非常強勁的一年。正如您所指出的，我們確實放慢了軟件店內價格的領域之一。展望 2021 年，我們看到它的使用量有所增加。所以那些擁有它的人真的開始使用它。然後採用率就緩慢地觸底。

There are a couple of ways in which that happens. One of them is naturally within the community. Veterinarian having conversations around how do you deal with curbside, how do you deal with the phenomenon that we're going through today.

有幾種方法可以實現這種情況。其中之一自然是社區內的。獸醫正在討論如何處理路邊問題，如何處理我們今天所經歷的現象。

But also from members having an experience because it removes the burden from them, and they can take care of their pet. So we are seeing, despite the natural hazards that you have with not being able to get into the clinic, hospitals are still installing. That is still a focus business, and it's something that we are driving hard to ensure that, that member experience is there because we know the benefit it gives us overall.

但也來自會員的體驗，因為這減輕了他們的負擔，他們可以照顧他們的寵物。所以我們看到，儘管存在無法進入診所的自然危險，醫院仍在安裝。這仍然是一個重點業務，我們正在努力確保會員體驗的存在，因為我們知道它給我們帶來的整體好處。

So we've learned a lot from 2020, and we've got a lot of tactics in the pipeline to be exploring how do you get that in-store rate higher in 2021. And one of the mystery word-of-mouth recommendation, which we're starting to see come through nicely.

因此，我們從 2020 年學到了很多東西，並且正在製定很多策略來探索如何在 2021 年提高店內轉化率。其中一個神秘的口碑推薦是，我們開始看到這一點進展順利。

Darryl, anything to add?

達里爾，有什麼要補充的嗎？

No.

不。

Great. That's helpful. And then that's already been asked. So maybe just a quick update. The Florida trial has been out in the market for a little while now. Do you feel like you're at the point, given that a lot of the churn typically happens in that first year, do you feel like you're at the point where you've seen some results that give you confidence 1 way or the other? Anything to add about that program or potential other tweaks to a broader rollout of a little bit different plan or anything like that?

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後這已經被問到了。所以也許只是快速更新。佛羅里達州的試驗已經上市有一段時間了。考慮到很多流失通常發生在第一年，您是否覺得自己已經到了這個階段，您是否覺得自己已經看到了一些給您帶來信心的結果？其他？關於該計劃有什麼需要補充的嗎？或者對更廣泛地推出稍微不同的計劃或類似的計劃進行潛在的其他調整？

Yes. It's a great question. So on a broad level, we're always looking to improve and simplify what we have out there as a product. And our products are built for use in the veterinary hospital to make sure it's so as simple as possible and can give the highest and broadest coverage.

是的。這是一個很好的問題。因此，在廣泛的層面上，我們一直在尋求改進和簡化我們現有的產品。我們的產品專為獸醫醫院使用而設計，以確保它盡可能簡單，並能提供最高和最廣泛的覆蓋範圍。

Our goal with the new product is see if we can have a product that's got an increased distribution, so increased lead volume, better conversion. Increase in ARPU and therefore, longer retention and higher lifetime value. We're seeing some positive signs.

我們對新產品的目標是看看我們是否可以擁有一種增加分銷的產品，從而增加潛在客戶數量，提高轉化率。 ARPU 增加，因此保留時間更長，生命週期價值更高。我們看到了一些積極的跡象。

Our business is complicated. So it's not just the case of putting the product out there and letting it sit We need to keep marketing our data. We don't have anything stable on long-term metric-wise that we'd want to share at this point. But it has been just shy of a year, it will be a year in March. We're encouraged by what we see. And it takes time to get it right. But as soon as we're in a position where we can share more about that, we'll do that. We just keep watching and monitoring it in the meantime.

我們的業務很複雜。因此，這不僅僅是將產品放在那裡然後讓它靜置的問題，我們需要繼續營銷我們的數據。目前我們還沒有任何穩定的長期指標可以分享。但現在還不到一年，三月就將是一年了。我們對所看到的感到鼓舞。需要時間才能做到正確。但一旦我們能夠分享更多相關信息，我們就會這樣做。與此同時，我們只是繼續觀察和監控它。

Our final question is from Greg Gibas with Northland Securities.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Northland Securities 的 Greg Gibas。

Sorry if I missed this, but with respect to your guidance, what are your kind of thoughts or assumptions around that lead volumes, where they go from maybe Q4 levels? What are you expecting regarding lead volume growth from that channel?

抱歉，如果我錯過了這一點，但就您的指導而言，您對領先量有何想法或假設，它們可能來自第四季度的水平？您對該渠道的潛在客戶數量增長有何預期？

Well, when you talk about Q4, I mean the big standout was not just the number of new pets that we enrolled, but the net pet growth, at 71% year-over-year net pet growth. It's a super high number. We saw increases in leads and conversions across the board.

好吧，當你談論第四季度時，我的意思是，最引人注目的不僅僅是我們註冊的新寵物數量，還有寵物淨增長率，同比淨寵物增長率為 71%。這是一個超高的數字。我們看到潛在客戶和轉化率全面增加。

We also saw increases in retentions. And as we go into the guidance of 2020, we expect continued growth in our leads and conversions from the vet channel to existing members telling their friends. And we're going to be investing more dollars to try to maintain these higher retention rates, and we'll have to see how they play out during the year.

我們還看到保留率有所增加。當我們進入 2020 年的指導時，我們預計我們的銷售線索以及從獸醫渠道到現有會員告訴朋友的轉化將持續增長。我們將投入更多的資金來維持較高的保留率，我們必須看看它們在這一年中的表現如何。

Okay. Sounds good. I don't think we touched too much on this, but regarding the partnership with Aflac, how is that progressing. You mentioned previously that, that deal kind of taking a while to ramp to reach its full potential. So just wondering, I guess, for an updated time line on when we'd see a noticeable impact from that partnership?

好的。聽起來不錯。我不認為我們對此涉及太多，但關於與 Aflac 的合作關係，進展如何。您之前提到過，這筆交易需要一段時間才能充分發揮其潛力。所以我想知道我們什麼時候會看到這種夥伴關係產生明顯影響的更新時間表？

Yes. Well, as a reminder, Aflac is now one of our largest shareholders with just under 10% ownership of the company. And we really look at it in -- there's 2 markets Aflac has a long, long history in Japan, and we're going to be exploring, bringing Trupanion into Japan, and that's going to take us several years to do it.

是的。提醒一下，Aflac 現在是我們最大的股東之一，擁有公司近 10% 的所有權。我們真正關注的是——Aflac 在日本有兩個市場，有著悠久的歷史，我們將進行探索，將 Trupanion 引入日本，這將花費我們幾年的時間。

I can tell you, overall, there's nothing in our guidance that implies any impact from Aflac in 2021. But in the North American side, I'll let Margi talk to that. She's closer to it than I am.

我可以告訴你，總的來說，我們的指導中沒有任何內容暗示 Aflac 在 2021 年會產生任何影響。但在北美方面，我會讓 Margi 談談這一點。她比我更接近這個目標。

Yes. Thanks, Darryl. So really, kind of when we think about the North American side, specifically in the U.S. market, we've got 3 dispersed stages when we talk about time line. If I could, the first one that will be, first to market would be direct-to-consumer.

是的。謝謝，達里爾。所以，實際上，當我們考慮北美方面，特別是在美國市場時，當我們談論時間線時，我們有 3 個分散的階段。如果可以的話，第一個進入市場的產品將是直接面向消費者的。

We wouldn't expect that to see -- have any impact this year, really, particularly. So that would be just going straight on the aflac.com website. Beyond that, we then have 2 other markets.

我們預計今年不會產生任何影響，真的，特別是。這樣就可以直接在 aflac.com 網站上進行操作。除此之外，我們還有另外兩個市場。

One of them would be leveraging the expertise and the power of Aflac as a partner from the relationships they have with the large- and medium-sized businesses through their technology and their broker infrastructure.

其中之一將利用 Aflac 作為合作夥伴的專業知識和力量，通過他們的技術和經紀商基礎設施與大中型企業建立關係。

So working at launching something in 2022. It will be initially a soft launch and soft rollout to see kind of how does that work? What do we see from that?

因此，我們正在努力在 2022 年推出一些東西。最初將進行軟啟動和軟部署，看看它是如何運作的？我們從中看到什麼？

So maybe if we're successful and we execute well, we'll see some small benefit from and then in 2023, the third part of that claw is looking at how do we go after the small businesses. They're working with the 20,000 strong Aflac army of agents, who worked specifically with the small businesses across the American market, which we wouldn't be doing until 2023. So we have a very tiered release program.

因此，如果我們成功並且執行得當，我們會看到一些小好處，然後在 2023 年，第三部分是研究我們如何吸引小企業。他們正在與 20,000 名強大的 Aflac 代理商大軍合作，這些代理商專門與美國市場的小型企業合作，而我們要到 2023 年才會這樣做。因此，我們有一個非常分層的發布計劃。

We're working really closely with the team. They're a great team. Really good partnership and seeing some really good signs in terms of the road map and the skills and really kind of building on that core competency that we believe we have, which is developing the right product for the right channel a partner that understands the work site benefits so well. So really encouraged by what we see early stages yet, so a solid time line built out and developed.

我們正在與團隊密切合作。他們是一支很棒的團隊。非常良好的合作夥伴關係，在路線圖和技能方面看到了一些非常好的跡象，並且真正建立在我們認為擁有的核心能力之上，即為正確的渠道開發正確的產品，以及了解工作現場的合作夥伴好處這麼好。我們對早期階段所看到的情況感到非常鼓舞，因此制定並製定了可靠的時間表。

Got it. That's helpful, Margi. Last one for me, just relating to those pre-revenue initiatives. Tricia I think you said it was $0.3 million in the quarter. So it's pretty small at this point. But how much should we expect those initiatives to increase going forward? And could you maybe talk about some of the bigger initiatives that fall in there?

知道了。這很有幫助，瑪吉。最後一個對我來說，只是與那些收入前的舉措有關。 Tricia 我想你說過該季度的金額為 30 萬美元。所以目前它還很小。但我們預計這些舉措未來會增加多少？您能否談談其中的一些更大的舉措？

Yes, I'll start high level, and then I'll let Darryl or Margi talk to the specific initiatives, if they want to highlight any. In general, this will ebb and flow every year as opportunities arise and timing of when things launch.

是的，我將從高級別開始，然後我會讓達里爾或瑪吉談論具體舉措，如果他們想強調的話。一般來說，隨著機會的出現和事物啟動的時間，這種情況每年都會潮起潮落。

With the partnership with Aflac and other things ramping up as we look to the next 5 years and what we want to execute on. We're really starting to focus here And one thing is we've spent a lot of time, particularly the last 5 years, scaling the business, focusing on hitting margin targets. And now we have the opportunity to think more strategically and more broadly, and we have the funds available to invest in these initiatives.

隨著與 Aflac 的合作以及其他事情的不斷推進，我們展望了未來 5 年以及我們想要執行的目標。我們真的開始關注這裡，有一件事是我們花了很多時間，特別是在過去 5 年，擴大業務，專注於實現利潤目標。現在我們有機會進行更具戰略性和更廣泛的思考，並且我們有資金可用於投資這些舉措。

So that's really at the core of what we're doing. In the next year, that, combined with the kind of the sales and marketing expense related to the other business. Just typically not more than $1 million or so. We expect to be in the $2 million to $5 million range.

所以這確實是我們正在做的事情的核心。在接下來的一年中，結合與其他業務相關的銷售和營銷費用。通常不超過 100 萬美元左右。我們預計價格在 200 萬至 500 萬美元之間。

And part of it just depends on how quickly some of these time lines and product development, like Margi mentioned, how quickly they go from a big picture perspective, though, these new initiatives, we want to make sure they have the opportunity to generate when they launch 30% to 40% internal rates of return as well as targeting a 15% adjusted operating margin, similar to our current subscription business. So we're looking at it through all those lenses. Anything to highlight, Darryl?

部分原因取決於這些時間線和產品開發的速度，就像 Margi 提到的那樣，從大局來看，它們的進展速度有多快，不過，這些新舉措，我們希望確保它們有機會在何時產生他們推出30% 至40% 的內部回報率，並以15% 的調整後營業利潤為目標，類似於我們當前的訂閱業務。所以我們正在通過所有這些鏡頭來看待它。達里爾，有什麼需要強調的嗎？

Yes. Just for the impact on the business, we don't need to be doing these for the next couple of years to hit our growth goals. But we're making these investments to think about making meaningful impacts to our P&L in the 5, 10, 15 year range.

是的。僅就對業務的影響而言，我們不需要在未來幾年內這樣做來實現我們的增長目標。但我們進行這些投資是為了考慮在 5 年、10 年、15 年範圍內對我們的損益產生有意義的影響。

And they include international expansion, working with distribution partners where they can be powered by Trupanion, meaning they get access to us paying hospitals directly, our data, the same value proposition, but us designing specific products that meet the need for those distribution channels.

它們包括國際擴張，與可以由 Trupanion 提供支持的分銷合作夥伴合作，這意味著他們可以直接向我們付費的醫院、我們的數據、相同的價值主張，但我們設計滿足這些分銷渠道需求的特定產品。

And we just see a lot of opportunity ahead of us, and we're going to be planting those seeds over the next couple of years because we've now broken it out into the P&L over the next year or 2, we'll be able to start to talk about what those short-term investments look like and why we're making those investments.

我們看到前面有很多機會，我們將在未來幾年播下這些種子，因為我們現在已將其分解為未來一兩年的損益表，我們將能夠開始談論這些短期投資是什麼樣的以及我們為什麼要進行這些投資。

Look forward to my shareholder letter in April to provide more. But long term, we would expect that they're going to act more like our subscription business with 15% margin targets and 30% to 40% internal rate of returns.

期待我四月份的股東信提供更多信息。但從長遠來看，我們預計他們的行為將更像我們的訂閱業務，具有 15% 的利潤目標和 30% 至 40% 的內部回報率。

And that does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，感謝您的參與。