Los Angeles-based finance and accounting automation software developer BlackLine reports this morning that it added 393 new customers in 2015 and now has over 1300 customers around the world. The company said that among the new clients it added during the year were Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Malaysia Airlines, Roku and Trivago. BlackLine said that among the biggest area of growth for the company were mid-market companies, in addition to its existing large enterprise base. MORE

yardi louisiana customer property management real estate realestate softwareSanta Barbara-based property management software developer Yardi reported a win in Louisiana this morning, with Weinstein Nelson Management. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Weinstein Nelson Management, which is based in Baton Rouge, is using Yardi's software for reporting, lead tracking, and renewals for its properties. READ MORE>>. MORE

Your customers know what they want more than you do. This week’s insight came from personal experience and from a good friend who advanced the notion of the “teacher-customer” years ago. The customer would be the first to receive the new functionality in a new release. MORE

Santa Barbara-based cloud deployment software developer RightScale said Thursday that it has added three new customers, bringing its total number of software-as-a-service providers to more than 100. The firm said that Progress, Pearson Education, and Resumator are using its products to deploy and manage their software-as-a-service applications for customers in cloud environments. rightscale cloud computing software deployment customers MORE

Playa Vista-based Appetize , which develops modern, tablet- and handheld-based point of sale (POS) systems, has added a number of high profile customers, and says it has seen record growth this year. The venture backed company said it had 100 percent year over year growth, and 60 percent quarter-over-quarter growth in Q1, as a result of a number of new deployments in the restaurant and retail area. MORE

Los Angeles-based UNREAL Mobile , a spinout of FreedomPop, is targeting disgruntled Sprint customers who were hoping to take advantage of Sprint's now unavailable $15 per month unlimited mobile service. According to UNREAL, it will offer up unlimited mobile plans for just $10 per month, with no contract and no credit check--and also will offer up new Alcatel Android smartphone for less than $50. The new service also will let anyone with an existing CDMA phone activate the service. MORE

Santa Barbara-based real estate management software developer Yardi reports a customer win in Vancouver, British Columbia, saying that it has signed up Wesgroup Properties to its web-based property management and accounting platform. The financial impact of the win was not announced. Yardi said Wesgroup Properties is using its Yardi Voyager 7S software, and was already a Yardi client. Wesgroup Properties manages more than 2.2 MORE

I’m going to take that thought out into the field and validate it with my customers." I’ve spoken to dozens of customers, I have a validated customer persona, built an MVP to test key behavioral hypotheses, and the data doesn’t back what you’re saying." MORE

Santa Barbara-based Yardi has scored a customer win in Oregon, with commercial property management company Melvin Mark Companies. Melvin Mark Companies is using Yardi's Commercial LeasingPad software, which is used for customer relationship management and deal tracking. Yardi's software is being used to replace a manual, paper-driven process for its new customer. yardi oregon commercial property management software customer MORE

Santa Barbara-based enterprise resource planning software developer QAD says this morning that it has signed up a new customer in the UK, Snell Advanced Media (SAM), to manage its business processes company-wide. enterprise resource planning business process management international customer MORE

Los Angeles-based BlackLine said this morning that it has named Karen Flathers as the company's new Chief Customer Officer. BlackLine said Flathers will oversee oversee the day-to-day functions of its Implementations, Support, Customer Success and Product Training departments. acquisition merger flathers karen executive officer customer chief zuora blackline MORE

Los Angeles-based online and mobile advertising technology provider OpenX announced this morning that it has named Tish Whitcraft as the company''s new Chief Customer Officer. Whitcraft was most recently Chief Customer Officer at Tagged, and also was an executive at MySpace/Fox Interactive Media, in addition to serving as an executive at Yahoo. OpenX said that Whitcraft will head up OpenX''s partner services team, which includes support, sales engineering, and customer operations. MORE

The “empathy economy” will help define the new reality of human and machine interactions in the customer service industry. Brand loyalty has been championed by brands like Gucci and Tesla, who have both a dedicated customer base and “fans” who admire the out-of-reach products. MORE

Los Angeles-based legal software developer American LegalNet is reporting a new customer win this morning, with law firm Blank Rome LLP. american legalnet legal customer software docket calendarAmerican LegalNet said Blank Rome LLP has purchased its eDockets court-rules-based calendaring and docketing systems software, as well as Docket Direct local/federal court feeds and Smart Dockets court date calculator app. Financial impact of the win was not announced. MORE

Santa Barbara-based software developer Yardi has signed on a customer in Singapore, which will use the company's property management and accounting software. According to Yardi, Soilbuild Group Holdings Ltd. has adopted its software to automate its financing and leasing efforts. Financial details of the win were not announced. Soilbuild has more than 4 million square feet of property under management. READ MORE>>. yardi singapore property management asia international soilbuild MORE

said it has signed on a new customer, to develop surface acoustic wave (SAW) duplexers for three different bands. Name of the customer, and financial details of the deal were not announced. Resonant said the MOU with the un-named customer will include an upfront payment to the company, and additional payments to complete the designs. Goleta-based radio filter manufacturer Resonant Inc. MORE

Los Angeles-based Triton Digital , the provider of audio advertising technology, reported a win today with Neuhoff Communications. According to Triton Digital, Neuhoff has selected the company's enterprise podast management solution, to capture, edit, and distribute content to its audience. Financial impact of the win was not announced. Nehoff Communications is the operator of 22 radio stations and related websites across central Illinois and Indiana. READ MORE>>. MORE

Los Angeles-based online technology retailer Newegg said Wednesday that it has begun using Facebook Messenger for its customer support efforts. newegg facebook messenger customer support MORE

Santa Barbara-based Yardi , which develops property management and accounting software for the real estate market, reported another customer win this morning, with commercial property owner Blatteis & Schnur. Yardi did not detail the financial impact of the win. Blatteis & Schnur operates 29 multi-tenant retail properties, which it will manage with Yardi's software. MORE

Los Angeles-based Lumi , which provides the fancy, custom packaging you might see from MeUndies or FabFitFun, has raised $9M in a Series A funding, the company said on Wednesday. The company helps manage manufacturing of custom boxes and other packaging for e-commerce and other brands, using a network of suppliers. lumi custom packaging ecommerce brand branding venture capital MORE

However, savvy startups can leverage LinkedIn to create a customer acquisition and a churn reduction tool. However, in some cases, especially with its larger customers, the company displaces a competitor. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. MORE

Culver City-based Signal Sciences , the web defense software developer led by Andrew Peterson, said on Thurday that it has signed up a new customer, One Medical. Financial details of the customer win were not announced. According to Signal Sciences, One Medical will use its Web Protection Platform (WPP) for threat protection and security for its cloud applications. Signal Sciences is venture backed by CRV; the company's founders were previously on the engineering team at Etsy. MORE

Santa Monica-based MomentFeed , the developer of mobile customer analytics tools, says that it has launched a new, online-to-offline customer journey tracking tool in the latest version of its platform. makes it easier for its multi-location brand customers to track "online-to-offline journeys" and calculate the ROI of their mobile marketing efforts. momentfeed customer tracking location mobile analytics brands MORE

Santa Barbara-based property management software developer Yardi continues to add to its long list of customers, saying late last night that it has added a new customer in London. Yardi said that Triple Point Social Housing will use its Yardi Voyager software for property management, including leasing, tenant services, and accounting operations. Financial details of the win were not announced. READ MORE>>. yardi london property management software MORE

Santa Monica-based secure messaging app developer TigerText , which provides secured text messaging for the enterprise and healthcare markets, has signed up a customer in Chicago. tigertext chicago secure messaging texting healthcare enterprise customerTigerText said that Chicago Cardiology Institute (CCI), which treats cardiovascular disease in Illinois, has deployed the company's secure messaging products as part of a HIPAA compliance effort. MORE

As part of the lead in to the conference, and as a part of our sponsor relationship with the conference, we're running a series of interviews with speakers from the conference about their experience in the area of recurring revenues, customer service, and similar topics. What has been the biggest lesson you've learned in retaining and keeping customers? Whether that's our help desk, our account managers, or even the sales guys, to a certain degree, we put the customer first.We MORE

Santa Monica-based TigerText , the developer of a secure text messaging solutions which has seen widespread adoption in the healthcare industry, said it now has over 3,000 healthcare customers, after adding over 300 healthcare organizations in 2015. MORE

Poway-based semiconductor equipment supplier Cohu has acquired a "major" European automotive customer for its products, the company said late Tuesday. Name of the customer, and size of the deal, were not announced. According to Cohu, the un-named automotive customer is using its MATRiX tri-temperature pick-and-place handler combined with its multi-beam test contactors. MORE

Los Angeles-based TaskUs , which provides outsourced customer support and other back-end support for technology companies, said today that it has named Jarrod Johnson as Chief Customer Officer. johnson jarrod technology executive officer customer chief taskusJohnson was previously SVP of Sales at TaskUs, and will be based in the company's Dallas offices. Johnson also had served at ACS and IBM. MORE

Los Angeles-based OpenX said Tuesday that it has signed a Canadian telecommunications and media company, Quebecor , has a customer. OpenX said Quebecor Media is using its Ad Server technology platform, to manage and monetize its digital advertising inventory. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. Quebecor's properties include Canoe.ca, Elle Canada, and Elle Quebec. READ MORE>>. openx canada advertising server technology MORE

Santa Barbara-based property management software developer Yardi said it has signed up a customer in the UK. According to Yardi, it has been selected by Westcourt Group, a regional property development company based in the town of Harrogate North Yorkshire. Financial details of the win were not announced. READ MORE>>. yardi property management software westcourt international realestate real estate MORE

San Diego-based VizExplorer , which develops operational intelligence software used by casinos, reported a win with the Tunica-Biloxi Gaming Authority for Paragon Casino Resort, in Marksville, Louisiana. Financial details of the win were not announced. VizExplorer said the win also included its new premium consulting service. VizExplorer recently received a big round of funding from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. READ MORE>>. vizexplorer software casino analytics paragon resort biloxi MORE

Coull Offers Advertisers Video Skimlinks. Apologies: an incomplete draft of this article was inadvertently sent out previously via RSS. This article originally appeared on Forbes HERE. MORE

Today's contribution comes from Jaspar Weir , co-founder of Santa Monica-based TaskUs : Customers know what they want. In fact, eighty-nine percent of companies expect customer experience to be the most important factor as they compete for business in 2016, according to research firm Gartner. MORE

Los Angeles-based streaming television- and video-provider Hulu has selected San Antonio, Texas, as the site for a new customer service center, the company said on Thursday. Silicon Beach companies appear to be been using Texas as a convenient, low cost area for their customer service operations: this week, Santa Monica-based TaskUs also said it is opening up a customer support site in Texas, and Snapchat also has operations there. MORE

San Antonio-based Rackspace is building out its portfolio of software-focused customer service offerings, which the company notes are becoming a bigger part of everyday business operations. San Antonio —Cloud computing giant Rackspace has acquired a company that helps other businesses implement and use the Salesforce software. The deal expands Rackspace’s focus on helping companies use software and computing services, including those of previous competitors. MORE