Editor’s Note: VisionTech Partners is a co-sponsor of The Innovation Showcase on July 9 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway. We are profiling some of the start-up companies that will be presenting.
It’s probably happened to you. A product or service doesn’t meet your expectations. So you go to the company’s website, looking for satisfaction and contact information.
You call and get an automated attendant. No satisfaction. You email and get an automatic reply. No satisfaction. Fed up, you go to social media or maybe a public review site and let the non-communicative company have it with a major rant.
Result? Your problem is still a problem, and the offending company has just lost a customer and suffered a highly public shaming.
There’s got to be a better way. Which is exactly what Indy serial entrepreneur George Klein was thinking when he founded Peoplocity three years ago. It’s a customer service platform that enables companies to engage with customers who need solutions privately, in real time, via a free mobile app, and in so doing improve the customer experience, brand loyalty and retention.
Wow! All that in an app. I could have used that the other day when the airline canceled my flight…when my cable went out…or after that bad meal I paid a fortune for.
Klein says the tension between companies and customers is growing because the channels for private communications are shrinking. Interactions that could be handled with civility given half a chance often devolve into online rants when a customer can’t find someone to listen. Peoplocity solves that problem.
“Our app empowers consumers to message a company directly via their smartphone or other device and get a quick response to their situation,” explains Klein. “We offer the app free to the public.”
So how exactly does Peoplocity connect businesses and customers, and the all-important question, create a revenue stream?
Klein explains that companies must enroll in Peoplocity, which is a cloud-based, software-as-a-service with built-in analytics, to create the direct-to-consumer channel. “We notify the company of customer messages so the company can respond. The platform organizes and aggregates all messages using tags so companies can identify trends and spot problems and act on them before it is too late.
“It’s also a great way to control both the conversation and the outcome,” he adds.
Klein hopes to start a lot of conversation at The Innovation Showcase – co-sponsored by VisionTech Partners – Thursday, July 9 at Dallara Indycar Factory in Speedway. “Our goal is to continue to build relationships, meet with potential clients and identify new team members. And if we raise some money – all the better!”