Show HN: QuotePress - Easily share customer success stories

by BryanB55 • 14 years ago

23 15 14 years ago

BryanB558• 14 years ago

Hey HN, QuotePress is a very early version of a new startup we are launching. It originated from a problem that we had: we asked customers "how is everything going? Give us some feedback" and they would simply hit reply to an email and we ended up with a bunch of happy customer stories sitting in our inbox that never got added to our website.

They were also ugly and we sometimes neglected to get explicit permission from customers to post their comment on our website or social media pages.

So, this is a very early beta of what we are planning. We're not quite ready yet to take on new customers but we are interested in hearing your feedback, thoughts and ideas on the concept.

dodo53• 14 years ago

I think it could be really valuable if you can link (with permission) to some form of real identity (ie. probably Facebook/LinkedIn profile) - makes customer testimonials more believable.

BryanB558• 14 years ago

That makes a lot of sense, thanks. I think that is something sort of like what AirBNB does. We were planning to let them log in with social networks and grab their avatar but creating a profile and showing more of the real person behind it would be even better.

nlh• 14 years ago

Looks terrific so far -- I've experienced the -exact- same problem countless times and it's great that you guys are tackling it.

A related problem - and perhaps harder to solve - is going a step further: I get those glowing testimonials sitting in my inbox, and then I reply back and say "thanks! Would you mind sharing those thoughts on Yelp/Google/etc.?" 99% of the time, that's the end of the interaction :( Customer either doesn't reply, or replies and says "Sure! I'll go post a review right away." And then they don't.

BryanB558• 14 years ago

Ha reading your comment almost had me pointing at the screen saying "yes! us too!".

I really believe that consumers are becoming more and more resistant to old-fashioned marketing so it's important to stop marketing AT people and create an environment where customers will market to each other.

When a customer has a great experience and they are telling you about it you generally want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to hear what they are saying. I think we can help make this a lot easier and more likely for them to do by implementing a one click share option where they'll be able to click on social media share buttons (facebook, twitter, google etc...) and start spreading their testimonial with one click.

chintan• 14 years ago

Neat Idea! I would provide some form of "embedding" and customizing capability to match a target site. For the current site, may I ask which Wordpress theme are you using?

BryanB558• 14 years ago

Thanks! That is exactly what we had planned with our "widgets" where you can embed individual customer stories or even rotate them so they can be displayed inline with sales copy or during a sign up process.

The Wordpress theme is a child theme that we custom created on the Genesis Framework.

TimLeung• 14 years ago

This looks like a very interesting product. I love the design of the landing page as well.

BryanB558• 14 years ago

Thanks!

bravoyankee• 14 years ago

One observation: I think your pricing is off. Too expensive. I signed up anyway, but $30 /mnt is a bit rich. I'd say $9 /mnth hits the spot. Much more than that and I when it comes time to pay, many will walk.

Just my .02

BryanB558• 14 years ago

We'll definitely take a closer look at our pricing and consider some options. We'd like to see a good ROI even at $29+ per month by increasing our customers' conversions or gaining referrals.

At another startup I've worked on (virtualstagingsolutions.com) we've received a good amount of new sales from customers sharing their experience which would have paid for several months worth of QuotePress. Average sale price is $200-$300 for what we are selling and not taking into account lifetime value. However, I do realize our average sale price is priced higher than some other products or services so it wouldn't hurt for us to look into some other pricing plans.

nicpottier• 14 years ago

Nice work, I think the product does address a need. Pricing to me at least, feels a bit steep. I could probably convince myself that $9/mo is worth it, but $29 doesn't compare favorably against other services that are more complicated.

Yes I know pricing shouldn't be tied to 'difficulty' but that's my 2c.

BryanB558• 14 years ago

Thanks. Appreciate the feedback. We'll definitely look into some other pricing options.

mkching• 14 years ago

Looks very nice, and I had been looking for something like this for a while.

Part of the value proposition to me would be that it is third-party but still controlled by the site owner. By being third-party any verification of external logins you do would be more trusted than the average testimonials page of a very small company. By leaving the site owner in charge, they can know it doesn't look tacky, try to steal traffic, or contain negative reviews.

One feature I've always wished someone would implement would be a way to assure a customer they can easily have their testimonial removed if they end up unhappy with the service later.

BryanB558• 14 years ago

Great points I hadn't thought about. Thanks. Letting customers remove their testimonial sounds like a smart way to relieve some anxiety. Maybe even let them edit it so they can add to or update their results & experiences over time.

Show HN: QuotePress - Easily share customer success stories

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