Setting up an over the phone concierge

AssociatedLzvyx @ heygenius.com.au on 12/03/2017 - 18:44
Last edited 12/03/2017 - 18:45

Hi all! Name's Luke and I'm looking for feedback from fellow members of one of my most visited websites. I'm setting up an over the phone concierge with the primary purpose of enabling those who don't use the internet to the fullest extent (for instance, seniors and those with languages other than english).

The premise is that we'd be able to purchase things for them that are much cheaper than they can find in brick and mortar, quicker and accessible no matter where you are.

Our Price: ~5% of goods bought or $1/min.

I think the community in OzBargain would be the toughest market for something like this because you're probably like me: love to hunt for a bargain, love to do it yourself, etc. So what would make you consider using a service like an over the phone concierge?

Ideas I've thought of include:
- Searching for best prices when you happen to be shopping and don't have data or can't be bothered spending 10 minutes hunting around on your phone
- Serving your old folks who might not be as tech savvy as you
- needing to email someone urgently whilst you're on the road
- a confidential accountability partner for whatever addiction or habit you're trying to form (harder to lie to a person rather than an app)

Cheers!

Also if curious, our website is heygenius.com.au. Our toll free number is being registered to start from start of April.

General Discussion

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Comments

  • supnigs super skids on 12/03/2017 - 18:51
    +1

    Feed my fish and dogs at home when my captain sails the yacht

  • outlander on 12/03/2017 - 18:58

    Interesting idea. I don't know I'd use it, but I had idea for something similar. Sometimes products go on clearance, and you don't know which stores have them or which don't, and the only way to find out is to call them one after the other. If there was a service that could call on your behalf and find and reserve stock, that is something I'd happily pay for, providing it wasn't more than a couple of dollars per phone call.

    • Associatedzvyx @ heygenius.com.au on 12/03/2017 - 19:50

      Thanks - to clarify, you'd be happy to pay a couple of dollars per phone call to each store? (So that would be something like $20 for that product if you check 10 stores). We could certainly do something like this. Would be worth it for fairly costly products.

  • holdenmg on 12/03/2017 - 19:12

    Hi,
    Given that people have to register and you have identified some potential customer groups like Elderly, LOTE, how are you going to service those customers that speak Languages other than English?

    Are you capturing their preferred language on registration or going to have phone interpreters on call?

    Are you going to record calls so that your interests are protected in the event of a misunderstanding or fraud?

    How will you store my Credit Card details and what is the Privacy Policy?

    • Associatedzvyx @ heygenius.com.au on 12/03/2017 - 19:53
      +2

      Yep thats right, capturing preferred language on rego and we have bilingual and multilingual agents. Call recording is standard for call centers so yes that will be done. Im also looking into voice verification solutions that verify persons based on voice (apparently works when you have a cold as well, and has some algorithm against recordings of your voice)

      Planning to store cc details with Stripe which is much more secure than what i can ever develop - privacy policy being drafted with lawyer help shortly too :)

  • hell0 on 12/03/2017 - 20:00

    I think the idea is pretty good but if it is aimed for the elderly then how would they find your site? If they eventually find it I think they would struggle with understanding what you do as the info seems convoluted without clarity about what you do and the pricing. How about some sample user experiences so people can see how the whole thing works…maybe a video showing these experiences to make it easy as pie to understand… The site looks good, but it looks like a template that doesn't suit the content, hence valuable features/information is omitted to make sure the template doesn't get broken…

    Registration is a draw-back. Make the process easy so even if you aren't registered you can make a booking and the info can be obtained over the phone.

    Get the business out there with some marketing. Were you able to help an elderly person do something that saved their day/pets life etc? Journalists are strapped for time/ideas and this could be a good story that because of its uniqueness may cut through all the other promo material they are bombarded with and get you some real customers for cheap.

    So much other stuff but I think you will learn from trial and error and I wish you well with ur cool business!

    • Associatedzvyx @ heygenius.com.au on 13/03/2017 - 00:14

      Cheers mate, yup the website design is templated but I do have some knowledge of HTML and CSS so will take a look at design principles etc.

      The website is a small part of the overall marketing strategy - as you say, traditional means of getting attention like local papers are high on my agenda although no use cases or testimonials yet so bit hard to sell to them.

      Registration is planned to be available over the phone as well as online. The purpose of registration and promotion on the Web is that there are a lot of people who might see this and use even though they're not part of our target market (e.g. busy professionals, people who are tied into immigrant communities etc).

  • loulou1 on 12/03/2017 - 20:24
    +1

    Some credit cards already offer free concierge services for this type of thing. I know mine does.
    They will track an item down for me If my local store does not have what I am after.

    • Associatedzvyx @ heygenius.com.au on 13/03/2017 - 00:16

      Yup, I saw, thanks - I think our scope is a lot broader than that though. Also not sure how aware people are of cc services doing this?

  • Peace Maker on 12/03/2017 - 21:41
    +1

    Sounds like airtasker but over the phone right? Is this restricted to online activities you can perform or do you plan to move into the physical realm? Say you get a better phone plan for an elderly client, will you help them set up/configure their device or do they go elsewhere?

    I have a feeling that people who you are aiming your service at would be dependent on you for more than you are prepared to offer, e.g broad tech support.

    • Associatedzvyx @ heygenius.com.au on 13/03/2017 - 00:18

      Yup that's right - we can get someone out there, initially the plan is to refer to airtasker/fiverr for the physical odd jobs but we'll move into physical space if we find its in demand.

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