Saturday, January 26, 2008
Matchpoint Provides Anonymous Consumer-Biz Connection
I spoke with Peter Adams, the president of Matchpoint about his company's new service that provides qualified leads to local small businesses. Matchpoint's twist is that consumers fill out a form online to have up to 5 companies compete for their business, but they don't have to give out their phone numbers.Here's how it works: Consumers fill out a form with basic questions about what kind of service they want and when -- such as I need a plumber or my car serviced today. That message is relayed via phone to 5 companies, who can decide if they want to respond. They can call and leave a voice message that is converted into an audio file that is sent to the consumer via email.
Adams say this prevents consumers from getting hounded by sales calls once they leave their phone number with a business. And instead of calling each business one at a time, they can wait for any of the 5 to respond before deciding on a service provider. The forms can offer specific questions to limit the types of consumers or determine the most appropriate business.
Adams hopes to attract business that don't have or care to have websites. Matchpoint wants to form relationships with up to 10 million local businesses, but the company will call any business. Matchpoint is an alternative to PPC campaigns, with buinesses paying a few dollars (based on an auction system) for the qualified leads. Adams says the conversion rate is double digits once a form is filled out by a consumer.
This service could be attractive to companies that haven't jumped online, which sadly is the majority in a lot of service categories. If I'm looking for a contractor or a job that might require competitive bidding, it could be beneficial to use Matchpoint to screen potential businesses.
I asked if there are ratings of services that have been linked by Matchpoint, but Adams says most consumers don't care. Matchpoint will address complaints about businesses on an individual basis.
Matchpoint also has an affiliate program so website owners can share in the revenue for any of the qualified leads generated.
Posted By John Gartner at 07:43 PM
Permanent Link: Matchpoint Provides Anonymous Consumer-Biz Connection
| Comments (0)
Subscribe to The MarketingShift Feed