Redbeacon just launched at TC50. Given the breath and depth of the great ocean that is mobile local search, it is understanable that the TechCrunch comments are pretty mixed. Here's my take:
The Redbeacon team is impressive (all x-Google) but the stated strategy "without any phone calls" seems off target given this market. HelpHive in Seattle seemed to start with a similar strategy and deeply hid the merchant's phone number. They've since uncovered the number to appear in the listing. I've said many times that you can't route leads to SMBs without including phone calls. Will Redbeacon prove me wrong? (I am doubtful that Helphive's local number with extension will work either)
Back to Redbeacon, my experience with FastCall411, and prior, confirms that merchants want phone calls. I agree that availability is key in this market and have written on this topic many times. Getting the merchant to answer the call and show up for the appointment are the second and third biggest challenges in mobile local. The listing data is the first challenge. I am routing for Redbeacon and hope they can push the market forward.
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3 comments:
Richard - agree that phone calls and real-time interaction are how many local businesses operate; and as a connector of homeowners to home service businesses, we need to "fit" into this model. We've learned this as we've interacted with many local businesses since launch. I'm curious to hear why you don't think a local number + extension will work?
Karim Meghji
Co-founder, HelpHive.com
Karim - Nice to hear from you. I have been in the call tracking / ppcall space for several years. At my former company I connected over 100M calls for companies such as Idearc, Yellowbook, Cars.com, AutoTrader, Google, AOL and many others. Local tracking is effective when the caller believes they are calling the local business directly. Extensions are worrisome for the same reason as toll free numbers - consumers may believe that they are calling a call center (yikes!). The best way to know is to test.
The cost of the local DID (number) is so low, why did you decide to go with extension routing?
I am happy to review this on a call and would be very happy to pitch FastCall411.
Richard - We're experimenting with various aspects of consumer behavior and tracking when it comes to phone numbers. Initially, phone + extension was largely a pragmatic first step. Interestingly enough, we talked to a number of businesses this week who, largely, didn't see the benefit/value of their own unique custom #. But in the end, we do agree - testing is the only way to really know.
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