A couple of weeks ago I had been approached by a client of mine seeing a social networking management SaaS that named Chithi2. The customer was looking to outsource his marketing, SEO and Social Media tasks to a all-in-one web consultancy company that specialized in these services. While I was initially excited about this deal, my mind quickly started to turn. What do I want to look for in a SaaS offering from such a internet consultancy company?
While the web consultancy firm claimed that they had a strong SaaS base and a huge client list to conduct the Chithi2 operation from, my mind was quickly turned on its head. The SaaS component of this deal made me wary, given the fact there wasn't any mention of integrating some of the web services to the payroll or into the business' information management. The customer also mentioned that they would be implementing their societal networking activities through their website, and so what I had to search for in a web consultancy supplying was a web-based CRM solution. My first stop was Facebook Chithi2.
Chithi2 had Facebook open and they used it for all of their communication needs. Within a matter of days the entire area was a hotbed of conversation, with the sales staff posting and talking sales messages as well as content. This company appeared to get a soft sell approach for their clients, so I began to wonder whether they were just pulling my leg. Well, wishers are a mixed bag and one may wish to steer clear of them. In case a SaaS provider is pitching in to help you get your social media platform up and running while also assuring to control your content and SEO efforts for you, that can be a very attractive proposition indeed. Unfortunately for the customer, most of the well wishers have a tendency to recommend only the expensive services, so Chithi2 was no exception.
A couple of months after I was speaking to Avi Frister and he clarified that the first thing he did when he combined Chithi2 was to get in touch with Avi's competitor Avi Simon (he had been using Chithi2 for a while). Avi was a large fan of Chithi2 and following a couple of months of being loyal to the stage he was prepared to give it a serious try. The plan worked out well for Chithi2 as Avi was welcomed onboard. Avi became a direct hit and his advertising skills are second to none. As Avi tells me"The real Radikaa is the people, not the item".
Recently I was talking to Ravi Shastri, who is the creator of an internet consultancy called Sun TV. He had recently conducted a study of three Indian manufacturers who had come top of the paid record on the net. Each of them had used Chithi2 for a promotion tool. The common thing that all three had in common was that they'd been true to the promise of giving the user a true experience of being a part of the area. Chithi2 has a community following of over two million. To get an average entrepreneur such as Ravi Shastri, this is way beyond expectations.
Ravi gave me a bit of advice which is quite relevant to what we're doing here. Even in case you've got a great solution, or really interesting business plan or are a marketing genius, or are the next guru, your customers will not come unless you consciously communicate with them. If you can not even do this in an easy-to-understand manner, you aren't a marketer at all. Communication is the key to every relationship, not just between entrepreneurs and customers but between manufacturers and their customers as well. In this case, Chithi2 had failed in its purpose of giving Chithiras into villagers but it had successfully realised what an internet advertising company could achieve in terms of visibility and community after.