Built An App, Struggling To Get Users

[MrSparks]

Bet you've never heard that one before! Built an app, struggling to get people to use it

Up until a few years ago I ran an electrical contractors, mostly commercial and high-end residential.

I always saw the need for a decent lightweight quoting app that worked anywhere, we used software but it was expensive, clunky, we didn't use half the features and it only worked on the servers at the office - something we spent thousands and thousands on just to run this software.

So last year, despite now working in ecommerce (same industry), I had the app made as a MVP (minimum viable product)!

It went pretty swimmingly, the end result was far better than I imagined, our developer is a legend!! It works really well and was far more advanced than the MVP I'd originally budgeted for.

It's a quoting app that technically works for anything, you put items in the database with fit times, costs, retail prices etc and then you add them into quotes and it figures everything out for you... but knowing I can't target everyone I've tried to target AV & home automation system integrators, CCTV installers, electricians etc... as this is the industry I'm in.

You can create templates and save items in the database, we've got a one click import feature too where you can add products from top brands (list is currently small but working on growing it) instantly so you can be up and running pretty quickly. You can also add your own items/services as I know a lot of people like to do things their own way. We've even got a customer success manager who can help get products on if need be.

Everyone that I've physically showed it too, including top brands, think it's great.. and they can see the benefits.. I'm getting good feedback all round. You can create quotes for most things pretty damn quickly and get it to customer very soon. I can quote a complete detailed and accurate multiroom audio system and send it to the customer before I've left their house...

The MVP does 70% of what the competition does at less than a 1/4 of the price, plus we're UK based and responsive whereas most others are USA.

But no ones actually signing up!!

The site isn't getting much traffic so we definitely have a marketing issue, but I'm concerned that people are showing interest but doing nothing.

Have I mistaken the "need" for this or is the MVP just not comprehensive enough?

My roadmap is to add smart automation features such as auto chasing, job costing and invoicing, business analytics (so you can see your revenues, profits, margins, where the profits coming from etc.. very valuable stuff that most service business don't have easy access to) whilst keeping the costs relatively low and keeping it fast and web based so you can use it anywhere. But I can't do that until I have incoming revenue.

Would really appreciate any advice on it, is my website poor? Is it just a case of not enough people knowing about it so can't expect much yet?

Site is www.smartquotr.com

[CasioPasio]

Right, let me add some of my wisdom to this as I've done this more than a few times

Here's what you need to do in simple: SELL THE SH!T OUT OF IT!

Keep that in mind when planning 'what do I build or do next?'

What you need is to deliver a persona when talking about your product. This is very much a sweet science - don't say 'we help you save x hours of time'. say things like 'we help you do this' talk about the actual value and forget numerical comparisons to your competitors. There is a 10x rule that you need to be numerically 10x better than your competitor and if you're not there right now I would thus avoid any stats in your sales strategies.

Get yourself a Zoom account and start cold messaging everyone and anyone on LinkedIn and start getting demos and phone calls. Get these guys booked in for a call or a Zoom video conference and for £0 you've got traffic to your website (inbound leads) and the beauty of talking to strangers ( leads turned into users that will listen)

Your website seems very good and actually would make me buy I needed the software so good job there. But as things grow start investing more and more into sales.

If your software had a bigger price tag, I would suggest a telemarketing strategy but the cost of new user acquisition will be way too high unless you register a massive company (100-300+)

If you're paying for engineers, reduce them only enough to keep the platform bug free and get a well-spoken salesperson in and let them do the talking.

There is a lot I can tell you or built point them for you, but this should give you some good ideas to start off.

OH AND REMEMBER! DON'T BE AFRAID TO TALK MONEY & ASK FOR ORDERS.

M

Edited by CasioPasio on Friday 26th April 00:23

[CasioPasio]

Just out of curiosity - can I ask what stack you used to build the web app?

[MrSparks]

CasioPasio said:

Just out of curiosity - can I ask what stack you used to build the web app?

Thanks M, I'll adjust the message slightly on the website to tell what we do rather than quoting stats etc. I think I refer a few times to saving time but might not clearly say exactly what the app does.

Sounds like we need to really stop thinking about future features etc and start trying to find people!

I am trying to get wholesalers on board, again some show interest, others don't. I'll do some chasing today and see if I can get anyone to at least mention it in a mail shot or something.

It's built from scratch with Django backend with Angular front end.

[plasticpig]

MrSparks said:

Thanks M, I'll adjust the message slightly on the website to tell what we do rather than quoting stats etc. I think I refer a few times to saving time but might not clearly say exactly what the app does.

Sounds like we need to really stop thinking about future features etc and start trying to find people!

I am trying to get wholesalers on board, again some show interest, others don't. I'll do some chasing today and see if I can get anyone to at least mention it in a mail shot or something.

It's built from scratch with Django backend with Angular front end.

Using Google Materialize for the front end framework by the looks of it?

[MrSparks]

plasticpig said:

Using Google Materialize for the front end framework by the looks of it?

To be honest I leave all that down to the developer, the back end is definitely Django as we have that awful admin panel. BuiltWith.com says Angular JS.

I had a few quotes when developing this ranging from Java, Wordpress but all my research seemed to say Python was the way forward and luckily that's what the developer I wanted to go with works with as standard, I'd used them on other projects so was keen to stick with them as I knew I'd get a good product. The app has turned out really well so whatever it is built on it was a good choice.

[CasioPasio]

MrSparks said:

Thanks M, I'll adjust the message slightly on the website to tell what we do rather than quoting stats etc. I think I refer a few times to saving time but might not clearly say exactly what the app does.

Sounds like we need to really stop thinking about future features etc and start trying to find people!

I am trying to get wholesalers on board, again some show interest, others don't. I'll do some chasing today and see if I can get anyone to at least mention it in a mail shot or something.

It's built from scratch with Django backend with Angular front end.

I'd be happy to have a call with you. I run my own SaaS platform and we've seen explosive growth using just small tactics. The best thing would be a video what you do as well.

Our platform was built using Flask and React so I might be interested in touching base with the guy who made that for you.

I can certainly help put your software in front of the right people - I can think of 100 people as we speak.

B2B sales are not about the amazingness of the product, but more who you know.

[CasioPasio]

MrSparks said:

To be honest I leave all that down to the developer, the back end is definitely Django as we have that awful admin panel. BuiltWith.com says Angular JS.

I had a few quotes when developing this ranging from Java, Wordpress but all my research seemed to say Python was the way forward and luckily that's what the developer I wanted to go with works with as standard, I'd used them on other projects so was keen to stick with them as I knew I'd get a good product. The app has turned out really well so whatever it is built on it was a good choice.

And yes......... Python is the way forward. We got a new guy onboard for some AI & deep learning work and as soon as he saw our stack, he was hooked.

[MrSparks]

CasioPasio said:

I'd be happy to have a call with you. I run my own SaaS platform and we've seen explosive growth using just small tactics. The best thing would be a video what you do as well.

Our platform was built using Flask and React so I might be interested in touching base with the guy who made that for you.

I can certainly help put your software in front of the right people - I can think of 100 people as we speak.

B2B sales are not about the amazingness of the product, but more who you know.

Hi, it would be great if you we could have a brief call, I need all the advice I can get and you clearly know what you're doing looking at your garage I can't PM you because of your settings though.

[48k]

I'm doing a similar thing in as much as I've spent the last three years building a bespoke ERM system for a client in the construction industry and am spinning off a generic app for stock management - quoting - ordering - delivery - invoicing. The idea is to keep it as generic as possible - in effect it can cope with anything where there is a bill of materials turned in to a quote that can then be ordered, delivered and invoiced. This makes it applicable to multiple industries not just the construction industry that it's been born out of.

So just wondering out loud whether you are restricting your possible sales by focusing on quite a niche market? How many AV installers are there in the country verses builders, landscapers etc. etc. for example ?

In terms of sellable functionality - what happens when a quote is accepted and a job is delivered - how does that work get invoiced and accounted for? Are you integrated with Xero or Sage for example?

As an aside - looking at your pricing it's way cheaper than I expected giving the prices that people will be paying to have a high end AV system installed!

It's great to see someone have an idea and actually get it executed. Looks good so far. Best of luck with it.

[anonymous-user]

Feeling your pain - we developed www.comparethecarpart.com and it takes a LOT to change people’s habits! I guess that’s why companies such as SLACK had to raise $1Bn in order to get traction and they’re losing 130m a year on sales of 400m...... and they’re a successful company!

[anonymous-user]

If you go to a local cafe on a regular basis, what would it take for you to try the new cafe that’s opened next door?

[MrSparks]

48k said:

So just wondering out loud whether you are restricting your possible sales by focusing on quite a niche market? How many AV installers are there in the country verses builders, landscapers etc. etc. for example ?

I do agree, there's a reason I've done it but perhaps I'm doing it the wrong way to be fair.

The software works really well for anyone who creates quotes on a regular basis, from electricians to plumbers, landscape gardners to florists.. If you create quotes then the software works.

My reasonsing for targeting the AV industry is that's where my primary business is so I am trying to get others involved and I know we can't afford to target everyone, so that's why I targeted this.

But perhaps what I should do is make the website itself generic and appeal to everyone but then use landing pages/case studies for each individual profession that we want to target. That would give us far more scope. I will look at implenting this shortly thanks.

48k said:

In terms of sellable functionality - what happens when a quote is accepted and a job is delivered - how does that work get invoiced and accounted for? Are you integrated with Xero or Sage for example?

As an aside - looking at your pricing it's way cheaper than I expected giving the prices that people will be paying to have a high end AV system installed!

Well this bit's also worrying me, at the minute the software tackles quoting... that's all it does right now, it does it well and in my opinion better than others as the software encourages a new way to quote (more on that in a minute) I'm concerned that it won't take off with generic businesses/any businesses until you can convert a quote into a job and a job into an invoice along with payment methods and Xero integration.

A lot of system integrators are already using multiple solutions, i.e quote in excel, invoice elsewhere etc.. so I was hoping that SmartQuotr would replace the spreadsheets and then later on replace the invoicing and integrate with their accounts... I don't think many businesses actually do proper job costings at all once they win the job (might be wrong!) so this element of the software is potentially new ground, we might be able to go from quote > invoice before funding the costing section.

It's all possible and is already on the road map, but it's another £10-20k+ to implement. We'd need 500 users before all of this can really happen, assuming this is the only reason stopping people signing up, so far I've not had much real-world feedback apart from one high end company that used it for a trial period, said it was great but ultimately went with a more established software, it's a bit chicken and egg though... I guess this is why people get funding!!

The subscription was originally a bit more, and in reality the amount of time it saves it's worth a lot more per month.. but unfortunately it's all about perceived value and at the minute I don't think we're getting across well enough how the software more than pays for itself. I think the sweet spot is £25 / mo + VAT but it needs to do the invoice and costing at that price...

Edited by MrSparks on Saturday 27th April 10:51

[MrSparks]

AnotherUsername said:

Feeling your pain - we developed www.comparethecarpart.com and it takes a LOT to change people’s habits! I guess that’s why companies such as SLACK had to raise $1Bn in order to get traction and they’re losing 130m a year on sales of 400m...... and they’re a successful company!

AnotherUsername said:

If you go to a local cafe on a regular basis, what would it take for you to try the new cafe that’s opened next door?

I was following your thread, looks good and once you're on the website it seems pretty clear. I think it's near on impossible to change people from one system to another system unless yours is significantly better OR target people who don't have a habit yet...

With quoting tools etc it's all of your business data, so in theory churn should be low if the software is good enough as it's a lot of aggro to migrate or export that data in a meaningful way. That's a double edged sword for us, if you like our software and don't use any software then you'll probably sign up and grow with it.. if you already use another software, even if you like our software, it'll probably be too much aggro to move over. My theory has been to try to target people who don't yet use software (a theory which I'm struggling to actually implement albeit )

I have a game-changing idea for this down the road too, it shouldn't cost significant amounts to implement but it would involve getting a brand like Toolstation/Screwfix behind it. Probably be easier if it just involved a tonne of money

I was going to reply to the coffee shop comment negatively saying how my coffee shop isn't as good as we can't afford the music system, TV's and other flashy bits. But thinking about it, the way we create quotes is different to every other SaaS that I've seen. So whilst we haven't got all the bells and whistles the core part of the day to day quoting activity has been (in our opinion) completely changed and improved.

Yet we don't get that across on the website.... I think we've got some more work to do!!

[plasticpig]

MrSparks said:

A lot of system integrators are already using multiple solutions, i.e quote in excel, invoice elsewhere etc.. so I was hoping that SmartQuotr would replace the spreadsheets and then later on replace the invoicing and integrate with their accounts... I don't think many businesses actually do proper job costings at all once they win the job (might be wrong!) so this element of the software is potentially new ground, we might be able to go from quote > invoice before funding the costing section.

It's all possible and is already on the road map, but it's another £10-20k+ to implement. We'd need 500 users before all of this can really happen, assuming this is the only reason stopping people signing up, so far I've not had much real-world feedback apart from one high end company that used it for a trial period, said it was great but ultimately went with a more established software, it's a bit chicken and egg though... I guess this is why people get funding!!

The subscription was originally a bit more, and in reality the amount of time it saves it's worth a lot more per month.. but unfortunately it's all about perceived value and at the minute I don't think we're getting across well enough how the software more than pays for itself. I think the sweet spot is £25 / mo + VAT but it needs to do the invoice and costing at that price...

Edited by MrSparks on Saturday 27th April 10:51

Do you not have a REST API? Integrations should work both ways. By all means offer integrations into other apps but you should also allow other apps to integrate with yours.

[anonymous-user]

I would divert most your resources to marketing until you have some pricing validation.

What kind of sign up rate are you seeing? Is the traffic relevant and qualified? do you have analytics set up on your sales funnel?

[MrSparks]

sambucket said:

I would divert most your resources to marketing until you have some pricing validation.

What kind of sign up rate are you seeing? Is the traffic relevant and qualified? do you have analytics set up on your sales funnel?

Yes we have analytics, facebook pixel and event tracking for sign up / log in / engagement all live. I've set some goals such as Visit > Clicked Try Now Button, Visit > Sign Up Trial Account, Trial Account > Pro Upgrade. We also use UTM tagging on most links, so whilst traffic etc is quite low we're set up to track it well.

Traffic and conversion rates on this are low and possibly too targeted. This month only 3.56% of visitors clicked the "Try It Now" button and only 2 people actually started a trial account. Zero pro upgrades this month.

Looking at the register page I might remove the name and company name so you can register with just an email and password. The next screen is a wizard anyway so we could just add the name in there.

I think I need to bite the bullet and draw up a proper campaign for this with a set budget and get some proper data.

[anonymous-user]

We're in the same boat.

We've got a couple of great little things but the big boys just kill you with marketing spend.

Same with product advertising - we have some great stuff to offer but again people with massive budgets or lead farmers control the cost so they price you out of the market.

[MrSparks]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Exactly that. Strangely I didn't actually know about D Tools until after I had SmartQuotr built (I did do research honest ) and there are a lot of similarities.

I tried D Tools Cloud out and it's quite good but I found it quite slow and very American. There are a few things that I just find strange, but also lots of things that are really good. It's a lot more expensive than ours.

D Tools SI, JetBuilt etc.. that's not my target audience, we're aiming at smaller, faster quoting companies not companies that need to create full on documents with extensive pricing requirements. We're not trying to compete in that market.

Think of it more of a serious upgrade to spreadsheets or using accounts software etc..

[MrSparks]

plasticpig said:

Do you not have a REST API? Integrations should work both ways. By all means offer integrations into other apps but you should also allow other apps to integrate with yours.

I will check with developer but I assume so, we're currently integrated with Xero on our end (i.e all monthly subscriptions etc automatically import into Xero so all our accounting is automated) and I know it's going to be possible to integrate both ways etc, just at the minute it's out of our budgets and there are likely more important features/improvements needing budget before third party integrations.