

Show HN: Talking to your customers made easy. - edo
http://gaingeek.com
Dear Hackers and founders,<p>I am working on a startup which aims to make customer development
easier, faster and perhaps lazier. We all know how important 
it is to talk to customers, GainGeek (http://gaingeek.com)
makes this process easier.<p>My hope is that this app will resonate with all those following
Eric Ries's Lean startup and Steve Blank's customer development strategy.
I thought it would be a great idea to submit my idea to the eyes of 
the most critical crowd I know. Please let me know what you think.<p>Cheers,
Edo.<p>PS: Some will note that this app could be intrusive.
    My bet is that the benefit of talking to customers
    will outweigh this disadvantage.
======
edo
For some reason, the text in the original display doesn't show, that's why
this comment here should substitute:

Dear Hackers and founders,

I am working on a startup which aims to make customer development easier,
faster and perhaps lazier. We all know how important it is to talk to
customers, GainGeek (<http://gaingeek.com>) makes this process easier.

My hope is that this app will resonate with all those following Eric Ries's
Lean startup and Steve Blank's customer development strategy. I thought it
would be a great idea to submit my idea to the eyes of the most critical crowd
I know. Please let me know what you think.

Cheers, Edo.

PS: Some will note that this app could be intrusive. My bet is that the
benefit of talking to customers will outweigh this disadvantage.

~~~
rick_2047
_For some reason, the text in the original display doesn't show, that's why
this comment here should substitute:_

This is because you can either post a link or a text. I think this was to
avoid people trying to get there comment on a prominent position.

~~~
edo
Ah, didn't know that. Strange that the interface allows me to write all that
text, when it won't show anyway.

------
muxxa
Paraphrased from a non-technical user I talked to recently:

"I can browse & evaluate services on the web more effectively and at leisure
as there is no implicit pressure from a salesperson."

I predict it would lead to a lot of swift customer exits.

~~~
edo
Interesting indeed. Would the disadvantages, especially in early startups that
have no traction yet anyway, outweigh the benefits? That is: being able to go
through the customer development cycle quicker, so you can pivot faster.

------
rlpb
I like the idea, but I wonder how effective it would be and how many visitors
would freak out and leave with a negative experience. A negative response is
my immediate fear in terms of putting this on my own site. Some figures would
be good once you have them.

Also, I'd lose the mouseovers. I was peering into the images trying to see the
backgrounds and didn't realise that there was a mouseover until I'd finished -
and at first it seemed like the images were changing randomly or on a timer or
something.

------
tptacek
So, this is basically Olark (a YC company). We use Olark and are happy with
them.

~~~
mbenjaminsmith
I was hoping this would be an alternative to Olark. They seem like a cool
company but I have constant connection problems with them. I haven't used them
long enough to figure out the issue, so it might not be their fault.

Is there any way you could have a 'help desk only' interface? I'd be scared to
pop out a dialog at some unsuspecting visitor. I imagine my OCD would kick in
and I'd alienate every person I had time to.

~~~
bcx
I'd to learn more about the issues you experienced, could you email me
directly at benc@olark.com?

-Ben

~~~
mbenjaminsmith
Hey Ben thanks. I just sent you a mail.

------
JangoSteve
I think this would work well, provided the users you target are the early-
adopter/evangelist-type people (like us on HN). However, use this on someone
like my girlfriend or my mom while they're on your site, and they'd probably
freak out and leave.

~~~
sjf
Indeed, it appears similar to the fake facebook chat popups on porn and spam
sites. I would have difficulty believing there was a real person behind it.

