Quick Pitch: Review and talk to businesses about your experience from your smartphone or tablet
Genius Idea: Tello's SaaS platform and smartphone app allow businesses to interact with customers instantly to receive compliments or to solve customer service issues.
Waiting on hold for an hour to chat with a customer service representative can be frustrating. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just text message an airline — or any other business — when you need help?
Tello, a Palo Alto start-up, has created a SaaS and mobile application to help customers communicate with businesses easier and faster.
Joe Beninato, Tello founder and CEO, created the service so consumers could give feedback in real-time to large retailers, airlines, hotels, small businesses and restaurants. Some have called Tello an example of when Twitter meets Yelp, Beninato said. The feedback is meant to be short and sweet — although users can write more than 140 characters.
The startup launched in 2010 is backed by 14 investors including 500 Startups and True Ventures. Beninato was inspired to start Tello after seeing a truck bumper sticker that said, "How Am I Driving?" followed by a 1-800 number. But how many people actually call that number? Beninato says more people will review businesses if the processes to do so are streamlined.
iOS users can download the Tello app and create a username to provide quick feedback. Smartphone users can also text businesses, and businesses can respond via text. Reviewers only need to write a sentence or two and can add a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, Beninato said.
"If you look at an airline, when you are traveling you communicate with all sorts of people –baggage, airline, the cab driver — any step along the way you can pull out your phone to give feedback," he said.
Customers can read the reviews, but Tello wants businesses to be more involved with customer reviews. Unlike Yelp, Tello requires business to sign up for the service. The idea is businesses can respond quickly to feedback and can improve their services based on the customers' wants. Businesses can register up to three profiles on Tello for free. Premium Tello is available for $99 per month.
So far, Tello has relied on word-of-mouth to spread the word about their service. The company has not released numbers on how many people are using the service, but Beninato said lots of people in Palo Alto area are using the service and there are users in all 50 states. About 80% of the feedback has been positive, Beninato said.
"If businesses care about their customers and want to be able to respond in real-time, then Tello is what they need," Beninato said.
Do you think people will use Tello over the myriad other feedback websites already available? Tell us in the comments.
Photo courtesy of iStock, alexslalexsl, Tello
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
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