SAM MUKWAMU
Letterbox is a customer and feedback collection application for business, and gives users a platform to make their voices heard, with regards to businesses in their area. The app acts as a direct channel of communication between businesses and their customers, as businesses can answer clients directly in the businesses’ letterboxes, allowing them to better understand what it is that their clients want and how they can further improve services.
According to the app’s founder, Ngoni Mujuru, the idea for a universal feedback collection application came about when he was working at PwC, and he noticed how different clients had their own ways in which they collected feedback from customers. Mujuru said, “[S]ome would say send us an email to this email address, some would say come and speak to the manager, some would have a toll free number and one particular case was where a bank had renovated their banking hall and in the centre they had a book where they were asking people to write feedback […] they would actually take that feedback very seriously. Even managers would sign it off. So I just saw that and thought this is the 21st century, what if there was an app where it was just one way in which people could give any business in the world feedback, and that’s when the idea was born. I dropped out of PwC and decided to get a degree in computer science so that we could build this platform.”
What sets Letterbox apart from other feedback and collection apps and websites is that Letterbox encourages users to submit reviews by rewarding top users for giving in-depth, thoughtful and accurate feedback, through their Impact Leaderboards. Commenting on the app’s incentivised model, Letterbox’s Head of Business Development, Jc Steyn, said “I don’t want to get up from a restaurant where even if I’ve had a great experience, and go take five minutes to type out a review if it’s not going to make any difference in my life. We live in an age where people do things to get things, whether that is in the short or long run; so we’ve decided to take that whole process of reviewing and give an incentive for customers to actually do so and it’s been working very well so far.” He went on to say, “People obviously want to chase rewards, so to stand up from a place where you’ve just eaten or to leave a shop where you’ve just bought something and to take out your phone and spend 30 seconds typing a quick review, knowing that two weeks down the line you might win a free pizza or whatever the case may be, especially for students, it’s very attractive.” The rewards are sponsored by businesses, this in return gives businesses exposure to new clients.
Letterbox currently have local businesses such as Ocean Basket, Dominos Pizza Hatfield, Varsity Bakery and Romans signed on as clients, and they are planning on spreading out to get more clients on board. Mujuru and Steyn both spoke on the feedback that they’ve received from business owners, with some making suggestions which they immediately go back to their office to potentially implement. Steyn further elaborates, “We want to build our app around our first users, we don’t want to make an app that is just great because we think it’s great. We want an app that people really love to use and which fulfils all their needs with regards to feedback collection. So businesses have been really positive and they’ve been using the app and gaining value from it much more than we anticipated.”
Mujuru encourages on-campus entrepreneurs to just start and put in as much work as they can, if they have an idea, and to not leave it lying. Mujuru said, “You learn a lot once you get started, and I also want to comment that it takes time to do things. I think initially, I just thought it would take six months, but with the development team we’ve been working for two years now in our free time, and people have given up certain things, certain hobbies just to make sure we get the work done. I just want to commend the development team as they have put in a lot just to get to where we are right now.”
Letterbox is available on the Android and iOS app stores.
Image: Provided
