Engagement & Retention Project | Hiver

Criteria

Single Business Owners/Micro Businesses

SMB Owners

Remote or Distributed Teams

Company Size

Micro Businesses (1-10 employees)

Small to Medium Businesses (10-500 employees)

Small to Medium Businesses (10-500 employees)

Stage of the company

Pre PMF

Early stage

Early stage

Location

Texas, US

San Francisco, US

New York, US

Buyer Role

Owner, Sole Proprietor

Business Owner, CEO, General Manager

Team Leads, Managers

Primary Goal

Manage customer communications efficiently with minimal resources

Streamline business operations, manage customer communications effectively

Enhance collaboration and transparency among team members

Pain Points

Limited resources, wearing multiple hats, cost constraints

Limited resources, need for cost-effective solutions, managing multiple roles

Managing communication across time zones, maintaining transparency

Preferred Tools

Google Workspace, QuickBooks, Trello

Google Workspace, Slack, QuickBooks, Trello

Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, Zoom

Key Decision Criteria

Cost-effectiveness, ease of use, minimal learning curve

Cost-effectiveness, ease of use, integration with existing tools

Ability to support remote work, enhance collaboration, easy access to information

Buying Process

Direct purchase, often self-implemented

Direct purchase or through referrals, often influenced by cost and ease of implementation

Often trials products, seeks feedback from team members

Customer Journey Stage

Awareness to Decision, typically looking for cost-effective, easy-to-use tools

Awareness to Decision, typically looking for efficient tools as the business grows

Awareness to Consideration, looking for tools to enhance remote collaboration

Product Benefits for ICP

Easy to use, integrates with Google Workspace, cost-effective

Turns Gmail into a helpdesk, cost-effective, integrates with Google Workspace

Supports asynchronous communication, easy collaboration within Gmail

Challenges Addressed

Managing all aspects of the business, limited budget

Managing multiple roles, limited resources

Communication across time zones, transparency

Decision Influencers

Cost, ease of use, minimal implementation effort

Cost, ease of use, recommendations from peers

Team feedback, product trials, ease of collaboration

Frequency of Use

Daily

Daily

Daily

Appetite to Pay

Low to Medium

Medium

Medium

TAM (in Numbers)

$300 million

$2.25 billion

$675 million

Decision Blocker

Budget constraints

Cost, complexity of implementation

Integration with existing tools

Organisation Goals

Sustainable growth, profitability

Efficiency, growth, customer satisfaction

Growth, customer engagement, revenue

Preferred Outreach Channel

Email, Social Media, Referrals

Email, Referrals, Direct Sales

Email, Webinars, Content Marketing

Conversion Time

Short (1-2 weeks)

Medium (2-4 weeks)

Medium to Long (4-8 weeks)

Member

Multiple times in day

Admin

Once a day

Shared mailbox admin

Multiple times in day

Supervisor

Once a day

Member

Agent

Admin

Manager

Shared mailbox admin

Agent

Supervisor

Manager

Typical job title

Analyst, Associate, Agent

Co-owner, Director, Program Manager, General Manager

Decision maker

No

Yes

Primary Goal

Consolidating all interactions in one place

Count of unresolved interactions and who are they assigned to.

Pain point address

Not having to switch between different tools and accounts to stay on top of client inbounds

Not having to ask the team to know

What do they love about Hiver?

Managing interactions and collaborating with internal stakeholders

Higher response time, faster closure rate

How to get to them?

They use the application so in-app communication works for them along with their preferred channel.

Sending them inforamtion over their preferred channel (email, slack, WhatsApp) and nudging them to come to the app.

User

Is someone who interacts with atleast 1 assigned conversation per day.

Manager

Is someone who assigns atleast one conversation or clicks on one CTA in the analytics screen or modifies atleast one setting parameter.

Casual

-

Yes

-

Core

-

Yes

Yes

Power

Yes

Yes

Yes

User story​

​

​

​

User-story 1

My team just onboarded this new tool and I am not sure about it

I have been using Hiver for a while but we don't get so many conversations regularly hence my usage is not high

I have been using Hiver for so long that using has become comfortable and I am habitual to it.

User-story 2

I joined this team and they have been using this tool for a while

I have been using Hiver for email interactions only, I take care of the other channels on a different platform

I have integrated all my channels to Hiver and I don't need to go anywhere else.

​Level of engagement

Add to shared inbox

Once a day

2-3 times a day

Multiple times in a day

Assign email

Once a day

2-3 times a day

Multiple times in a day

Adding internal notes, tags

Once a day

2-3 times a day

Multiple times in a day

Valued Features

Valued feature set

Ease of understanding - Easy to understand without learning a new tool.

Collaboration - Easily able to response and collaborate on emails

Multi-channel integration - One product for all conversations flowing-in.

User story

​

User-story 1

I don't have the time to look at the operations, my team takes care of it.

I want to know what's my team's response time and are the conversations getting closed.

I want to know which agents are doing well, which channels has the highest inflow of conversations, what types of conversations are happening to draw insights and also better my bussiness and team.

Level of engagement

Add to shared inbox

Once a week

2-3 times a week

Once a day

Assign email

Once a week

2-3 times a week

Once a day

Adding internal notes, tags

Once a week

2-3 times a week

Once a day

View dashboard and reports

Once a week

2-3 times a week

Once a day

Valued Features

​

Valued feature set

Low cost - My team is able to handle conversations at a low cost and adoption curve.

Analytics - Tracking response time and closure rate

Advanced analytics and updates - Summarised update on conversation and insights on conversation, channel and agents. Ability to check for updates on the same thread.

Breadth

No

Hiver has one product under its suite, there aren't cross-functional products.

Depth

Yes - primary

If the user is engaging

Frequency

Yes - secondary

The user can be logged in to the portal throughout their working hours and days or comes back

Casual to core agent

Casual to core managers

Gamified onboarding

"Haven't explored all features"

Make the onboarding a gamefied experience where a newly onboarded user will get dummy emails from the Hiver team and while responding to those emails they can explore the different features of Hiver.

Exploring the feature when they get onboarded will help them to replicate in their real life scenario.

In-app

All Hiver agents and managers - free and paid

Welcome to Hiver! We’ve made getting started more engaging with our new gamified onboarding. Navigate through key features and interactive challenges designed to help you quickly master everything Hiver has to offer. Dive in today and elevate your productivity!

Progressive disclosure - Showing the features one at a time and giving them the time to absorb what one feature does.

Initial steps towards earning the badge. Over the course of the badge engagement they will be lured to be part of the Hiver premium agent community that acts as a mentor to new customers Hiver onboards.

It starts from the time a user signs-up with Hiver

Send different types of emails to the Hiver agent from the Hiver onboarding team and ask them to perform certain steps on those emails and other integrated channels if there are any. (Refer Image 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3)

% of users that completed onboarding steps/Total signed-up agents

Casual to core agent

Core to power agent

Badge & Rank Engagement Program

Making exploring Hiver fun

To encourage user engagement and reward customers for their interactions, contributions, and mastery of Hiver’s features through a badge system.

Having something to look forward to will make the agents more engaged in exploring what can help them earn a badge.

In-app along with email and slack appreciation

All Hiver agents - free and paid

We’re excited to introduce Hiver Badges, your new way to explore features, connect with our community, and earn exclusive rewards. Whether you’re mastering workflows, collaborating with your team, or sharing feedback, there’s a badge – and a reward – waiting for you.

Progressive disclosure - Unfolding the next badge as and when the user achieves one of them.

Some badges come with redeemable rewards like swag, sessions, or exclusive content, redeemable through the Hiver platform.

Access to Hiver Affiliate program and Hiver buddy program also unlocks with certain badge achievement.

It starts from the time a user gets onboarded to Hiver

Run seasonal or special campaigns where users can earn limited-edition badges. (Refer image 2.1)

Track the percentage of users who earn each badge. High completion rates indicate that users are actively engaging with the features and the program.

Casual to core managers,

Core to power managers

Collect feedback

Hiver listens to the customer - Let the customer perceive that Hiver is their go to tool that listens and executes.

Integrate with Canny.io to collect feedback and allow users to upvote on existing items. Prioritise the roadmap accordingly and keep the customers in loop with what's being developed and what's coming-up.

Empowering customers to shape the product by collecting feedback and enabling upvotes, fosters a deeper sense of investment and engagement.

In-app CTA to submit feedback.

All Hiver users - free and paid

Shaping the future of Hiver with our customer's voice. When you speak, we listen. Your insights help us prioritize what matters most, ensuring that Hiver continues to evolve in a way that truly meets your needs.

Induce IKEA effect by making them more invested

See your product requests making it to our sprint board and product.

It's a one time set-up which will take less than a day to get it up and running.

There will be a CTA on the product and a link to directly go to the whitelabelled canny board. Add pre-loaded content to the Canny board, to make it easier for the customers to upvote. ( Refer to image 1.1 and 1.2)

After running this for 3 months, show a survey to those customers who have submitted atleast one feedback on the 'Submit Feedback' on how helpful it is. If we have less than 20% of negatives, we are good.

Casual to core managers,

Core to power managers

Slack/Facebook community

Hiver's Customers - Let the customer feel at comfort being around people who are solving the same problem for their own business. Allow them to find connections and mutual interests.

Get all your customers on a slack community to offer instant support and be there for them 24*7.

Opening up a channel to be in regular touch with the customers will make them feel important and heard building a relationship beyond a transcational one.

Slack/Facebook

During onboarding, intimate the customers to join the slack channel. Drive adoption from onboarding email and then support channels.

Buyer of the product.

Connect with fellow customers, share insights, and collaborate directly with our team for instant support on your queries.

Bandwagon effect - Knowing that Hiver has a solid customer community creates trust in the product.

Instant support for their queries and an option to interact with the right team and person.

It's a one time set-up which will take less than a day to get it up and running.

Add all client facing roles to this group (customers success, customer support, product) to drive conversations with the customers.

Share relevant content and engage with users. (Refer to image 1.3, 1.4, 1.5)

Track # of customers engaging/Total Hiver customers

See if customers who are engaging are power users or not.

Casual to core managers,

Core to power managers

Quarterly Townhalls

Hiver's Product - Expanding the awarenss of Hiver customers about Hiver's potential

To foster a stronger community, conduct monthly townhalls to talk about feature releases, refer to the Canny board to show how features suggested by customers are getting prioritised.

This will show consistency on what's happening behind the scenes, they will feel important for their feedback will be incorporated, they will get access to first hand training and onboarding on any new features just over a call.

Over Zoom

Buyer of the product and admins and whoever they want to join it.

Get the latest updates, a sneak peek at our roadmap, and share your feedback live. Plus, enjoy some fun activities with the Hiver community. Don’t miss out—be part of shaping the future of Hiver!

Mere Exposure Effect - Customers will have a curiosity to know what happens on these Townhalls and the community updates about the townhall will drive FOMO to join them and feel included.

Early access to new features, free trials for paid feature releases.

Every quarter to give a 3 month update and share the next 3 months roadmap.

Introduce early access features to increase particiaption.

Offer discounts for partner products to increase participation. (Refer to image 1.6)

Measure % increased feature adoption 3 months after starting this.

Casual to core managers,

Core to power managers

Affiliate Marketing

Hiver wants their customers to grow with them - Let the customers feel that their growth and Hiver's growth are alligned

Run the financials of CAC and map it to a number that can be given out to customers month on month for the referral they got.

The LTV of that new account will also become a partial responsibility of the affiliate.

When the customers will feel that they have lot to gain from referring more customers and making sure they stay, they will be more inclined to refer and earn.

In-app - A new product page that talks about affiliate manager to make it easier for them to learn, refer and earn.

Buyer of the product

Partner with Hiver and turn your influence into income. As a Hiver affiliate, you’ll earn generous commissions for every business you refer that transforms their team’s conversation management with our platform. It’s an easy, hassle-free way to boost your revenue while sharing a tool that makes a real difference.

Endowment Effect - To give them a sense of ownership and more stake in the game of growth.

Monthly recurring commissions

It will be an ongoing activity.

Set-up an inhouse affiliate team of 2 members who will find the right commission model, right content to educate and a product that makes this journey easier.

#customers that turned affiliates/# of total Hiver customers

See if customers who are affiliates are power users or not and whether they have a higher retention

​Casual to core managers,

Core to power managers

Push daily, weekly reports on their preferred channel

"No time to login to Hiver everyday"

Refer to image 1.7

Has the customer added more than one team-member?

Yes

Has the customer added atleast one shared inbox?

Yes

Has the customer completed the onboarding milestones?

Yes

Have they opened the onboarding emails from Hiver?

Yes

Have they spoken to a sales rep atleast once?

Yes

From the call with the sales rep, do we know if they have a use case that Hiver can solve for?

Yes

Extending the trial time

Allow them to extend the trail time for another month

Allowing them enough time explore the product and also collect data about their business that you can leverage

In-app and email

"Need a longer trial window as it takes time to get my team onboard"

Enjoy extra time to explore Hiver’s features and see how it can streamline your email management. Make the most of your extended trial period!

When the trial expires.

#of customers who converted to paid after trial extension/#of customers who extended the trial

Onboarding Masterclass

Set-up a call to help the customers with step by step process. Add this on their calendar twice every week.

Hand-hold them till they are ready to sail by themselves.

Email and calendar

"Didn't understand how to use the product"

Join our Onboarding Masterclass to quickly become a Hiver expert. Learn tips, tricks, and best practices to optimize your workflow and make the most of Hiver’s powerful features. Don’t miss this opportunity to kickstart your success!

When the user is onboarded and activated but not engaging.

Did the customer fall on the core user segment after completition.

Hiver Buddy campaign

Hiver buddies are existing Hiver customers who have earned a premium badge and are influencers.

Mapped with a similar account will create relatibility and trust on Hiver.

Email and calendar

NA

Pair up with a Hiver customer who will guide you through the platform, answer your questions, and help you master the tools you need to succeed. 

When the user is onboarded and activated but not engaging

#of customers who converted after being introduced to a buddy/#of customers who were assigned a buddy

Create report from existing data

With the integration done, Hive has access to the email. Use that data to show them gaps in their business and how Hiver can step-in and solve for them.

Let the data do the talking - Help the customer see the gap in their existing process and let the act as a lever.

Email

NA

Before you dive into Hiver, take a look at your current analytics. Identify the gaps and inefficiencies in your email management. With Hiver, we’ll help you fill those gaps, streamline your processes, and boost your team’s productivity

When the user is onboarded and activated but not engaging

#of customers who converted to paid after being shown the data/#of customers who were shown the data

Embded survey at each negative action touchpoint

Create a easy to submit survey link to help you understand why is the user taking the identified negative action. Is it a voluntary or involuntary factor

The responses will help us to map out the ideal journey for the customer

In-app

NA

NA

At negative action touchpoints

NA