In this article, you will learn about Zendo’s roadmap and plans for the first public release. I will share what value proposition we settled on and the time frame for the first public release.
Zendo Idea & Development
We spent a lot of time planning Zendo, talking to potential clients, and brainstorming. The platform’s idea seemed simple, but it was very easy to get carried away and end up with a bloated product that would have a steep learning curve. We wanted to avoid it at all costs. In our mind, as the name suggests, Zendo should be simple.
If you want to learn more about the beginning of Zendo and the idea behind it, read Zendo Genesis.
Our team at MPC is currently a few months away from launch, and we couldn’t be more excited. We started the work on Zendo in December of 2020. We plan to finish the first public release sometime in Q2 of 2021.
Because we talked to many potential customers and showed them our prototypes and mockups, we have clients lining up for beta access (if you are interested, sign up here). We do not want to rush the launch. Many businesses are counting on us to deliver an excellent solution to their struggles.
Initial Value Proposition
We started by identifying the problems that businesses are struggling with while providing customer service and custom work online. Our team has performed interviews measuring the importance of each assumption to the customer. Then, we measured satisfaction with the current solution the customer was using. This way, we were able to identify the underserved needs of fellow businesses, such as:
- Creating custom request flows,
- Setting up request statuses,
- A distraction-free payment system that is built right into the communication,
- Keeping client communication in one place,
- Automatic invoicing,
- Advance reporting including finances, agent performance, turnaround times, etc.
- One source of truth – keeping all the information about the client in one place,
- Keeping both staff & clients on the same page.
Initial Release Planning
With that in mind, we started to think about the first iteration of our product.
- What could we deliver in a reasonable time frame?
- Which of those assumptions are the most significant pain points for our customers?
Initially, we focused on our clients’ most painful problems. We discovered that the lack of a single point of truth and communication scattered across multiple channels was the biggest issue for most companies. On top of that, handling different requests with different workflows and statuses in a single workspace was also a considerable challenge.
What is different about Zendo is that it’s not a typical help desk system to handle customer service. There are plenty of customer support platforms on the market. What makes our product stand out is the integrated payment solution available inside each request. On top of that, we have a fully custom status system that enables you to tailor the workflow to your needs. For custom tasks or providing services online, those are a must-have.
We needed to build a solution that won’t force its users to change their habits. That is why we started with email integration. As a business owner, you can use the Zendo app, but your customers can perform all the actions straight from their email client. Of course, your customers can register and use the platform’s full potential, but this is not mandatory.
We narrowed down the MVP to:
- One source of truth for customer, their requests and communication,
- Building custom status flows and workflows with unlimited inboxes,
- Payment system integrated into communication. We know from our experience that this should massively increase conversion,
- Customer profile – here, you can see all the information about your client, their requests, and files you exchanged. The customer profile is an excellent place for your customers to seek for files they received from you months ago.
We want Zendo to succeed, and this is why we reach out to our users for help. Any feedback is always appreciated, even if it is far from flattering. We want to build an excellent product for you, a product you will use every day to serve your customers with ease and joy.
Thanks,
Kuba.
