About 193 million cold calls are made every year in SA, yet less than 1% lead to purchases. This is according to the creators of MiName, a start-up company that offers a solution to this problem.
"We bring hot calls to the party," says Derrick Hyde, director of MiName.
MiName aims to put the power in the hands of consumers, allowing them to decide which companies may contact them by providing a list of willing leads to companies.
Customers can sign in or register using Facebook and choose services or products from a list available on the site. This enables users to control the information they want the product and service providers to see.
The site also enables users to select or deselect companies they want to buy from. It only passes on information clients choose, for products they want, says Hyde. For instance, if buyers wanted to purchase a car, they would click on the motor category, and then select a company they would like to buy from. Providers get the lead automatically through the site's system.
Customers are also financially rewarded when they request goods and services from the site's partners and share their experiences with others on social media. The cash reward is taken out of a lead fee that is only charged to the partners upon completion of a purchase. Partners also get charged a certain marginalised monthly fee.
The start-up was founded by two young actuaries, Hyde and Gaurav Nair, as well as Lawrence Joffe, who is an engineer. The founders say MiName offers unique products and has no direct competitors. They hope to grow the site by gaining at least 30 000 users within a year.
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