Sensis, Whitepages, Skip and other value add technology pieces

Sensis has a proud history – we can trace our origins back more than 100 years. But we are coming up to, as what can only be described as an inflection point in technology in the Australian market.

Monday Morning, My Google alarm reminds me of the Free Breakfast networking event happening in the city.

At Sensis we use the term ‘The future is bright’, but this only made possible by employees just like myself being motivated and bright each morning to promote our services wherever we go.

I have a smartphone and a tablet so I have two alarms on each device that go off and are linked to my calendar.

I find another trigger to get me motivated, looking at the images of the location on Google Maps and I notice the event location has a brightly coloured Golden Cafe. Now I imagine myself in that huge office window chatting away with an almond Coffee and croissant in my hands, sharing with others the capabilities of new product range Whitepages Connect and Skip ordering app.

'Yes that picture will do it for me that is all the motivation I need, ok let’s do this, let’s get out of bed.'

As I brush my teeth I again look on Google Maps to see how much traffic there is now to see how much longer it will take me to get there by car.

For those who know me well I am a Coffee and app connoisseur, a good day out to me is sharing a boutique coffee with a friend discussing the latest app which promises to make life easier.

I have earned one free coffee on Skip, brilliant I will use that promo just before the lunch time rush.

What struck me about Skip when I first arrived at Sensis, was how fast and responsive the app is to use and I do not say this light halfheartedly.

I had been accustomed to using the scan code on the Mcdonald's app and waiting for it load the voucher and loyalty points, but with Skip, this was something far more agile and the location software made it easy to find great Cafes nearby.

Just before I get in my car, I look at the approximate drive time on my phone 'looks like I’m going to need to find a secure car park right on the corner of the networking event this morning.'

Luckily for me Google has just recently made a speedometer tracker available in Australia so I can verify how fast I am driving at any point in my trip, giving me greater time proximity depending on how fast I drive.

I’m driving with a Bluetooth handsfree unit in my SUV (which if I am being honest only carries one passenger on most trips).

So I ask Google a question while I am driving,

“Ok Google” ‘what time does My Café open’?

The response comes back with “My Café is currently closed but will be open soon at 8am”.

‘Thanks Google’ I always say in response. I understand that some people might find it silly that I say thank you to Google voice but gratitude is a healthy practice.

Over the last two years at Sensis we have helped our clients to be not only voice ready but to keep up to date with voice search, while we see it move from early innovators to early majority adaptation in Australia.

Across the business year we have done campaigns where we have given away Google Home Mini's and Amazon Echo Dots to a few lucky winners to encourage this forward thinking in Enterprises and consumers across Australia.

According to Deloitte Australia in the 6th Annual Mobile Consumer survey,  Australians have used VA speakers 430 million times in 2019 alone.

There are so many options for a car park on one street but such little information can be found on most of these pins, in fact on investigations other Google Map users have asked questions that have been left unanswered about most of these parking lots.

On observation most of these pins are missing contact information and have a two star average Google rating.

Oh that’s looks like a good one! I say to myself out loud, Golden parking, the images show me the logo and Early bird Pricing, but wait these reviews are essay long complaints.

One user has said “The parking spaces are very tight and driving inside makes me claustrophobic.”

Hmm not too reassuring I thought to myself, but it gets worse someone else has commented saying using this parking lot is like sharing a place with homeless people, oh dear, probably too inappropriate to be kept visible on Google Maps, perhaps it could be removed?

After taking a deep breath, I resolve that I must go with the national Car park brand that I have used elsewhere, but I am only forced to this conclusion based only on previous experience because the data on Google Maps is incomplete.

Trying to use a store locator from a company’s website is usually a struggle on mobile, especially when trying to zoom in for most store locators.

This is because store locator was designed for desktop use.

Hang on a minute around the other corner I have spotted a better Car park.

Not too bad 4.2 star rating and the owner responds to their Google questions.

Only one problem I can’t see what time they are open and it just happens to be Father’s day too, so are they open later on this public holiday?

To make matters worse they haven’t claimed their page so anyone level five or above on Google could potentially edit the opening hours and other contact information.

As I call the number and get no response I think, maybe I just called a wrong number because the area code said 02 and in Melbourne the area code is 03?

As a natural contemplative person I ask myself why these things are occurring here in Melbourne? Is it difficult for a business to have a clean and up to date GMB page? This is surely not the case for companies in cities like London, Paris and Berlin?

In the middle of my day dream I am interrupted by the ringing of my phone.

The Whitepages app tells me instantly who is ringing, it looks like the parking company is calling me back.

It’s a nifty free app that has saved me many time from google searching missed calls.

I then had a quick conversation with the customer representative from the Car park company about the reviews I found online.

‘Listen I’m very picky where I choose to park my car, but if you can resolve my concerns you will have me as a loyal repeat customer’.

‘Someone posted the same review on Google and Facebook, they said your Car park has smelly, claustrophobic parking spaces?’

‘I have a large SUV and I don’t want to get scratches on it, what can you assure me in terms of vehicle safety and the sizes of parking spaces?’

I was pleasantly surprised by the response, ‘Firstly sir I can assure the parking lots are cleaned frequently and that our parking lot sizes are above the minimum standard set by the council in that area.’ ‘However what I can do for you is reserve one of our premium corner parking spots.

'It doesn’t have a concrete pillar next to it and there is no plumbing obtrusion, giving you extra room to park', said the customer service rep.

‘Okay sounds good to me, email me the link to the premium corner reservation and I will sign up for it, thanks bye.’

As I hang up the phone I contemplate customer service case studies from the U.S and compare it to other markets around the world. The future to me seems obvious, and that is to say retail marketing technology will look similar everywhere but slightly adjusted to accommodate to national culture and population size.

 Right now in Australia in 2019 we are on the verge of unlocking greater ROI from Google and other search platforms.

Much like awaiting the new iPhone release, we have to wait longer here in Australia for innovation to become available and integrated into our market.

My thinking may seem bold or overconfident but the truth is that many brands located in other nations (specifically America and most of Europe) have already been able to put a dollar figure on streamlining external communication to a centralized portal.

Once I arrived at the networking event after parking my car in the premium corner spot, I couldn't wait to share with others and see what they thought about these trends in Australia.

This is what gets me out of bed in the morning, not the coffee and croissants (although they are my preferred delicacies, hint hint).

 Every morning I wake up with the motivation to tackle technology frustrations or lack of technology in an optimistic fashion.

This is a common characteristic you will find with passionate people working in the software industry. However that isn’t to say I stay frustrated with things that can’t be changed no, but something that is a little daring, something that is worth challenging, that’s what stays on the forefront of my motivation.

I’m not attempting to be the next Thomas Edison but if I have encouraged incremental change that improves things for businesses and people that I meet then I have done something of lasting importance.

With Whitepages Connect we are doing something new for the Australian market in location search, but at the same time this is a type of software that has already seen its fair share of success for brands across the globe.

Sensis is a trusted Google Partner, this is something we regularly remind our customers, that our goal is to use our product range in a way that unlocks the highest acceptance with Google and consumers across Australia.

Submitting to Google’s rules as I’m sure you will agree will always guide your business to greater ROI.

My name is Alister and I am an Enterprise Business Specialist for Whitepages Connect and I enjoy networking events with Almond coffee and croissants.

If you would like to find out more about how Whitepages Connect could help you connect with your consumer audience, or if you would like to add your Cafe/Restaurant business to the Skip ordering app, please feel free to send an email to [email protected], and I will see how I can help you.