Numa

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Emblush Beaute is a beauty salon. We are specialize in nails, hair, makeup, wax, and eyelash extension services at one location.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Numa?

We use Numa because we want to give our clients the flexibility to communicate with us. Numa has the ability to give our clients the option to text us from their cell phone device by calling our business phone number.

Since we've already established our business phone number as the landline, we felt it would be efficient to only have one phone number to call and text. Not only Numa, can allow clients to text us, they forward all missed calls and visual voicemails to our devices.

We can also use Numa to communicate with our clients from any devices anywhere as long as we have internet access.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal for using Numa is to give clients the flexibility to communicate with us. Some of our clients thought the texting was very convenient.

They can book appointments through Numa, and even ask questions about our services right from their fingertips. We would get a few inquires after work hours but since we are a new establishment we wouldn't want to pass any missed calls.

We care about our customer satisfaction; therefore, the initial communication is very important to us.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Numa on google after a few fail attempts to found a solution. We had no idea what this thing/service called or does it even exist, but we just google a description of what we want to do, and the search came across to Sprint. And we used it ever since.

Describe the project in detail.

So far Numa is a good fit to our business. Although, it's a small part of our marketing strategy but its complete us as a whole.

What was the team composition?

Initially, the sale rep from Sprint help us set up our account. Then, a tech came on board to help us how to use the Numa function.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We do see a slightly increase of booking through Numa. When our stylists are busy with the clients, or before/after our work hours, there are missed calls. 

Or someone leave a text message/ voicemail, the person in charge could able to see all of that on her own device and reach out to them, even when she's not physically at the salon.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

So far, we don't have any technical problem with Numa. But, the last time when we reached out about one technical concern, they took action right away.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are efficient and easy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

So far, no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and VP of Potomac River Running, a "running/walking specialty store" incorporated in 2002, helping active people find the correct athletic shoes for themselves through the use of knowledgeable staff and video gait analysis tools.

In addition to shoes, we carry and help customers determine the best apparel and accessories for their exercising needs. We have 9 retail stores in the DC/Northern Virginia region and an online store. I oversee general operations of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Numa?

We needed a solution to the many phone calls that we missed each day.....both when the store was busy and outside of business hours. Customer service is so important to our business and missed calls did not reflect well on our image.

We did not want to use traditional voicemail because I couldn't count on my staff to check it in a timely fashion, so I needed something more complete and more automated.

What were your goals for this project?

My goal with this project was to develop a system in which missed calls could be addressed quickly by staff at the store which received the initial call OR by designated employees at another location. If we could capture a message from a customer and return a response by phone or text, then we had a higher chance of retaining that customer.

Numa indicated that they could help us reach this goal and even go beyond with the artificial intelligence feature that can even suggest a correct response to simple or often asked questions (such as "what are your hours").

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

One of my customers worked for Sprint and came to me to see how he could help improve Potomac River Running. After asking some questions about our pain points, he suggested Numa for our "missed calls" problem.

Describe the project in detail.

I believe we were at the right place at the right time in terms of the development of the Numa technology. The Numa functionality was developed to the point that we could go live as soon as we completed some initial testing and educated our staff. I empowered my IT person to oversee the roll-out and I kept myself closely in the loop to understand the technology and steps needed to go live.

Honestly, Numa had the roll-out strategy all figured out and provided us with easy-to-follow steps and assigned an in-house expert to hold our hands throughout the process. We still have a relationship with this expert to this day!

What was the team composition?

We worked with 3-4 people during the initial educational introduction to Numa and the planning stage. Once we began implementation, we worked with one expert who handled all our problems. One person on the vendor side was all we needed. This person is still our go-to person from a tech support perspective.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Over the 17 years that Potomac River Running has been open, adding the Numa message managing system has been the easiest company wide "technology" update in our history. Even more surprising was that it worked almost flawlessly from the beginning.

There have been some great improvements since we started, but I would consider most of them 'enhancements' rather than fixing problems. With this program in place, I can truly say that we address 100% of the incoming questions from our customers in a satisfactory way....if not immediately then within an acceptable amount of time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Numa team was excellent.....responsive, courteous, and talented. The workflow between our two teams was better than I expected.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Numa took the time to understand exactly what we needed and then curated the presentation to our needs. Upon activation, they stayed on schedule and set reasonable expectations for timelines.

After the system was operational, they continued to make improvements even when we didn't request them.....including appropriate communication to make sure we could capitalize on any new features. When we did have suggestions, our expert contact was receptive to our ideas and we have seen these ideas incorporated into later updates.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I am thinking hard to come up with some constructive criticism, but nothing comes to mind!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of a student housing building in downtown Portland, Oregon.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Numa?

We wanted to respond quicker and more accurately to incoming phone calls, so we engaged Numa to support in handling our call volume.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Numa integrated a voicemail interface into our system—where if no one answers the phone, Numa receives it, transcribes it, and emails it to us. We then receive a text that allows us to respond directly to the caller based on information from the call.

They customized the solution so that the call responses are specific to our brand. The emails and phone agents they’ve put together are also unique to our company.

What is the team composition?

I’ve engaged with around three people in total. Marcie (Head of Marketing, Numa) has been a primary point of contact, and she’s provided me with great support.

How did you come to work with Numa?

One of their salespeople approached me. I saw value in the services he was offering because we were indeed missing some phone calls. After an initial meeting, we decided to go for it.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend roughly $150 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since November 2019 and we’ve continued to rely on their services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Numa’s process is seamless and allows me to troubleshoot quickly and in real-time. In one instance, we had a washing machine break in the after-hours. A resident called us. It was after work hours and I wasn’t on site.

Numa’s answering process notified me of the call, which allowed me to handle the problem immediately. Their text-notification system effectively minimized the damage, which I really appreciated.

The set-up has also allowed me to respond to leasing inquiries from prospects in a timely manner. That ensures that we don’t lose any prospective clients, which has been critical for our business.

How did Numa perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re terrific because they go above and beyond with their customer service. I haven’t had any issues with them whatsoever.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I get the sense that they care about their clients. I appreciate the hard work that they put into their algorithms because they make our lives significantly easier.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, there are issues with the transcription system, but it’s never a huge deal because we can just reach out to the caller. I know that Numa is working hard to streamline that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you think of an idea or question, don’t hesitate to share it with Numa. They’re open to building and learning with you. They’ve really saved my bacon a number of times, so I really recommend them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an HR & Marketing manager for Waterman's Surfside Grille, a high-volume Oceanfront restaurant in the resort area of Virginia Beach. I handle everything from social media marketing and website maintenance to hiring and staff issues, along with training programs and developing processes to increase efficiency and productivity.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Numa?

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our customer service, and one place we knew we could do better was in connecting with the customers trying to reach us by phone. Our restaurant stays so busy in the summer that the hostesses at the front desk were constantly dealing with in-person guests in front of them, and could not answer the phones (same goes with staff and management throughout the restaurant - the people currently being served had to take priority over the phone ringing off the hook). We resorted to staffing a phones-only person to sit in a quiet office and answer the phones, and with 3 lines that can ring at the same time, they still couldn't get to all of the calls...not to mention the labor was costing us quite a bit.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to determine how we could answer customers' simple questions they were calling about without tying up our hostesses on the phones all night or having to add additional staff to answer the phones for hours on end.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A local Sprint sales rep approached us with the idea of Numa, and it almost sounded too good to be true. I couldn't fathom that we didn't need any special equipment to set it up...even though our phone provider is Cox, Sprint could set up Numa just by forwarding calls. The ability to text from a landline phone number seemed fantastic. The rep also offered us a month free trial to give it a whirl without any buyer's remorse that we would be locked in to anything.

Describe the project in detail.

Our Sprint rep introduced us to our Numa service team who made the entire set up process incredibly smooth. I did most of it myself in a matter of an hour - inputting our landline number, setting up call forwarding (they had steps for this even though I use an old, slightly outdated phone system), and customizing the responses to questions that I wanted the system to automatically answer.

What was the team composition?

For the most part, I have dealt directly with one person from Numa and his response times were amazing - answering emails with minor questions in a matter of minutes, and always providing suggestions for anything I was unsure of. Knowing that I knew exactly who to contact and didn't have to go through some long phone system to talk to someone in another country, as well as having the same person to deal with every time, made the whole process incredibly easy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Numa Messenger has given us the opportunity to answer our guests' simple questions (such as our location, hours, what kind of food we serve, when we accept reservations, etc) almost instantaneously with customizable auto-replies. Using the system we can also reply personally to questions that we choose not to have auto-replies set up for, and our guests really love it. They can now get a quick answer from us without having to call in or wait on hold while we juggle 3 phone lines on a busy night. Some of our guests have told us that they love how convenient it is because they often are at work or in another place where they can't call for a reservation, but now they can just text us and get confirmation via text without having to be interrupted with a call.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our restaurant and Numa's project managers was virtually seamless. They worked with my schedule to set up initial calls and ensured we were guided through the process at every step until we were comfortable with everything.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their system is so easy to use that it almost seems too good to be true. The ability to text from a landline number has helped us be able to capture countless customers who possibly would have ended up going elsewhere after not being able to reach us. We are so grateful to have found Numa Messenger!

Are there any areas for improvement?

I've noticed that Numa is continuously improving and making tweaks here and there to keep things efficient, but I don't know of anything currently that could be improved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the sole owner & active stylist of SALON on BARRY

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Numa?

We are a boutique salon w/ 6 chairs. We are not at the point of hiring a full-time front desk associate. Numa had helped me as an owner to continue communicating w/ our guests even when I am not in the salon.

What were your goals for this project?

Numa allows me to carry on my business w/ out interruption

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Numa was a service I had never heard of but certainly solves problem that I needed. Especially in the state in time we are in w/ this corona virus.

Describe the project in detail.

Numa has allowed me a a small business owner to still operate my business 24 hrs a day 7 days a week w/ out having to actually be in my business 7 days a week.

What was the team composition?

Their customer service is fantastic and I have always had nothing short of amazing for any questions I have had.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The end result is that Numa is perfect for me & my business . I am great full to have this service to assist in my day to day activity.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The service allows for all of our team to continue to give nothing short of exceptional service & experience to our guests.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Customer service

Are there any areas for improvement?

Being able to save the contacts