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37 Comments

Started free tier. Would you use it? ๐Ÿค”

Hey! Wanted to share that I created a free tier for my app.

What is the app about?

None of my friends like to use live chat because:

  • Sometimes you don't get a reply
  • You have to keep the tab with the chat open
  • Sometimes you get a reply but you forgot to open the tab and the agent is already gone again

Why are we forcing customers to use something new? They already have great communication channels!

I'm working on Boei.help mostly for fun, but also to help resolve this issue. I don't want to give customers only live chat, but also WhatsApp, Twitter DMs, Facebook messenger and other options. I want to provide support to my customers on the channels that they already use, build a relationship instead of being a live chat robot.

Why do I offer it for free? Do I sell your data?
Absolutely not! I offer it for free because of two reasons:

  1. I think it is awesome to see the Boei button on other websites because that means that I'm helping customers and businesses to come closer together.
  2. Instead of asking a small price now, I would like to focus on valuable new features that people are willing to pay for.

What do you think? Would you add Boei to your site?
Love to hear your feedback!

Link: https://www.boei.help

  1. 3

    Hi nice idea you have,

    I just a little bit confused, is your service only to provide the widget?
    Because for most developers attaching social media chat handlers is as easy as making a regular link. I understand the pain point, but I think it's not a hard problem to solve.
    Do I misunderstood something?

    1. 1

      Hey! Thanks :)

      For devs being able to build it: That is one of the benefits and downsides of being a developer I would say. There are tons of things that we can build and create, but should we? I think we should focus on the added value that we can bring. For me that is in Boei and helping people creating long lasting relationships with their customers.
      Also, I would like to note that it may look simple, but I have put in multiple days and weeks of hours in it :) and will put in much more as well

      Btw. For social media chat handlers, I have created this free overview: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BCJEv5FwBxv1-9pT4WH4KGjbBDWp3RqGeCNBnz4DjZU/edit?usp=sharing

      1. 1

        Yeah i think it's good for people who want to easy plug and play solutions.
        Anyway good luck with your projects :)

  2. 3

    looks really neat. i had to sit with it for a moment to realize what i was looking at. very neat idea! keep going!

    1. 1

      Cool thanks! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

      I know that seconds count online. Would you have any ideas to help others realise what it is faster?

      1. 1

        honestly, i'm not sure.

        the problem is that it looks like so many other things... like intercom. i hate those small things in general.

        so, i'm already not interested in clicking it!

  3. 2

    I do like the idea and I also hate live chat to the point that I started to block all live chat scripts.

    One thing I noticed on your landing page, it looks like you are using a text in your demo here image: https://www.boei.help/static/demo_here.svg
    The "here" gets cut off in my Chrome and renders a different font on Edge and Firefox, you might want to convert the text to an outline (https://www.sarasoueidan.com/blog/svg-tips-for-designers/#2) or use a png (:

    1. 2

      Thanks for your input! Totally agree :)

      Hmm that shouldn't happen indeed! I have not seen it on OSX, but I guess it's a difference between how operating systems render svg.
      I have changed it now to an png as per your suggestion. Is it better like this?

      1. 1

        It's better now (:

  4. 2

    This looks like an amazing idea! All the things you listed as issues with chats hit home! Wish I had this idea! Can't wait to play around with it! Cheers! What is your monetization plan? Would definetely pay for it, no doubt!

    1. 1

      Cool! Thanks for your positivity :)
      Let me know how it goes!

      Monetization plans are not there yet. I am thinking that the button in current setup should be free and I would like to charge for additional features like a feedback form. But that is just a thought at the moment. It is already great to see some activity of people using my product. Normally I just build something without anyone using it haha

  5. 2

    This looks great! I suggest you to open a small new window instead redirecting in the same tab so that the user doesn't leave the page. Apart from that - great job mate!

    1. 1

      Hey! Thanks for your feedback :)
      Yeah I was already thinking about it, but am not yet sure it should behave like that. It probably depends a bit on which helper you click. So for Skype it automatically opens a new (Skype) window and for internal links you don't want to open a new window normally
      What do you think?

      1. 1

        U'm I actually feel comfortable if the support is opened in a new window because usually when I contact support - it would usually with something wrt to the current window/screen

  6. 2

    I just added it to my blog to try it out! Your user interface for setting everything up is super easy to use and get going. I had the button on my website (even hacked the CSS a little ๐Ÿ‘€) in a couple of minutes... https://schoon.me

  7. 2

    Great Initiative @Ruben88... Congratulations...

    1. 1

      Thank you :)

  8. 2

    Hey Ruben, congrats on the launch of the free trier! Sounds like an interesting proposal! I totally agree with the "pain points" you mention about live chats. I'm just afraid the user might be a bit "overwhelmed" to have so much choice, but I guess it's the website owners who will decide on how many and which channels they include. If I manage to get my current side projects to grow a bit I might consider adding a Boei button to their sites :)

    1. 2

      Thank you! Yeah indeed, it is up to the site owner to see how many choices make sense. I can understand that some sites set only 2 or 3 and for some others it makes sense to add a ton. I don't set limits :)
      Cool! Looking forward to see you on Boei! Let me know if you need any help or support.

      1. 1

        Cool!! Thank you!

  9. 1

    Yeah this is a nice idea, especially for a solo dev that can only apportion some of their time to support and isn't always online ๐Ÿ‘ But Crisp has those buttons at the top to continue with whatsapp, twitter etc - why is yours different?

    Also, why not have the paid version live also? You'll see whether anyone has enough interest to part with their money.

    1. 2

      Thanks ๐Ÿ˜Š
      Didnt knew about those buttons in Crisp but the same applies still. People like to contact you on whatsapp and such. Then offer it directly

      There is no paid plan yet because I have not yet build it. Will invest first in a solid free version and will discuss with people that use the free version what things they would like to see added

      1. 1

        Makes sense - all the best with it!

  10. 1

    I'm not trying to discourage you, but worth considering that chat and help centers are super crowded areas.
    There are many services that already offer multi channel support including the channels that you have mentioned, as well as email and also the ability to move between channels.
    That is not to say that there's no room for another player, but I think the main focus for making it successful would be marketing. The MVP is not that small because there many features that are considered commodity.
    Again, not trying to suggest you should stop. Just want you to be aware of that.
    Good luck!

    1. 1

      Hey! Thanks for your feedback. You are right that there are many customer service tools that offer these features, many of them are focussed on the backend of service. So basically how can software make the life of a customer service employee better.

      Now Boei is focussed on the frontend. So providing customers a direct button to start a FB chat for example. Improving the life of the customer. And with that, improving relationships and enabling conversations after the customer has left the page.

      Does that make sense?

      1. 1

        It does, but these companies are still your direct competition, and therefore you'd have to invest a lot in marketing.

        Btw - do you provide a backoffice UI at all?

        1. 1

          There is no backoffice to manage the chats and such. For companies there are already tools for that. For indie hackers or small companies they already have the tools: whatsapp, facebook messenger etc :)

          Maybe in the future

          1. 1

            Got you.
            Good luck!

  11. 1

    I suggest to let people choose the icon, it currently does not assosicate with messaging (imo). On @schoon website elements overlay (on mobile) one on the other, maybe it is because widget is placed on top of the page, dont know, also on your landing page widget seems to be not responsive.
    Just my feedback. Idea is great and in my opinion has potentional.

    1. 1

      Oops, that is probably my fault. Like I said, I added some CSS in order to place the widget in a different location. I didn't even think about it stacking like that when it wasn't able to open upwards.

      I've been talking to @Ruben88 via email about this, so my usecase isn't so hacky.

      1. 2

        Thanks for your input! For the positioning, I have just released an update that provides this option - without hacks in css ;)
        https://www.indiehackers.com/product/boei/added-feature-to-select-corner-position--M4VfLYiU2FnEquN6uNl

        For the responsiveness, it should be working on the landing page. Is it not opening for you? Or do you mean something else?

        For the icon, I'm thinking about alternatives, what do you think would work well?

        1. 1

          https://i.imgur.com/btSbnga.png - it's a screenshot from Galaxy J7
          It goes offscreen and the whole page is scrollable horizontally

          1. 2

            @Elans, thanks for the screenshot, really helpful!
            Found out what went wrong: one word in the header was too long for small devices and that caused horizontal scrolling. Fixed that now :)

            PS. Interesting that on your phone the Boei button goes offscreen while on my device (IOS) it will stay on the same location even though the page is more wide.

  12. 2

    This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

    1. 2

      Yay ๐Ÿ™Œ

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