I've just launched Endorsal.io, a platform for automating customer testimonials. Looking for landing page feedback 😊
While I'm busy building Endorsal, I've launched a landing page to explain a little about what it does as well as capture leads. I'm also offering a lifetime deal for those that pre-order with huge savings on launch.
Any feedback is appreciated, especially regarding CTAs and the overall message/idea 😊
Take a look: https://endorsal.io?source=Indie+Hackers
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Love the sailboat drifting off! (Where did it go? Oh, there it is)
So this is a memorable service and a memorable design.
There's a lot of work here, and I'm feeling like there's a good deal of thought put in, so I'm not feeling the usual amount of "is this thing going to stick around" anxiety that normally pushes me back from considering something I'd add to my site.
"Fishing for compliments" speaks to me like you understand an relatable embarrassment...
Here's a question: at what point does someone get annoyed enough with a manual process that they'd get on a trek to find a way to automate this?
"Argh!! I've been sending my 20th request for a testimonial and there must be a better way to do this"
or (not sure this struggle exists in the wild):
"I've tried a google spreadsheet and form for my testimonial, but I can't offer them to upload an image, and hrmmm, is there a thing like that that exists? Searches google for [google forms upload image] and then [upload testimonial image form]. Aha, here's something"
Do I understand the "struggling moment" correctly? #jtbd
Hi Pascal, thanks for the in-depth response! Glad you like the landing page and noticed the little sailboat on its infinite journey 😁
You raise some great points regarding user motivation for automating testimonials. I believe that the struggle will vary massively based on type and size of business as well as resources available for gaining customer feedback (monetary and time-related).
I've been doing preliminary research through my network and it definitely seems to be a pain point for a lot of small businesses, but I guess time will tell?
The other advantage to something like this is the fact that pretty much all B2B or B2C websites have (or should have) testimonials, means the market is pretty wide.
Also, in your example, say a user has their Google Sheet populated testimonials, they then need a plugin or custom code to display them on their site, which is another pain point (more so for non-technical founders). Endorsal will do this with a few lines of embed code which again saves development time (and potentially money).
What are your thoughts?
Nice of you to pick up on my question!
I see what you mean about those pain points. You're intimate with the process and know the points of hesitations.
So I'm going to go abstract/use theory to expand my point, if you don't mind (hope it helps and hope those aren't things you ran across before, in which case, please disregard).
To see if a product concept (or feature or process step) has any chance of being sold, I find it necessary to drill down to causal moments. It must sit on a bedrock to make sure it has clarity.
To do that, the question I have for a pain point, to gauge whether it causes someone to get off their seat and do something about it, is this: does it suck enough that I will part with a messy-but-working, imperfect-but-known, jumbled-together process or approach or mish-mash of tools in order to try something else?
So two parts to this:
Part 2 first: Does it compete with "I'll just" statements, which are the real competitors of your product/feature/process step, like these statements:
But when a sucking moment has no such "I'll just" alternatives, when those "I'll just" alternatives no longer do the "job", you're onto something!
And back to Part 1, the sucking:
Sometimes, the sucking is caused by repetition, or sometimes it's caused by an urgency (I've going to a conference in 2 days and need those testimonials on my page in a snap), or sometimes it's caused by both (frequently occurring urgencies).
Basically:
Is it just me, or are those two parts not strong enough for any of the example situations we've looked at/you've shared?
That's the litmus test I use that I wanted to share with you. Hope it helps!
Pascal, wow some amazing insights there, thank you for taking the time to delve into it all.
I think you propose some great points about the real motivations people need to switch to a new product/tool.
I just wonder how many of the more successful SaaS apps out there would pass the test on both counts categorically? I’d say there’s evidently a lot of room out there for simple tools that perform an otherwise mundane job really well, that perhaps aren’t earth-shattering or “sexy”.
And surely there’s a variation from user to user as to the threshold of “sucking”, for example their individual willingness to adopt new processes, levels of patience (or lack of).
I’ll definitely take another look at my concept and perhaps conduct some more interviews to drill deeper into their triggers — how often they take place and how annoying they actually are.
Do you know of any frameworks for that type of research or best practice interview techniques?
Thanks again for your help! Much appreciated.
"tell me the story when..."
That would be the general type of question for when you're having those conversations, and I'd try to find people who've done something about the struggle so you can get their "purchase story" or "the story of how they went about solving their problem": actually spent some money, invested a chunk of time to invent a process, something like that. If you can.
That kind of retroactive question makes sure you dig to understand the magnitude of the struggle and the pullback of those other alternatives as they occurred. I wrote more about example questions here.
And this kind of retroactive interview becomes even better for talking to your recent purchasers of your product (or a competitor, which in your case, do you even have one? Google Forms?), especially those who hesitated to buy.
There's a popular interview technique called the Jobs-To-Be-Done Interview technique and there's a course on learning the interview technique (I recommend). 10 of those interviews should be enough to understand what job they really "hired" your product for, what was attractive about your solution, what they hesitated on, what they tried before landing on your product, all through getting a retroactive look at the purchase story and digging for the rational/emotional mix that drove their step-by-step advance toward their purchase.
Hey @DeanWalton would love for you to help me as a fellow maker and customer :)
I like the theme which is clever without being over the top. I would make Automated Customer testimonials, the main header as No more fishing for compliments makes me search for what the product does.
Both sections with the examples has the top chopped off so you can only see half the picture. ( chrome 14") and didnt see the green CTA to change the templates as it blends in with the background.
Instead of generalizing with Increase conversions, build customer loyalty and strengthen your brand, add some stats on the impact that testimonials have on sales.
The integrations page looks a bit messy compared to the rest of the site. Maybe stick to the theme and use an octopus to designate each part.
Testimonials are one thing you cannot have enough of and end up taking way longer than they should so hope the product fills a void
Hi Richard! Thanks for the feedback.
I've fixed the bug with the cards being chopped off at the top now, thanks for that.
Totally agree about generalising with the "Increase conversions..." part, I plan to expand on that a bit more with stats to back it up.
Great shout on the integrations part, the use of an octopus — brilliant! Might have to chop a couple of its limbs off though as I've got 5 sections 😄
Nice to hear you're a fan of the concept, I'm looking forward to rolling it out and seeing what people think of the final product.
Thanks again!
Hey Dean
The landing page looks great. Obviously, a lot of work has gone into this. What I like most is, it's conversational and fun without being kitschy.
There are a couple of places where the design is working against you a bit.
I'm on a Surface Pro and the cards under "Beautiful Testimonials" are cut off on the top and left. So it looks a little odd.
The template carousel under that is under the waves, so I didn't know it was part of the same content at first. I'd try floating it over the bottom of the cards.
The grey boxes with the "Request Access" email inputs don't have any text so they feel like they're disrupting the flow a bit. Which is usually kinda good since they get my attention but with this design, it breaks the flow.
The images under "Your business will float" have different sizes so the visual rhythm gets thrown off just slightly.
Regarding the copy, I think you developed a nice tone. Again, it's conversational and light-hearted, without going too far.
I only saw a couple of things to point out.
"But it's always been long," - typo. Should be "But it's always been a long,"
"Here's what our customers say about us:" <- Seems like a good opportunity to use that humor and point out what your product does, e.g.
"Endorsal used Endorsal to fish for these compliments. Whaat?!" - Obviously use your tone.
There's a little bit too much space above "We're joking of course". Spacing is causing some things to be disconnected.
All that said, really nice job on the design and copy! Good luck, I hope it takes off!
Hi Davey! Thanks for taking a look at the site, glad that you’re a fan of the design 😊
What browser are you using? That’s annoying there’s a few little issues on how it renders. Can I be really cheeky and ask if you can send me a quick screenshot? Especially of the template carousel area — it’s meant to be partly under the waves but sounds like it’s submerged on your screen!
I agree about the images used for the “Your business will float” section and thanks for spotting the typo.
Great point about the quotes at the end — I was waiting for someone to mention that section actually, didn’t know if it took the humour a little far? But seems as though you’re a fan so that’s great!
Thanks again for going over it all, I’ll make a few changes to the copy and rework my CSS a little!
Hey Dean,
I noticed these issues in Chrome and Firefox on both my Surface and MacBook.
I put up 4 screenshots here:
https://www.connectconverseconvert.com/endorsal/1.png
https://www.connectconverseconvert.com/endorsal/2.png
https://www.connectconverseconvert.com/endorsal/3.png
https://www.connectconverseconvert.com/endorsal/4.png
Right, I think I've fixed those issues — if you could refresh the page and let me know that would be amazing! Thanks for taking the time to send over the screenshots, I really do appreciate it.
For what it's worth, I'm seeing the same issue (I think) on Firefox on Linux. I'll try to send a screenshot.
Thanks so much, I got your email. It should be fixed now, would you be able to refresh the page and let me know if it looks ok now?
Yes, it appears to be fixed now! There is a fair amount of vertical whitespace between the "Beautiful testimonials ..." text and the actual testimonials below that, but that may be intentional.
Thanks for checking the site again! I'll look at the whitespace. Much appreciated!
Nice idea and nice landing, the last part is smart, providing an easy way to publish testimonials on my website. Maybe that particular feature could be used as a hook to get users in the product, I see lots of websites use Twitter testimonials on their sites, give me an easy free way to select twitter comments about my product, style them and post them on my page - you’ve captured a new lead...
Hi Hamish! Thanks for the feedback, interesting point regarding the testimonial embedding as the hook — could be more appealing than the collection aspect 🤔
Agreed re. Twitter, lots of sites are using embedded tweets as testimonials so I’m definitely going to support it — you’ll be able to pull them in to the app with a couple of clicks.
Let me know if you have any other thoughts, thanks again!
Have you considered any automation, firing off a testimonial request after a certain trigger i.e. upgraded to pro in HeyFood 😉 Integration with Zapier would help here.
Like HeyFood app, must be cool to work on something with your other half. It’s a definite pain point I have every single week! Have you checked out the ‘Grocery’ app, they have a very clever yet simple way of sorting shopping list based on order of when check items off (when at the store)
That's a great idea! Especially integrating with Zapier, I'll add that to the list. I owe you a 🍺
Thanks a lot regarding HeyFood! It is great to work with my other half and what's even better is I get to eat lots of food for "research"! Truth be told, HeyFood has been a hard slog — 2+ years to get it to a point where it's starting to prove itself.
Just checked out the "Grocery" app, very slick and a nice idea with sorting the list, I like it.
Thanks again, let me know if you have any other feedback on HeyFood!
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Thanks very much! Appreciate the feedback.
Your landing page looks great — very clean and well thought out. Congrats on the launch!
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