Matterport stealing our customers3099

Today [2 November 2016 I reached out to Matterport] ... regarding this dirty campaign of Matterport targeting our customers trying to sell more cameras. 

What follows is my [message] and after that, their response:

Dear friends at Matterport,

I have learned that every time someone asks for a MSP your first reaction is to offer him a Matterport Camera so he can do it by himself.  Then, if the sales pitch doesn´t work, then you suggest a MSP in his area. 

Honestly, this is not only unfair to the Matterport Service Providers community, but also a very poor marketing strategy. 

I suggest you to fire immediately your Marketing Vice President and search in the market for someone who really understand business strategy. 

Are you a camera manufacturer or a provider of 3D experiences? 

This is their answer:

]Hi george,

[About] STOP PUSHING CAMERA SALES TO OUR CUSTOMERS! ... 

Thank you for your comments.  I appreciate you taking the time to write.  I am the VP of Marketing and I would like to address your concerns.  We are in the business of introducing Matterport 3D models to the world, and that means letting people know about the benefits of our immersive system. 

We want Matterport to proliferate and to that end, we want as many Matterport models out there as possible, whether it is through camera ownership or contracting with the MSP channel. 

The way we look at the market is through segmentation.  For example, in the real estate space, we encourage those who have a lower number of listings or do not want the hassle of owning a camera to use an MSP.  For those with a higher number of listings who are looking for the lowest cost solution, we encourage them to buy their own camera.  You can see that segmentation laid out on our website. 

Our expectations are that if an agent has an MSP in their market who provides acceptable service and price, it is unlikely that they are going to make the investment in a camera, but we can’t be completely dependent on the pricing strategies of our channel.  To that end, we want agents to understand what it could cost, if they did it themselves so that they can be informed consumers.  We do see that the MSPs who are responsive and price their services appropriately have significant demand and attract real estate clients who might otherwise buy cameras.  Please know that there are many very successful MSPs out there. 

I hope that this sheds some light on our marketing programs.  You might also find this community thread interesting, to better understand all that we are doing to support the MSPs.  I trust that you will see added benefits shortly. 

When all said and done, it's their prerogative to approach sales in whichever way they like, even if we do, for the most part, see it as short sighted at best and a little scandalous at worst. 

My conclusions were that all signs were pointing to them being bought out so didn't need to address the concerns of the community - becoming somebody else's concern.  But after reading that response I must say I'm a little concerned. 

A few minutes ago [2 November 2016], Matterport issued an official statement about these concerns, so it seems that besides asking for the resignation of the VP of Marketing, I probably hurt someone else's feelings:

----

Hello! 

A few of you have reached out recently regarding our efforts to promote MSPs, and a recent email campaign to real estate professionals.  We would like to take an opportunity to address these concerns, as well as to tell you about some of the new things we are doing to drive additional business to MSPs. 

As you know, we surveyed all MSPs earlier this year and heard one thing loud and clear: you want more leads!  In an effort to make this happen, we recently asked for feedback from leads who requested to be connected with a Matterport Service Partner. 

We found that only 33% of those leads successfully ordered a Matterport scan service after we sent them to an MSP. 

We currently spend over $50K per month generating and distributing leads to our 1,450 official MSPs.  We want to grow this free lead program, but the results that we get from the program need to improve.  This program needs to result in more business for MSPs than it currently does or it isn’t cost-effective. 

By surveying the leads we’ve sent to MSPs, we have found that there were a number of reasons why they did not order scan services, and we are actively working to address the reasons that are under our control.  We will share detailed findings with you in our upcoming November MSP Program webinar, and also provide suggestions on how you can keep lead conversions and customer satisfaction high. 

There are thousands of these leads who have not yet purchased a Matterport Space from an MSP, but expressed interest in buying future scans.  We’re working to remind them of all the great reasons to order Matterport scans, to tell them about new 3D Showcase features, and to drive them to MSPs like yourself.  We are trying to drum up business for you! 

We are scrubbing our database

We recently started to ramp these efforts.  In doing so, we discovered that about 15% of our scan leads were incorrectly coded in our database, and may have received our general marketing emails in addition to emails promoting the MSP network. 

Now that we are aware of the issue, we are scrubbing our databases to ensure this doesn’t happen again.  We appreciate your patience as we work through this issue and toward effective marketing that drives more business for you. 

Our efforts have been paying off

Over the past few months, we have made several other important updates to the visibility of our Service Partners and the option to purchase scanning as a service.  Our initial data indicates that it is paying off! 

We have seen a 33% quarter-over-quarter increase in scan lead volume this past 6 months, and we’re launching new efforts to drive even more volume.  Our goal is to ensure that existing leads are fully educated about the benefits of Matterport’s 3D Showcase and remind them to connect with you for services. 

So in sum: we heard you and we are committed to making our MSPs successful.  Demand for Matterport and 3D scanning has never been higher, and the press and positive exposure around the Matterport network has been phenomenal.  It is our intent and goal to help everyone in our ecosystem to be successful. 

Below are some FAQs to address some commonly asked questions. ... 

Thank you for your patience as we get this right. 

- The Matterport Service Partner Team

________________________________________

Frequently asked questions:

DOES MATTERPORT SCRAPE MY ACCOUNT TO MARKET TO MY CUSTOMERS? 

No!  Some of you have written us expressing concern that your customers are receiving promotional emails from us.  There are a few ways this may happen:
• Frequently, clients will write to Matterport to inquire about camera ownership, and may subsequently realize that partnering with an MSP is a better option.  When they don't let us know that they have chosen an MSP, we continue to communicate offers, product announcements, etc. 
• Some Scan leads specifically request to continue receiving updates and promotions from Matterport even after they have been connected with a service partner, so we keep them on our general email list. 

"By surveying the leads we’ve sent to MSPs, we have found that there were a number of reasons why they did not order scan services, and we are actively working to address the reasons that are under our control". 

Just wondering if declaring that a model can be done by less than $70 is the precise reason why when one prospect asks for an MSP and finally receives a quotation he decides not to do it because he thought that the cost was $70 per model

Now they say: " ...or do it yourself to get operational efficiencies and minimize your per-listing costs"

No reference to the famous $70 per model. 

This is the exchange of posts:

My post:

"...the $70 per model is all over Matterport communications and hence it makes sense that when a prospect contacts a MSP and receives a $0,20 per sqft quotation runs like hell. 
By the way, I would like to talk to the sales representative that told me that the Matterport services were quoted between $ 0.30 to $ 0.70 per sqft depending on the market.  What a joke! 
So, to sell a camera to a service provider you say that the price is $0.70/sqft and to sell a camera to a real estate agent you say that $70 per model is OK? 
You know, I am sure that the ticker name when Matterport makes its IPO will be M, but not for Matterport but for Misleading

Answer from Linda:

Thank you for this additional feedback.  I understand your concerns and we have updated the website to reflect the options more clearly. 

I will also be in touch with our sales team first thing in the morning to discuss what you have brought up.  The MSP pricing that you suggest they quoted you is way out of line.  We have not trained them to say that, so I will ensure that this does not happen in the future.  Quite frankly, we have seen MSP pricing start at below $0.10 a square foot to significantly higher, depending on the breadth of services offered as well as the geography and size of model. 

There might be 5 threads about the same issue Matterport is marketing to our customer base. 

In no way I am going to defend Matterport Marketing strategy of which I have been always critical.  But I humbly submit that this very predictable race to the bottom was led by many Matterpot owners who are willing to scan properties for values that barely amount to minimum wage per hour. 

With that said, we thought that many photographers were using Matterport just as an added service (at cost or less) to secure more photography and video jobs, not as a profit center. 

For those who built their business around Matterport, the prospects are not very good but (20/20 hindsight), it never was. 

Anyone who ever walked into a 60 agent brokerage can tell you, the math never worked.  Why hire an MSP at $400 per listing at 5 or 6 listings per month?  We reasoned this question in the forum for the last two years.  We came up with with hundreds of answers to make us feel better but Brokers and, more importantly, Matterport figured the same math. 

The solution always laid in figuring out selling add on products (Videos, Google Street View, Single property websites etc) which became more difficult as Matterport shuts down all third party solutions. 

Like in any other investment, devising an exit strategy is as important as writing a business plan.