LocaliQ vs. Square Customers

ReachLocal is a trustworthy agency for smaller-scale multifamily buildings that can do the basics of website management, SEO, and advertising on Facebook or Google. I think they provide a solid product but do not get into the nitty-gritty advanced features that create value for clients that want to stick out.

Incentivized

Square is absolutely brilliant if you are just starting out and your business has both an in-person and an online component to it, as Square will solve both in-person POS and online booking/billing. Square also offers the option to create a free website for your company, though it is a very basic site, if you don't have a website yet, this is a VERY helpful option, as it takes away a huge cost. Square allowed us to be up and running in no time, taking away the need to worry about an expensive appointment-setting add-on from our current website provider (Square integrates quite nicely with our current site). Square is probably less ideal for more advanced users or companies with a need for more detailed inventory/service management. But even then, Square will more than likely be able to get the job done!

Incentivized

• ThriveHive is a smaller marketing team dedicated to helping small to medium sized businesses perfect their marketing messages. ThriveHive is particularity good at understanding how Google, and other search engines work, and have been instrumental in helping my company to grow and evolve.
• With ThriveHive, you get a dedicated coach who is matched to your type of business. This experience with similar businesses gives your coach a better understanding of your business and the challenges your company faces.
• My coach is very good at responding to my needs within 1 to 2 business days. Email contacts are fluent and as often as I need, to discuss ideas or questions. I can only speak of my relationship with my coach, and I am very pleased.
• I feel that ThriveHive makes every effort to take excellent care of their clients, and makes you feel like you are their most important customer. I definitely believe that this is one of ThriveHives' greatest assets.

Incentivized

• Sales pipeline
• Customer engagement
• Marketing

Incentivized

• The email content editor could use some additional bells and whistles, it cannot handle some more advanced functions, but for the basics it is more than adequate.
• Options for website creation are a bit limited and the turnaround time can be a bit lengthy at times because of the volume they do.
• Tracked phone lines can be a bit pricey, but not exorbitant.

Incentivized

• Some of the build quality on the peripherals could feel a bit better.
• Have more options for businesses with more credit card transactions such as monthly or discounted per transaction once a certain number is reached.
• Have functionality to allow for a typed card number without the higher fee if the software verifies there is a hardware/read error with the card.

Incentivized

The user interface is easy to navigate - that's not always the case for some software! I look for something that is intuitive, easy to use, and doesn't take a ton of training to get up and running quickly.

Incentivized

Square is mostly focused on FAQs and online support, and they do a very good job creating a rich knowledge base. But, if you are not very tech savvy, it could be easy to feel a bit overwhelmed. I would recommend that they add a direct line or chat feature to call, rather than email or Knowledge base first. This might be due to staffing issues at Square, so perhaps it is the best they can do for now.

Incentivized

While WordPress provides you with the opportunity to build a custom website, it stops there. ThriveHive has a strong small business marketing suite of products that are integrated into a WordPress-based website while also making it easy for the user to make quick and easy edits to existing content. I will say that I find MailChimp's aesthetic and deliverability to be leaps and bounds ahead of ThriveHive, and so I was unable to cut my account with MailChimp. I still use it for large email newsletters while using ThriveHive's email client for shorter, more targeted marketing efforts for segmented lists.

Incentivized

A lot easier to use than Infusionsoft!!

Incentivized

• I think one of the most important lessons learned so far, is to really have a very clear idea of who your customers/clients are, and who you want them to be.
• My website is now in its second iteration. Completely different focus from the 1st iteration. My first website was producing "hits" but not producing leads. The experience gained from this attempt lead to my new website, which is now doing the job that a website is intended to do, creating leads. Often, failure is the stepping stone to success. There is no doubt that the level of clientele that my new website is generating is worth every penny that I have spent with ThriveHive.
• Building a successful business takes time, and a good understanding of your customers/clients. The people at ThriveHive are good at helping you figure this out.

Incentivized

• This has allowed me to accept credit / debit transactions without having to have a monthly subscription to a service and lose money on times of no to little use, allowing me to have a broader customer range as checks are risky.
• All of my initial equipment was free and there were no startup costs so my return was immediate.
• The small fee taken out of the transaction is very much worth the ability to accept nearly all plastic transactions.

Incentivized