Overview
What is Podium?
Podium, formerly Repdrive, is a ratings and review management platform from the company of the same name in Provo, Utah.
TrustRadius Insights
Podium: Messaging App for Businesses
Great for review generation. Not so great with customer support.
Terrible experience with Podium
Let my people go! How to keep getting billed after you cancel in 3 easy steps.
Product Malfunctions
Probably best suited for a very large company.
Happy but Wanting
MAKING THE MOST OF PODIUM
Simple View
Did you Podium today?
Step up to Podium for one of the best means of communicating to your clients and staff
We've somewhat fallen out of love with Podium
Podium is the most reliable and affordable employee on my staff!
Podium's Positive Performance and Profit Producing Product in a Practical Platform
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
Podium Essentials
$249
Podium Standard
$409
Podium Professional
$599
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Starting price (does not include set up fee)
- $249 per month
Product Details
- About
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Podium?
Podium Competitors
Podium Technical Details
Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Unspecified |
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(90)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Users have reported a range of experiences with Podium, both positive and negative. On the positive side, many users find Podium to be a useful tool for managing their online reputation and generating customer reviews. They appreciate its ease of use in sending review invites via text messages, which has yielded better results compared to email surveys. The software has helped businesses boost their online presence by addressing the problem of not receiving enough Google reviews. By using Podium, companies have seen an increase in their average rating on Google and have stood out among their competitors.
Furthermore, users have found value in Podium's ability to automate necessary communications and save hours per week that would otherwise be spent on manual tasks. The software allows for custom automated messages, such as reservation reminders, service ticket notifications, and review requests. This automation not only makes businesses appear more professional but also helps them stay organized and efficient. Podium's payment function is also appreciated by users as it simplifies the process of collecting payments for special orders and memberships.
However, there are also several challenges that users have faced with Podium. Some users have reported difficulties during the installation process and a month-long onboarding period. Additionally, there have been complaints about unhelpful customer support and language barriers when seeking assistance. Users have encountered issues with linking phone numbers to the company phone and experiencing problems with form submission when integrating with WordPress.
Furthermore, some users find certain features of Podium to be limited or unnecessary. For example, the reviews tab is deemed pointless as users can simply send customers a link to their Google My Business review tab. Another limitation is that once customer information is uploaded, it cannot be modified or deleted, leading to mix-ups and errors in automated texts.
Despite these challenges, many customers highly recommend Podium for its reputation management capabilities, review solicitation tools, and live chat feature. It has proven valuable for businesses across various industries, helping them improve their online presence, streamline their communications, and enhance their customer experiences.
Intuitive User Interface: Reviewers have consistently praised Podium's user interface for its simplicity and ease of use. Many users have stated that the software is intuitive and easy to navigate, allowing anyone to quickly grasp and utilize its features effectively.
Flexible Message Customization: A significant number of reviewers have highlighted the value of being able to customize messages on Podium. Users appreciate the flexibility to send mass texts or individual messages, tailoring their communication approach based on their specific needs and preferences.
Top-Notch Customer Support: Numerous users have commended Podium's customer support as being highly responsive and helpful. The availability of support via chat has been particularly appreciated by customers, who find it convenient to reach out for assistance whenever they encounter any issues or require guidance.
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Poor Customer Support: Several users have expressed dissatisfaction with the customer support provided by Podium, describing it as unhelpful and sketchy. They have mentioned that their issues were not resolved in a timely manner and felt frustrated with the lack of assistance.
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High Pricing: Some users found the pricing model of Podium to be poor, stating that the software is considerably more expensive compared to other systems like Reputation.com. They feel that the cost does not justify the features and functionality offered by Podium.
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Difficulties with Setup and Onboarding Process: Users have reported difficulties with the setup and onboarding process of Podium, suggesting that it should not charge until the setup is complete. They have mentioned facing challenges in getting started with the platform and believe that a smoother onboarding experience would greatly improve user satisfaction.
Users highly recommend using Podium as a valuable tool for businesses. Despite its cost, users believe it is worth the investment and suggest exploring all the features and options available on Podium's home page for better understanding. They also recommend ensuring that Podium can integrate with all the software used by the business.
Podium is praised as a great tool for tracking customer conversations, follow-up, and live chats. Users suggest using it to its full potential in order to enhance client interaction. Many reviewers believe that Podium is the best product on the market for customer communication and driving revenue.
Users highly recommend Podium for its user-friendliness, great support, and simplicity. They advise fully implementing Podium in the business and getting the team fully on board with using it for asking reviews. It is also recommended to have friendly competition within the team both for the number and quality of reviews.
Overall, users advise trying Podium and taking advantage of its free trial period to experience its benefits firsthand. They suggest using it to gather feedback, create an online presence, and increase online reputation. Users praise Podium's integrations with other tools and emphasize the importance of being accountable with review invites, sending them right after customer interactions.
Although there are a few users who advocate against using Podium and suggest alternative platforms, many others find it to be a valuable addition to their business toolbox.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-2 of 2)Podium Rocks Communication
- Immediate contact
- Request Reviews
- Allows customers to choose how they contact, either by cell phone, or through Google very easy for customers
- I get a lot of weird phone calls through podium maybe make it so calls cannot go through? Never ever answered a call thru podium. Always weird numbers. likely spam
- Often times people CANNOT use the review link. This is an ongoing issue that we cannot resolve.
- Sometimes folks can write in but we cannot respond nor see how they wrote in
Love also being able to create campaigns and offer deals/coupons to folks. However with NYS law changing recently this has changed our ability to reach out as of late
- Customer contact
- Campaigns
- reviews
- Only when the link is broken that is really annoying, inhibits our reviews
We use Podium all day every day and we had to log in to multiple account systems to do all the things that Podium does alone, technically getting reviews on Google, Home Advisor and BBB through Podium is so nice!
- Reviews
- Customer contact
- Campaigns
- Campaigns to offer coupons
- requesting reviews for all our available sites in one place
- Alerting customers to when we are headed to their appt
- During Covid we used it as a reminder to folks to let us know if anyone was not feeling well to let us know
- Continued review
- Reaching out to multiple customers with offers
Social Climb, for reviews
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Implemented in-house
- none
I got initially helped me to not only get the review link working but also walked me through setting up the review for Home Advisor and BBB
- Customer contact
- Reviews when working
- Only because laws changing in NYS the campaign feature is harder to use now
Best Review Software
- Messaging with clients.
- Review tracking is almost instantaneous.
- Comparing your company to your competitors.
- More research on why links may not work after sending to clients.
- This feature is in the works for the app. Messaging through the app to clients, allowing us to respond quicker.
- Maybe add reporting for the managers in the app.
- As soon as we started getting more reviews from clients on Podium, we notice more new customers would mention our reviews when they called.
- capturing reviews
- giving customers another way to communicate feedback
- communicating if theirs issues
- Messaging, our customers can text us photos or ask questions
- web chat
- lead followup
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
- Implemented in-house
- Employee adoption and use
- sending review invites
- replying to a review
- replying to a customer question
- Not sure