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October - 2015 - issue > Top 100 Tech Companies Founded and Managed by Indians in the U.S.
Reputada Building Reputation through B2B Customer Feedback
SI Team
Friday, October 23, 2015
Purchase decisions in traditional B2B markets are shifting to a more consumer-oriented model. Most of the buying process, including research and due diligence, is now conducted independently and online without direct contact with vendors.This disruption in the B2B market inspires the very concept of Reputada, a Lisle, IL based company that enables businesses to choose vendors based on a genuine and verified review provided by others. The scenario is different in the business-to-customer (B2C) market, as customers already have reviews and recommendations available online, provided by other users. "In B2B, vendors can't afford to have false reviews. We make sure these reviews are from a validated customer as any malicious act ultimately affects the reputation of businesses," says Adarsh Arora, CEO, Reputada.

The software as a service (SaaS) platform translates user's reviews and feedback about vendors into a digital reputation, allowing businesses to select the best services based on the reputation gained. Vendors can request their customers to provide feedback while customers can also send the feedback from their end, a process that can be initiated either way. "The published reviews are indexed by search engines, allowing reputation to be visible on search engines like Google or Bing," explains Arora.

Reputada has a strong module to ensure only verified customers are posting reviews. In the entire feedback process by the vendor, Reputada strictly ensures that the customers are from registered domain names and not a primary mail service. "Now, when the customer posts unsolicited feedback, the vendors determine if they are customers. The vendor can also refuse to verify the customer, although the reviewer will be notified of the refusal," explains Arora. In addition, the Reputada reputation algorithm is written in such a way that if a vendor takes care of the negative feedback and the customer gives a satisfactory response to it, the reputation will improve.

Another important aspect of Reputada is the strict privacy options that allow customers and users to hide their confidential data like company name, personal details while giving the feedback. The firm emphasizes and caters especially to small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) by enhancing their digital presence through regular reviews and ratings. "Even a small vendor, with good ratings and review are shown up early in the search results. It's not about size, it's about the quality," adds Arora.

Reputada follows a unique business process as a part of their sales and marketing technique, with any company having access to many businesses considered as a potential channel.

The firm incorporates their solution on a revenue shared basis, mostly with other larger companies that provide services to SMBs.

The firm recently helped a medium sized company, with 300-400 employees in mitigating completion risks associated with their projects. Following up with the projects turned out to be a tougher task for the management as most of the client's customers were from the Middle East, U.S. and Europe. The Project Manager remained the only source for tracking the project progress. This disruption in checking for real time progress enabled the CEO to implement Reputada for getting feedbacks directly from the customers. With Reputada, the client also aligned their goals, allowing the management to regularly check for obstructions and risks in project development.

Aiming to maintain the first-mover advantage through their unique reputation algorithm, the firm strives on expanding its rating system that builds on real life relationship between vendors and customers.
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