17 years helping Singaporean businesses
choose better software
Podium
What Is Podium?
Podium simplifies reputation management by making it easy to collect reviews, rise in the ranks of local search, and drive more leads.
Automatically send every customer a review request at the exact right moment, so they can leave you a review in 20 seconds.
Then, respond to every review with AI-drafted review replies, and keep a record of the review together with all of your other customer communication.
Who Uses Podium?
Automotive, health and wellness, home services, and retail industries.
Not sure about Podium?
Compare with a popular alternative
Podium
Reviews of Podium
Very expensive but worth it depending on your model
Comments: Fantastic, We collect customer payments via the text payment feature. It is expensive but allows us to reach our clients and accept payments the way that they want to and in a secure way.
Pros:
It is always on the forefront of new technology and they will keep you up to date on when new features come out as well as sometimes let you beta test.
Cons:
It is extremely expensive for what it is. The personnel also don't coordinate very well so often you will get a marketing solicitation call and email even though you already use the product.
Alternatives Considered:
Wish we never left!
Comments: We previously used Podium and we switched to a less expensive option. Well, you get what you pay for. Podium is a far better product. Reviews increase, we get paid faster using card readers or text to pay. Excellent customer service!
Pros:
Podium works so well. Easy to communicate with customers, request reviews and get payments either at the jobsite or from the office.
Cons:
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.
Alternatives Considered:
Disappointed In This Company And Software
Comments: Signup featured a lot of great support and follow up but that disappeared a few months into our year long contract. For the price we were paying it's embarrassing that their customer support and our rep we hadn't heard for the last 6 months. Had brought countless questions and issues I was noticing with the platform on missing leads and review requests not reaching the targeted inbox but was never followed up on. Had also mentioned a mapped field being missed and reviews were being sent to the correct number and was told they were waiting on another company to finish an API...strange how I switched to a competitor and it works flawlessly. Save yourself the money and find the competitors out there that offer the exact same product for 1/10th the price. The UX may not be as great as Podium but the delivery rates are much better which is leading to us having more leads (and ultimately sales) to our dealership.
Pros:
The product is easy to use and the UX is top notch. While I wish there was a few more customizable options from team management it is easy to use even for people who aren't tech savvy.
Cons:
The marriage with Podium was good at the start but absolutely TERRIBLE when it ended. The software does its job when it works but I began to notice that over time SMS review requests were no longer being received. Had numerous clients and friends who should have received the auto generated review request but it never hit their inbox. I began to question the validity of Podiums claims and asked numerous times if they could provide an actual report on sends and fails which they never did. While this may not necessarily be a Podium issue (maybe a Twilio one) the lack of support and concern to fix this problem was non existent. The front end facing of the platform looks sharp but don't let that fool you as there seems to be more issues in the back end with send and receive rates and we missed out on A LOT of reviews along with leads.
podium, one mans trash is another's treasure
Comments: it wasn't bad honestly! It's a super great program and they have some amazing features. However, for our company, it just didn't fit as well. For companies larger and using more payment methods, this is the program for you and it's very easy to use daily.
Pros:
Easy to navigate and gets the job done fairly quickly
Cons:
Not as efficient at getting our messages to patients
Just send us a text! - Podium brings texting to business
Comments: The overall experience has been great! The software is easy to use and easy to set up. They assign you a customer success agent and take you through about 12 weeks of training and check-ins to make sure you're good to go. We have loved it and recommend it all the time.
Pros:
I love how Podium allows teams of employees from different departments to work together to answer customer questions and requests. One beautiful thing is they were able to port our regular phone number and turn it into a text-able number. So our landline number that all of our customers are familiar with has now become a texting number as well. We're able to tell our customers those beautiful words: "Just send us a text."
Cons:
The only downside I see in Podium is the search feature. It is actually astounding how bad it is. You would think in this day and age a basic keyword search feature would be pretty standard. Not so in Podium. The only way to look up old conversations is remembering the name of the person you were chatting with. I'm honestly dismayed by it.
Alternatives Considered:
If you aren't using Podium, what are you waiting for?
Comments: The podium has been instrumental in the overall growth of our company. From google reviews to sales, to collections, Podium has been part of the experience every step of the way. Also as we were growing Podium was also growing and their innovations consistently kept the fire in us to push ourselves beyond our own limits and become the paperless, and digital company that we are today :)
Pros:
What I like most about Podium is its ease of not only use but training anybody new. We are a growing company hiring annually now more and more and Podium is by far the easiest trained software that we use. It's not only self-efficient but training is clean, straight-forward, and it's beyond user-friendly.
Cons:
There are at this stage in the game a lot of add on's that you can certainly do with Podium. It goes from a very low cost to mid-range cost quickly as you realize you really do need and want all the bells and whistles that Podium can offer. It's not so much that it is a negative, but it does become a challenge sometimes when having to pitch a wonderful new feature of Podium to your decision-makers when the words "and it cost ---- extra" comes into play.
Alternatives Considered:
All In One Place!
Comments: I have really enjoyed using Podium and feel that it has been well worth the investment. We have looked at other forms of software that are similar but we continue to feel confident in Podium because of the variety of services that they offer. It has been awesome that our young tech savvy employees are comfortable with this software but that it is easy enough for our older employees to use as well. I am sure that we will continue to use podium for years to come!
Pros:
I love that all of our messaging either from different social media sites or from our own website comes to one location! It is really nice that all of our employees have access to this site and because of that, we are able to reply very quickly to messages that come in. I also like that our reviews show up here and we are able to respond to them through the Podium platform rather than needing to go to Google, Facebook, Yelp etc. to find the reviews.
Cons:
I wish that somehow we were able to consolidate the review notifications so that if we invite someone to review us on google and they write a review, we don't get two separate messages/notifications about it.
Alternatives Considered:
Great product but expensive
Comments: We used Podium for two years but found a less expensive alternative.
Pros:
Customers were able to leave a detailed review. Potential customers always do their research so real people's opinions matter.
Cons:
Very expensive. We loved the product but not the price.
Alternatives Considered:
Very Difficult to Get Any Support or Help
Comments: If you like help, talking to a real human, and to get what you actually pay for- I would avoid. I personally don't like this platform and would like to switch to Birdeye or something else.
Pros:
It's good for getting customer reviews (sometimes) and has lots of features
Cons:
They throw you to the wolves. You have to get everything figured out yourself. Communication is a huge issue. We had a manager leave at our company and they continued sending emails to her email address for a year and a half! Despite me contacting support and calling in, saying I am the main point of contact. They were sending emails to a non existent inbox. Half of the things we were paying for did not work. Things weren't set up, and nobody told us, or how to do it. Today I got a 16 step instructions document from a rep, with no help. Sometimes it takes a week to hear back from anyone.
Alternatives Considered:
Very good at what it does
Comments: Overall I'm very pleased with Podium. Despite the few shortcomings it alowed us to acheive our goals in a relatively short time frame and within budget.
Pros:
The ability to send Google review requests directly to customers via SMS was amazing. It was exactly what we needed to get our review score up to, and past, our target score within the space of only a few months. The interface is incredibly user friendly and managing teams is about as simple as it gets.
Cons:
I found that a lot of the time it wouldn't correctly tag who within our team was resposible for receiving reviews. There's also no ability to customise reports. It owuld be great if there could also be more integrations with additional review platforms, as we were stuck with only being able to provide the option for Google reviews as we don't accept Facebook Reviews. This caused us to miss a few reviews as customers didn't have Google accounts.
Poor Service, Under-Developed software. Below average Support. Steer clear
Comments: If I could give a negative star I would, I have had some help here and there and a few months credit given to me to help ease the pain. In all honesty I Dont see it being good or useful for any companies with less than 10 employees.
Pros:
The SMS service, But hey we all have phone anyhow.!
Cons:
Everything, The after sales service and support is shocking, The app doesn't always work, leads dont always come through costing me $ and hurting my reputation. I find it faster and easier to just use social media.
Number kidnapped
Comments: Sad. They took our number under contract and wont let go of it. Until contract finishes even after telling them it sucks.
Pros:
The only thing is that you can reply to reviews easy. But for a cost.
Cons:
Phone service is just horrble dont reccomend them.
Quality platform, but with a cost
Comments: Quality of platform was good, level of customer service / support was good, although somewhat scattered . There were few issues with the functionality of the platform, but it did take a bit to get answers at times and it also felt like once we started to question the cost of the platform that there was a certain assumption were going to be gone, rather than presenting a collaborative environment to look at creating a package that would keep us on board.
Pros:
The platform works well and there are some specific features that others do not have employed, such as the ability for the platform to identify landlines in advance when attempting to initiate SMS messaging, whereas others simply allow the message to go out and you wait for the failure..
Cons:
The least desirable component of this platform is cost, especially if you happen to be looking at it as a platform to deploy for use with multiple locations. We were a 2 store implementation, so higher cost, but not large enough for volume pricing leverage. the interface for synchronizing contact database information was not overly straightforward.
Everything in one place
Comments: Have had a great experience. Set up and add-ons are easy. Easy to use.
Pros:
One place, multiple platforms combine. Appointment Center Reps do not need to check multiple dashboards, log in to multiple sites. It is all very transparent who sent what, saw what, etc. There are sites that are cheaper but we like the simplicity of this one. We can text customers and employee, create templates for consistent messaging, request reviews, NPS, all in one place. We know there are additional products available such as payments on Podium that we choose not to use. There is more that can be done with it than we need.
Cons:
It is not the cheapest platform for what we are doing but it is comfortable and does a great job. Would be interested to see group, mass messaging, and schedule messaging.
Need some features
Comments: It isn't bad product. I would like the change above, as well as I will periodically stop getting notifications on my cell phone, so I miss messages as well. Same with the desktop option. Sometimes, replies will not pop up in the lower corner of screen. So I will constantly switch to see if anyone responds.
Pros:
Ease of use. Very easy to slip in and send a message. I also like the integration with our CRM software
Cons:
Cannot sent to multiple people. For example, there are times when I need to send a message to husband and wife. I can't do that via podium, so I am forced to go tot my cell phone, which is not ideal for my job title.
My Expereince With Podium
Pros:
It comes wit SMS marketing and mass messaging capabilities It supports live chat and makes meeting customer satisfaction easy It makes handling customer experience easy
Cons:
Podium has really helped and no issues yet.
Been with Podium through many changes and additions
Comments: Overall positive because of the headway we have made on public reviews.
Pros:
The cost is inexpensive and it really does help get reviews
Cons:
As new additions and upgrades are coming, it feels like reviews has gone on the back burner. Like everything else is more important. In fact, when another dealer of ours signed up, the reviews shows up as an "add on" for invoicing when this used to be the focus. So, it has also gotten way more expensive over the years. Additions also seem to influence functionality of review aspect on dashboard and things "break" more often. Also, I think that support doesn't work weekends from when we had an issue and I had to call that I wash I got.
Awesome!
Comments: I enjoyed using Podium! It was very beneficial for our office needs
Pros:
It was user friendly and targeted a different type of customer/patient. Texting is the new way of contacting or communicating with other people and responses were quicker and more accurate.
Cons:
The program was easy to use but it was hard to pinpoint exact lists when need be
Poor customer service for a company that solicits reviews
Comments: What kind of company's customer retention plan is "you can cancel the contract, your on the hook for a year" with no attempt what so ever to handle the customers concern...It blows my mind.
Pros:
The promise was to promote more google reviews by allowing field technicians to solicit a review in the field.
Cons:
When I tried to cancel because we were getting posts from all over the USA well we only service South Jersey became a waste of time. Few posts were from our area. When I tried to leave they told me I'm locked in for a year...I can't cancel. Did I get a customer service rep call to ask how they could improve the service or our experience with the service, nothing.
Podium makes things easy.
Comments: While closed during COVID, our customers- existing and new ones- were able to contact us through Podium. They can text the store's phone number so I don't have to give them my personal cell number. It kept us in business when we were shut down.
Pros:
I was hesitant to get Podium at first, thinking that the older staff I had would not use it or have a hard time with it. I was very pleased with the results after the first couple months. It easily integrated with our point of sale system and ALL of our staff used the link to request feedback from our customers. Simple to use!
Cons:
Every now and then we will get spam texts to Podium.
Highly Recommended
Comments: Very good. Highly professional and responsive organisation.
Pros:
We like the ease with which we can communicate outbound with our customers from our busy repair business. The native integration with our point-of-sale software for triggering review requests direct to our customer's smartphone. The inbound lead generation from our website and Google search. We've become much more productive and Podium has become an essential tool in our business.
Cons:
Nothing in particular. Ongoing enhancements have resolved the issues we had in the early days.
Podium - Does Not Live Up To The Hype of the Salespeople
Comments: It was extremely time-consuming to setup. It took me over 2 full weeks. There were problems every step of the way. I've worked for software companies in the past and I feel like I was BETA testing Podium. That's how many problems there were. Support reps were either foreign with little real knowledge of the platform, or young individuals in the USA who were quick to blow off problems without taking any real ownership in assisting me. Two days ago, two customers sent us payments via bank transfers. Two days later, we still don't have the funds in our bank account. Earlier today, a rep said he was escalating our problem but 12 hours later, still no word from anyone. Where is the money? It's thousands of dollars. Our customers are waiting for their services. They paid but we haven't received the funds. This is about as bad as things could be. Our company is screwed out of $7000 right now. Learn from me. Why take the risk with your business?
Pros:
The promises that the salesrep made. That's what I liked best. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver.
Cons:
Horrendous customer support. Never heard from our assigned Account Executive. Most other tech support is done through webchat which involves employees in foreign countries who know little about the actual product. When I finally was able to schedule one-on-one tech support, the rep didn't seem to take my needs seriously.
A huge asset to have and so easy to use
Comments: We are able to stay in touch and contact our customers much faster and the ability to send pictures of the work needed as well.
Pros:
The ability to contact our customer via text message is huge in todays world. They respond quicker than waiting for them to call you back on the phone. The ability to dispatch a call to our technician right from the Podium and they can see all the notes and talk to the customer as well. The ability to get reviews and watch your company grow is wonderful! I absolutely love this program.
Cons:
I think it is a little more difficult to use on your cell phone compared to the computer but just takes a little longer to navigate.
Podium
Comments: Great decision for our orthodontic office.
Pros:
We have integrated Podium to improve our communications with our orthodontic patients by offering texting, to facilitate potential patients to communicate with us through our website plugin and encourage patients to leave us a review on their experience at our office. This has worked really well for us, and we have reached a high level of patient reviews.
Cons:
There are other software that offer additional services including Podium's offerings included although they may be pricier and not work in Quebec. A few issues when Google review links give issues.
best product found at our trade show
Comments: We used to ask our clients to leave us a review, and they all said they would. Very few ever did. Since we got Podium, our reviews are through the roof. It makes it very easy our our clients to leave us a review.
Pros:
I found it very easy to use and implement and very easy to train the sales associate to use
Cons:
some of the comments from Podium are not easily discernable by non techie sales associates. When a request is asked more than once the response from Podium is not easy to understand.