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Psychologically, how do people take this? Is it real enough for the payment not to contaminate the experience? Also, SilverDial appears to take over half the m

Psychologically, how do people take this? Is it real enough for the payment not to contaminate the experience? Also, SilverDial appears to take over half the money for themselves. You pay $100 for 4 30 minute calls but SilverDial pays $12 for each call. Seems steep.

Sawpaw19 5y ago
Feedback taken for sure - I'll ask you the same question I asked the other comment. Is $100/month what feels high? Or is $12 for 30 minutes of conversation low?
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  No, $100 a month seems fine and whatever you can get qualified callers for would be the going rate. My first thought was more that with such a high margin, I might hunt around for cheaper options first. My immediate thought was "is this good value for money?" I suppose it also depends on what I am getting for the extra margin. Are these people vetted in any way? Background checks to make sure the callers aren't sleazy salespeople from World Financial Group? As people are always trying to steal the money of the elderly. What is it that my $13 dollars a call that goes to you gets me other than just finding someone who talks? Anything about vetting and security will make me fine with paying extra.
  - atatatat 5y ago
    It sounds like your feedback is "your margin is very transparent".
- freemint 5y ago
  One thing that could help a lot would be disclosure of financials of the company. Not necessarily up to the standard of accounting of non-profits but enough to give people an idea whether you "pocket" $6 per call or $0.60 per call. The first would make me look around for another alternative, the second not.
- freemint 5y ago
  How would months with more then 4 Mondays work? If you call on every Monday except some months where there a 5 Mondays that might cause undue stress and frustration with the elder making the service seem unreliable.
simonbarker87 5y ago
50% margin is pretty standard. How much is the cost base and double it, triple it or quadruple it is a common approach in many industries. In reality the amount you charge should have little to do with how much it costs you. Are they providing $100/month in value should be the question irrelevant of the cost to them.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  My immediate thought on seeing the margin was that I would not be getting good value for my money with this service, as the site doesn't really indicate to me that they provide additional value other than finding a person, which I could plausibly do on Craiglist. Anything about added value the site provides, such as interviews, background checks, etc would make me want to pay the premium and make the Craigslist option seem less safe.
  - Sawpaw19 5y ago
    Probably the most productive comment of the thread! Plan is to screen every candidate before they ever talk to an elderly person. Based on feedback in this thread I’ll plan to personally listen in to all the first calls that callers have to make sure they deliver a quality experience. Will adjust the site to show this as part of the package. Appreciate a lot of your comments here tonight Matt!
- quickthrower2 5y ago
  50% margin is standard for what? It might be standard for a situation where the company is charging a contract rate, but paying their staff a salary (so need to make sure they are fully billable). It might also be a standard rate for digital products. But for what is essentially a freelance platform, nah. People have a sense of fairness. They also have a sense of "if they are just paying someone, I'll pay 'em directly".

Sawpaw19 5y ago

Feedback taken for sure - I'll ask you the same question I asked the other comment. Is $100/month what feels high? Or is $12 for 30 minutes of conversation low?

MattGaiser 5y ago
No, $100 a month seems fine and whatever you can get qualified callers for would be the going rate. My first thought was more that with such a high margin, I might hunt around for cheaper options first. My immediate thought was "is this good value for money?" I suppose it also depends on what I am getting for the extra margin. Are these people vetted in any way? Background checks to make sure the callers aren't sleazy salespeople from World Financial Group? As people are always trying to steal the money of the elderly. What is it that my $13 dollars a call that goes to you gets me other than just finding someone who talks? Anything about vetting and security will make me fine with paying extra.
- atatatat 5y ago
  It sounds like your feedback is "your margin is very transparent".
freemint 5y ago
One thing that could help a lot would be disclosure of financials of the company. Not necessarily up to the standard of accounting of non-profits but enough to give people an idea whether you "pocket" $6 per call or $0.60 per call. The first would make me look around for another alternative, the second not.
freemint 5y ago
How would months with more then 4 Mondays work? If you call on every Monday except some months where there a 5 Mondays that might cause undue stress and frustration with the elder making the service seem unreliable.

simonbarker87 5y ago

50% margin is pretty standard. How much is the cost base and double it, triple it or quadruple it is a common approach in many industries. In reality the amount you charge should have little to do with how much it costs you. Are they providing $100/month in value should be the question irrelevant of the cost to them.

MattGaiser 5y ago
My immediate thought on seeing the margin was that I would not be getting good value for my money with this service, as the site doesn't really indicate to me that they provide additional value other than finding a person, which I could plausibly do on Craiglist. Anything about added value the site provides, such as interviews, background checks, etc would make me want to pay the premium and make the Craigslist option seem less safe.
- Sawpaw19 5y ago
  Probably the most productive comment of the thread! Plan is to screen every candidate before they ever talk to an elderly person. Based on feedback in this thread I’ll plan to personally listen in to all the first calls that callers have to make sure they deliver a quality experience. Will adjust the site to show this as part of the package. Appreciate a lot of your comments here tonight Matt!
quickthrower2 5y ago
50% margin is standard for what? It might be standard for a situation where the company is charging a contract rate, but paying their staff a salary (so need to make sure they are fully billable). It might also be a standard rate for digital products. But for what is essentially a freelance platform, nah. People have a sense of fairness. They also have a sense of "if they are just paying someone, I'll pay 'em directly".