Customer Referrals Go Social With New Facebook Integration From Store Vantage

GREENBRAE, Calif., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Store Vantage (www.storevantage.com), the creators of a free, cloud-based customer management platform for appointment-based businesses, today announced a new way for customer referrals to "go social" and increase business. Clients of any business using Store Vantage can now choose to publish reviews in their own Facebook newsfeed and log into their personal profile using Facebook Connect.

"The biggest challenge for any small business is marketing and nothing beats word-of-mouth for value and effectiveness," said Caroline Shin, co-founder and CEO of Store Vantage. "Yet true word-of-mouth can only go so far. The holy grail for appointment-based businesses is tapping into their clients' social network and now Store Vantage lets them do just that."

Store Vantage's free, easy-to-use platform is more dynamic than basic online calendars and more effective than relying on a notepad or memory. As well as offering online scheduling and automated reminders, it keeps track of a client's personal details, such as birthday or service preferences, ensuring that the customer feels valued. Customers are encouraged to write reviews which can now be shared with their friends through Facebook.

Store Vantage has attracted 2,600 beta businesses to-date and handled over 90,000 appointments through its platform. Customers typically experience an immediate uptick in their revenues simply by eliminating no-shows, sending out next appointment reminders and prompting customers to post reviews.

Daily revenue forecasts based on appointments scheduled, give businesses the ability to plan in advance for busy or quiet periods. Store Vantage can also help drive traffic in quiet periods by generating limited availability promotions.

"Our pet grooming business has grown a phenomenal 50% in revenues since we started using Store Vantage," said Tania Silos-Autry, proprietor of Bath, Brush and Beyond in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "Store Vantage is like having a virtual marketing assistant. Because of its impact on my business I've been able to hire two new employees, and my customers are incredibly appreciative of the level of service we now offer them," said Silos-Autry.

Business executives turned small-business owners turned tech entrepreneurs, Caroline Shin and Ben Gonzales founded Store Vantage in 2010. Their experiences running a pet grooming business in Northern California convinced them that having better customer management tools would lead to happier, more profitable, client relationships.

Given their extensive experience running customer relationship programs at larger companies, Shin and Gonzales turned to technology to address the issue but found there wasn't a product that met their needs.  Simple online scheduling tools were too basic and other offerings did nothing to manage personal client details or facilitate reviews and referrals through social networks.  Firmly believing that businesses should communicate with consumers based on their preferences for mobile, web and social applications, the pair rolled up their sleeves and got to work building something better.  

Store Vantage will be exhibiting this week at SuperZoo in Las Vegas, booth number 1710. For more information visit www.storevantage.com.

About Store Vantage:

Store Vantage was created by tech industry veterans turned small-business owners, who believed that better technology would drive loyalty and profits through stellar customer service.  More dynamic than basic online calendars, and more effective than relying on notepad or memory, Store Vantage is a free, cloud-based customer management platform that is easy for appointment-based businesses to use.  In addition to online scheduling and automated reminders, Store Vantage keeps track of a client's personal details, such as birthday or service preferences, so each customer feels valued.  It also encourages loyal customers to write reviews and refer their friends.  More information is available at www.storevantage.com.

SOURCE Store Vantage