Hipages Group forms tradie customer advisory board

Tradie marketplace hipages group has created a tradie advisory board to bring the voice of the customer into their product decision-making.

This board provides feedback on product features, bringing insights to shape new services, and identifying areas for improvement within the hipages offering including pricing, support, sales and subscription packages.

Roby Sharon-Zipser, co-founder and CEO, at hipages Group told Digital Nation the customer advisory board has been implemented to consult on hipages’ evolution to their new end-to-end platform, ensuring the business is focused on the challenges most commonly faced by their customers. 

The board, officially launched last month, comprises of an electrician, aluminium specialist and architect from NSW, a plumber from Queensland, a painter from Victoria, an appliance repairs person from South Australia, a cleaner from Western Australia, and an air conditioning technician from the ACT.

They will meet monthly virtually and occasionally in person. To select the tradies to sit on the board, hipages reached out to its customers and invited them to sit on the panel.

“From there, we selected the best applications from a range of trades, from different states and territories to ensure a diverse mix of tradies that accurately represents our customer base,” Sharon-Zipser said.

“Each member has a unique perspective which they bring to the role. It’s important to have a diverse representation of your customer base, as these insights will inform the future of the product.”

The customer advisory board has already provided feedback on a new profile page design to help tradies promote their business; elements of the tradie and homeowner engagement process to enable better communication; and the tools used to manage their business to make the platform more efficient.

Sharon-Zipser said the board meets regularly to provide an update on business to get a better understanding of the wider industry.

“At hipages, we are very close to the industry but having a direct voice for the trade community helps us stay close to the current problems, so we can provide relevant solutions. While we’ve always had tradies at the core of our business and engaged in two-way dialogue, the board takes this even further,” he said.

“We know that a big pain point for tradies is admin, specifically the time it takes to complete finance and planning. We want to include the solutions for these within the hipages platform so tradies can source work, quote, and invoice all in one place.”

He added, “We’re excited to continue open conversations with the community on the industry, their businesses and how hipages can better meet their needs, both through our marketplace and our growing SaaS offering.

Sharon-Zipser said tradies have always been at the core of the hipages business.

“We wanted to make it official as we push to transform the home improvement industry through our work to single tradie platform,” he said.

“It made perfect sense to implement a customer advisory board to consult on our evolution to platform, formalising the tradie voice in the business.”