In today’s episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast I had the pleasure of speaking with Doug Marinaro, the CEO and co-founder of Riptide, a three-way text platform for issue resolution.

Doug shared the story of how Riptide came about, starting from the simple idea that a lot of problems could be solved before they become failures if the right people come together in a conversation. He and his co-founder, a small businessman in San Francisco, had previously been applying messaging to his auto repair and towing businesses, and saw dramatic improvements in his ability to satisfy customers. From there, they decided to expand this concept of messaging to be applied more broadly in the context of business and transactions.

Doug went on to explain that Riptide is different from consumer messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram, as it allows businesses to have control over who’s in the conversation, where the information about the conversation goes, and the conversation workflow. This allows businesses to automate the conversation and also give the people responsible for the success of that service, the ability to control the conversation and the participants.

Riptide is currently being used in roadside service, delivery, field service, and home services. Doug shared an example of last mile delivery, as this is where Riptide’s solution applies the most. He highlighted that the intersection of instant gratification with complexity is where Riptide’s solution is most valuable, as customers have an expectation of getting an answer immediately and getting their delivery instantly, but the process of actually accomplishing that delivery can be complex and difficult to manage. Riptide’s solution allows businesses to have control over the customer journey, and to have the right participants in the conversation at the right moment, which ultimately leads to a positive end-to-end customer experience.

Doug also discussed Riptide’s expansion plans, and how the solution can be used globally. He mentioned that Riptide is currently only available in North America, but they are talking to customers all around the world who have heard about what they’re doing and the universality of this problem. The good news is that the telecom services that they work with are robust and global, which will allow them to rapidly expand into other countries.

Riptide is a web-based app, so there’s nothing that needs to be installed on your computers, and it allows for the consumer to use the messaging app that’s already on their phones. This makes it easy for businesses to integrate Riptide into their ecosystem, and to provide real-time visibility on every conversation that’s happening. This data is collected and can be mined, and Riptide generates dashboards on usage by different parties, on response rates, and on how long it takes a person to read a message. This data can also be used for dispute resolution and to apply machine learning models that will allow businesses to insert chatbots into the conversation.

Overall, Riptide would appear to be a valuable solution for businesses looking to have control over the customer journey and to ensure a positive end-to-end customer experience. Tune in to the episode to learn more and to hear Doug’s insights on how Riptide can help your business.

And of course, be sure to follow the Digital Supply Chain podcast in your podcast app of choice to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices in Supply Chain.

Photo credit Sarah Marriage on Flickr