RatePoint
RatePoint is an American company based in Needham, MA, that provides web-based customer feedback and online reputation management solutions for businesses. RatePoint's system is used by thousands of businesses and provides consumers with the ability to review a business through tools placed directly on a business' website. The system allows the businesses to work with consumers to RESOLVE negative reviews with the goal of improving both the business and customer experience.
History
RatePoint was founded by the former founders of GeoTrust shortly after that company's acquisition by VeriSign, in September 2006. From the very outset, the company’s mission was to provide businesses worldwide with easy-to-use, affordable, and automated tools that help them harness the power of credible customer feedback and reviews. The end goal was to allow businesses to proactively manage their reputation and brand, increase consumer confidence and improve their businesses.
The concept of RatePoint was launched in January 2007 as a first step into the authenticated ratings and reviews environment. The system allowed users to rate any web page on the Internet through the RatePoint website and through toolbars available for Internet Explorer and Firefox. As RatePoint members rated more websites, they were connected with other users that share the same likes and dislikes.
RatePoint was also tested within the Second Life environment – as a way to rate Second Life Residents within the application’s virtual world. Despite a high-profile advertising presence and the doubling of the office as a popular jazz club it failed to gain substantial traction. Second Life support was discontinued in December 2007 although the jazz club is still actively used.
In June 2007 RatePoint officially launched as a reputation management service solely for ratings and reviews of businesses. RatePoint received a Series A round of funding from Prism Ventureworks and .406 Ventures. In January of 2009, RatePoint secured a 10m Series B round led by Castile Ventures.
Products & Services
RatePoint provides a comprehensive set of tools that are accessible to the end-user in the RatePoint Business Center. These tools allow businesses to collect, manage, and display reviews and feedback directly through their online presence. Popular features include a dynamically generated site seal, pre-generated testimonial pages, review spotlight widgets and an e-mail / survey system that allows businesses to reach out to customers proactively. In June 2008 RatePoint released an Enterprise level product which introduced advanced administration features multiple user roles, departments and business units.
Review Process
RatePoint has differentiated itself from other Web 2.0 dot-coms by adding steps such as phone authentication to the traditional review process to help ensure the integrity of the review. In the instance of a negative review RatePoint also facilitates (and requires) a dispute resolution process between consumers and member businesses in an effort to resolve customer issues. This process has been successful in resolving over 90% of consumer issues to-date. Negative reviews that are unable to be resolved are posted to the business with an optional response from the business owner. To assure the quality of the program, businesses who fail to maintain a positive RatePoint rating may be dismissed from the program.
Distribution
Further differentiating it from other services, RatePoint is currently available as a standalone retail offering as well as through a number of partners. RatePoint is currently offered by over 100 web hosting companies, including 1&1 Internet, iPower and Ecommerce Corp as a value-added service in their hosting packages. RatePoint is also available through TrustWave and ControlScan alongside PCI DSS compliance solutions. In March 2008 VeriSign and RatePoint announced an agreement to offer RatePoint alongside VeriSign SSL certificates.