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Birdeye vs Podium vs Signpost: Which is Best for Local Businesses?

Podium vs Birdeye vs Signpost

Podium vs Birdeye vs Signpost

Today, businesses are challenged by the various nuances of social media and digital marketing. It’s more difficult for local and small businesses to establish themselves online, manage their online reviews, and maintain positive customer interactions.

 

This is where reputation management software and platforms come in. 

 

A reputation management software or platform is a type of business management tool that will allow your business to improve its online reputation through activities like: 

 

  • Review generation
  • Review monitoring and timely responses
  • Customer support
  • Local SEO
  • Managing online business listings

 

There are many reputation management platforms and tools available with varying features, but Podium, Birdeye, and Signpost are the top contenders to consider. 

At a Glance
Platform
Services and Solutions
Pricing
Podium
Online review management


Internal communication with “Teamchat”


Email management


Data insights


Videochat with customers


Webchat with customers


SMS marketing campaigns


Payments management

Simple content
Platform
Services and Solutions
Pricing
Birdeye
Business listing(s)/pages management


Online review management


Referrals feature


2-way messaging


Webchat with customers


Surveys


Data insights


Competitive benchmarking


Support tickets to fix issues

Offers a free trial.


Three tiered pricing options: Standard, Professional, and Premium.

Platform
Services and Solutions
Pricing
Signpost
Online review management


Digital receptionist (webchat, phone, text/SMS)


24/7 live receptionist support


Centralized mobile app/dashboard for customer communications


Data insights


Custom campaigns and marketing automation


Payment tracking


Text/SMS marketing and customer communications


Integrations with top CRM software

Pricing is customized per client needs.

 

 

If you need review management software for your business without the headache, Signpost is a cost-effective solution. Start a demo today.

 

 

Business Platforms: Let’s Compare

When you’re choosing a reputation management platform to work with, you want to make sure that it is easy to use, meets your business needs, and its functionality isn’t compromised across different mobile devices, like Androids and iPhones. 

 

To do this, you should get to know the platform you’re going to work with. Let’s review the following areas of each:

 

  • Company Overview
  • Services and Solutions for Your Business
  • Pricing

Company Overview

 

Podium

 

Podium

 

Podium is mostly known for providing messaging tools for local businesses to optimize their communication workflows with customers. It targets small businesses that rely on local online search engine optimization (SEO) and listings to drive their business growth.

 

Podium focuses more on customer surveys for engagement and also has additional features like payment collection and Teamchat (an internal communication tool to connect with your in-house team). You might opt for Podium if: 

  • You want to use a tool to collect payments from your customers. 
  • You are focused on customer surveys for sentiment analysis. 
Birdeye

 

Birdeye

 

Birdeye is another popular reputation management platform. However, Birdeye serves both small businesses and large enterprises, with industry niches that cover everything from restaurants to dentistry. Small businesses that are only looking to strengthen their online reputation through customer feedback, reviews, and ratings might opt for Birdeye. 

 

Birdeye focuses more on business management listings/pages and customer acquisition through direct communication. You should opt for Birdeye if: 

 

  • You want to use a tool to manage your business listings.
  • You want to leverage customer feedback to help you fix operational issues.
  • You want to send mass text messages to your customers as part of an SMS marketing campaign.
Signpost

 

Signpost

 

Signpost is an all-in-one review management software specifically designed for local and home-service businesses like plumbers, electricians, HVAC, and general contractors to improve their online reputations and communicate with their clients—throughout the entire relationship. With plenty of integrations and automated features, Signpost simplifies workflows and helps local businesses meet their marketing and business goals.

 

You should opt for Signpost if:

 

Services and Solutions for Your Business

 

Podium

 

Podium

 

Podium offers the following solutions: 

 

  • Reviews: Grow your positive customer reviews through the platform. 
  • Teamchat: Optimize your internal communications through effective team correspondence. 
  • Inbox: Access a centralized platform for all your communication channels. 
  • Feedback: Gain real-time insights into your performance and customer experience ratings.
  • Videochat: Chat face-to-face with different stakeholders and customers through video conferencing.
  • Campaigns: Conduct SMS marketing campaigns to drive conversions for your business. 
  • Payments: Collect payments through text correspondence. 

Webchat: Set up a chatbot on your website to engage with website visitors.

 
Birdeye

 

Birdeye’s services are classified into three distinct categories: Attract, Convert, and Delight.

 

Birdeye solutions

 

  • Attract
    • Listings: Attract more customers to your business by managing your online business listings. 
    • Reviews: Showcase your 5-star reviews. 
    • Pages: Manage your multi-location business through multiple pages to increase visibility. 
    • Referrals: Grow your customer base through the power of referrals. 
  • Convert
    • Messaging: Contact and engage customers from various channels to increase conversions. 
    • Webchat: Engage with website visitors through a webchat bot.
  • Delight
    • Surveys: Gain customer insights into their experience and satisfaction through surveys. 
    • Benchmarking: Assess your top competitors and see what they’re doing best.
    • Insights: Create action plans from valuable customer insights to drive future success.
    • Ticketing: Improve your customer satisfaction through a smart ticketing system. This system notifies your team of negative feedback and creates assignments to fix the issues.
Signpost

 

Signpost

 

Signpost offers desirable solutions for local and home service businesses: 

 

  • Reviews: Improve your online reputation through the power of positive reviews. Signpost helps businesses generate and manage their online reviews in an easy, automated way.
  • Chat: Engage website visitors and other potential customers by automating your phone, online, and text message correspondence through our innovative digital receptionist and chat support.
  • Live Receptionist: Provide real-time support and delight your customers with a live receptionist. We’ll help your business create long-lasting customer relationships while your team is off the clock.
  • Mobile App: Manage your multichannel communications and marketing through one easy-to-use app. You can communicate with leads and customers in real-time through your Apple or Android device. 
  • Marketing Automation: Automate your marketing campaigns and meet your re-engagement goals. Through Signpost, you can create custom campaigns for both prospects and existing customers.
  • Payments: Track customer payments and follow-up on invoices through an integrated platform. You can track customer purchase history and send relevant messages at optimized times. 
  • Text: Meet your customers where they are by holding conversion-focused conversations with them. Identify and make the best of more opportunities to engage, convert, and transact with prospects and existing customers. 
  • Integrations: Drive more value by integrating with the top CRM platforms such as Zapier, Square, Quickbooks, HomeAdvisor, and more.

Pricing and Fees

 
Podium

 

Podium’s pricing is customized to fit your business needs and based on the number of locations you manage.

 

Podium

 

You can request a custom quote here

Birdeye

Birdeye offers three pricing options, each with differing features: Standard, Professional, and Premium. Its pricing is customized per a business’s specific needs.

 

To get a complete quote for the pricing scheme, you will have to use their pricing configurator here.

 

Birdeye pricing

 

Signpost

 

Signpost also offers customized pricing that’s purpose-built for every business’s unique needs.

 

Signpost

 

To get started, book a demo with Signpost today.

 

 

Signpost is used by thousands of small service businesses to build a trusted reputation online with reviews. Let us show you how our review software works.

 

 

Bottom Line

Every local business aims to grow its customer base and maintain a positive reputation. One of the most business-efficient ways to do that is through reputation management and communication software. 

 

Enter: Signpost.

 

Signpost is the all-in-one platform with powerful integrations and best-in-class support for local businesses everywhere.

 

Discover why thousands of businesses partner with Signpost. Book a demo today!

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