interview: Mono meets with co-founder and ceo of boxx.io services - angel terral
October 26 2016
boxx.io services is the leading Software With A Service (SWAS) provider of white-label DIFM local marketing solutions for the Latin American and US-Hispanic SMB market and they have recently partnered with us here at Mono Solutions to offer white-labeled sales and fulfillment services in Spanish.
In order to get better insight into the largely underserved US Hispanic market, we interviewed the company’s Co-founder and CEO, Angel Terral, about how digital marketing providers in the US can leverage the opportunity in this market.
1) Can you tell us about boxx.io and why you are focused on the US Hispanic market?
In Latin America, we are accustomed to having everything done for us; someone will fill your tank at a station, someone will cook for you at your house, be your private driver, etc. So we asked ourselves, why should it be any different for the creation of a business website? That’s how boxx.io services was born. Call it your Digital Marketing Concierge service. We are convinced that the way to go after the LatAm market is with the Software With a Service model. You pick up the phone, talk to someone and get your site done. Naturally, US Hispanics due to their Latin American roots would obviously prefer the comfort of DIFM through a Software With A Service (SWAS) model over DIY alternatives.
While a lot of attention has been put on the enormous growth of US Hispanic consumers, Hispanic self-employed and businesses have also become a strategic growth opportunity within the US. We were curious about how US Hispanic small businesses were using the Internet to grow so we talked to thousands of them. Very quickly, we realized three things:
- They were lagging behind in terms of digital adoption, way more than the average US small business
- The vast majority thought they were too small and could not afford an online presence to promote their businesses online and,
- The players selling digital marketing services were not doing it right in the US Hispanic space. When they engaged with them it was just about putting an option in their IVRs “press 3 for Español” and Google Translating the whole experience.
We immediately saw an opportunity: our expertise, know-how and the economies of scale that we developed in Latin America would give us a tremendous competitive advantage in this market. Even better, we had the opportunity to transfer these competitive advantages and the cost benefits of having our telesales and fulfilment house in Latin America to our channel partners in the US.
2) How big is the US Hispanic market - what is their appetite for digital marketing?
“According to GeoScape there are more than four million US Hispanic-owned SMBs and self-employed individuals in the US. While research shows that up to 50% of very small businesses (made up of one to five people) don’t even have a website we noticed that this number was dramatically higher, up to 75%, for US Hispanic small businesses.”
(Continued) Additionally, we noticed that the US Hispanic market was well aware of the importance of being online but that they did not know where to begin. They need a hand and someone they can trust in order to decide to make their first steps into the digital world. Their decision making process, motivators, influencers and perception to technology is radically different from the general small business population in the US. This was even more pronounced depending on the sub-segment of “hispanicity” they belonged to (Have they been in the US since less than 10 years? More than 10 years? Were their parents immigrants and the small business owner born in the US?, etc.).
3) What kind of challenges do companies face in getting US Hispanic SMBs online?
"The most important thing is that you need to adapt the entire business value chain to cater to the realities of US Hispanics and create an amazing customer experience. When you sell a website you are not selling a product, you are selling a long-term experience and relationship with customers who are trusting you with the success of their small businesses online."
(Continued) At boxx.io we transform amazing software and technology such as the Mono platform into a service that you tap on demand through the simplicity of a phone call. To do that you have to customize every step of the process from telesales, to the fulfilment experience all the way to customer care. Even the way you communicate and drive demand has to be completely different. We as Latinos are known to be sensitive, passionate and receptive to aspirational messages: you must infuse these ingredients in the communication.
4) How is your partnership with Mono Solutions important to helping US Hispanic SMBs get online?
At boxx.io we obsessively focus on exploring ways to bring to market SWAS local marketing services in the most efficient and customer friendly way. This way we can transfer these efficiencies to our channel partners and their small business customers. Mono Solutions allows us to create amazing websites at scale, with an unprecedented level of functionality at an unbeatable price. Something that US Hispanic small business owners are very receptive to.
5) What is the benefit for US-based companies to use a white-label service like yours, rather than develop their own internal department?
By seamlessly integrating the boxx.io SWAS to our channel partners existing operations, we empower them to tap into this underserved market in a matter of weeks. This means they save on a steep learning curve that took us years to develop. Therefore, they can offer a best-in-class product based on the award-winning Mono Solution technology combined with the boxx.io Software With a Service model, best-in-class telesales and customer care - while getting real bottom line profits from day one.
Are you ready to enter the US Hispanic market?
If you too have seen the potential business opportunities with the US Hispanic market, don’t hesitate to reach out to find out more about how Mono and boxx.io can help grow your business.
About Mono Solutions
www.monosolutions.com - Mono Solutions, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, provides a SaaS-based platform for the design, delivery and management of professional, responsive websites and e-commerce. We help our resellers to efficiently and cost-effectively deliver high quality online presence solutions to SMBs through our platform, along with our partner network of distinguished digital service providers of SEM, SEO, fulfillment, domains and emails, online booking, call tracking and other complementary services.
About boxx.io
www.boxx.io - boxx.io is the leading Software With A Service (SWAS) provider of white-label DIFM local marketing solutions for Latin American and US-Hispanic SMBs. To date it has delivered more than 47 million leads to more than 150,000 SMBs in the Americas. Fully-trained in the Mono Platform, boxx.io is the ideal go-to-market SWAS partner with experience in turnkey sales and fulfillment in Spanish for US-Hispanic SMBs at scale.
