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I stopped using Intercom

blog.gingerlime.com

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Re: I stopped using Intercom

#11

Post by dylanz »

He last used Intercom 3 years ago but is just writing about it now. A LOT has changed in 3 years.

I’ve used the product on multiple projects over the years and it’s matured a lot over time. We use it as a support tool and a way to identify qualified leads. It’s also handles our targeted email campaigns. Their support staff is incredibly on point as well. I personally think it’s a fantastic way to engage customers. Seeing that little bubble in the corner of every site kinda drives me crazy, but I know where to go if I have a question.

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#12

Post by gingerlime »

gk1 wrote: post #4

This is a list of minor complaints from three years ago. Intercom has had several big updates and pricing changes since then. I don’t think it’s fair to post this (you have the right, of course) without seeing what’s changed since then. I’m not a huge fan either, and I helped two startups move OFF Intercom just recently. But my issues with it today probably won’t be relevant three years from now.

OP here. Yes, there are some minor complaints, and I do imagine some things have changed (happy to hear about pricing, because it was truly horrible in my opinion).

But I think the fundamentals aren't minor. The end-user experience isn't drastically different now than 2 years ago. And our A/B test back then is likely to produce similar results today (although we're unlikely to test it again). I still feel that it's a crutch. And I think intercom is a victim of its own success, even more so today than a couple of years ago.

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#13

Post by noahmbarr »

Intercom is a shadow CRM that tries to do everything but ultimately fails to do anything well.

IMHO, Intercom has excellent fit for early stage go-to-markets, but gets ripped out by specialized tools, purpose built and sold to line function (marketing, sales, support, etc)

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#14

Post by corobo »

Does Intercom still do that really annoying bleep when it automatically pings you with some guff? I stopped using Intercom myself (as a user)

Every damn site seemed to have it installed, ended up adblocking all of its domains.

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#15

Post by gk1 »

gingerlime wrote: post #12
gk1 wrote: post #4

This is a list of minor complaints from three years ago. Intercom has had several big updates and pricing changes since then. I don’t think it’s fair to post this (you have the right, of course) without seeing what’s changed since then. I’m not a huge fan either, and I helped two startups move OFF Intercom just recently. But my issues with it today probably won’t be relevant three years from now.

OP here. Yes, there are some minor complaints, and I do imagine some things have changed (happy to hear about pricing, because it was truly horrible in my opinion). But I think the fundamentals aren't minor. The end-user experience isn't drastically different now than 2 years ago. And our A/B test back then is likely to produce similar results today (although we're unlikely to test it again). I still feel that it's a…

If you take out the complaint about pricing, then what remains is a general take on live-chat solutions. It's a valid complaint--and, from my experience, correct for most cases--but shouldn't be aimed solely at Intercom. I've tested live chats from Intercom, Drift, HubSpot, Smooch, and others, and they're all equally underwhelming.

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#16

Post by gingerlime »

gk1 wrote: post #15
gingerlime wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here. Yes, there are some minor complaints, and I do imagine some things have changed (happy to hear about pricing, because it was truly horrible in my opinion). But I think the fundamentals aren't minor. The end-user experience isn't drastically different now than 2 years ago. And our A/B test back then is likely to produce similar results today (although we're unlikely to test it again). I still feel that it's a…

If you take out the complaint about pricing, then what remains is a general take on live-chat solutions. It's a valid complaint--and, from my experience, correct for most cases--but shouldn't be aimed solely at Intercom. I've tested live chats from Intercom, Drift, HubSpot, Smooch, and others, and they're all equally underwhelming.

I think I also addressed that on my post. My personal experience was with intercom though.

> Of course, intercom.io isn’t the only one now, and there are a few competitors in this space. The principle is pretty similar though. I think intercom was the most successful company doing this, or the first, or both. But it’s not really important. It’s mostly about intercom as a concept, rather than a specific implementation.

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#17

Post by robhunter »

gingerlime wrote: post #12
gk1 wrote: post #4

This is a list of minor complaints from three years ago. Intercom has had several big updates and pricing changes since then. I don’t think it’s fair to post this (you have the right, of course) without seeing what’s changed since then. I’m not a huge fan either, and I helped two startups move OFF Intercom just recently. But my issues with it today probably won’t be relevant three years from now.

OP here. Yes, there are some minor complaints, and I do imagine some things have changed (happy to hear about pricing, because it was truly horrible in my opinion). But I think the fundamentals aren't minor. The end-user experience isn't drastically different now than 2 years ago. And our A/B test back then is likely to produce similar results today (although we're unlikely to test it again). I still feel that it's a…

Pricing has definitely gotten much worse since you left

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#18

Post by ryanbertrand »

We tried using Intercom as a “all in one” tool for support, leads, CRM, and it just wasn’t good enough.

We ended up getting Pipedrive for the CRM. Then we hooked up the new Pipedrive integration which is one click to generate a new user, and deal after they show interest with our bot or with us.

For support, we love it and so do our customers. I know there are a lot of chat solutions but it feels the best to me. The bonus is it is integrated with our Help Center (also Intercom) so it is very easy to send embedded articles right in the chat. Our customers love this :)

We are a small team and we were able to reduce the amount of support phone calls (they wanted a phone call to ask the simplist things) by answering quickly on live chat. This allowed us to be able to serve multiple customers at once in a async fashion.

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#19

Post by guzik »

kennbutler wrote: post #2

At my current startup, we sell a rather pricy physical product and have been using Intercom to nurture leads. It's been very useful, as we have lots of leads that have specific questions that they want a human to answer. We found that conversational engagement works the best for these leads, but Drift does a far better job than Intercom at this. Currently planning on migrating.

We are in the medical / research field - also selling a physical product. We are using chatbot to answer sometimes really narrow questions about customer-specific cases (they just would not fit the Help/FAQ page). LiveChat is where most of our leads come from.

Re: I stopped using Intercom

#20

Post by rdlecler1 »

gk1 wrote: post #5
tsunamifury wrote: post #3

If you can’t use a high touch interaction to increase conversion, then you’ve got something very wrong going on that’s bigger than intercom.

Disagree. I’ve tried other live chat solutions and they don’t help. The issue is that in order for the overhead to be worthwhile (ie, the time and attention of operating the chats), the conversion improvement has to be massive. It never has been, for me.

Intercom solution can increase your customer acquisition cost with more onboarding support costs so you need a higher lifetime value of the customer to compensate.
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