Young Nigerians have built a social media management software to help small and medium scale businesses thrive better. The platform called Simpu is a simple software for businesses looking to streamline customer interactions and business processes into one app. It allows you to sync all your chat direct messages (WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Messenger, SMS) as one inbox. It also lets marketing teams find newer audiences at a lower cost of acquisition (CAC) using data they already have.

The interesting thing is, this is arguably the first indigenous social management software being built by Nigerians and specifically tailored for both local and global users.

According to the founder, Collins Iheagwara and his cofounders, Kolawole Balogun and Tioluwani Kolawole, the journey to building Simpu started a year ago when they set out on a daring mission to build an infrastructure that optimizes conversations on social media so merchants can connect with their customers seamlessly and efficiently.

“We realised that building the API wasn’t enough. There’s the need to build the use cases, build the tools that allow a business to go about their daily activities without stress,” Collins said.

Why is there a need for this software?

Have you ever tried to make enquiries about a product on social media? You send the merchant a direct message to ask about that bag you saw on their page. You wait for as long as 3-4 hours, sometimes longer just for the account handler to tell you that the person who will respond to your enquiries uses another account! Even with sellers that have e-commerce websites, the process is clumsy involving many unnecessary steps. Typically, you still negotiate the price with the seller via social media, then upon payment, you have to send proof of payment for confirmation. In the midst of this clumsiness, fatigue sets in. Sellers become tired of answering questions, and buyers become distrustful. This is what simpu is looking to solve.


Here’s are some of the features of Simpu.


Inbox
Simpu’s core feature is called Inbox. It integrates different messaging channels into one inbox so you can engage with customers and partners from one place. You can also unify the identity of a contact by merging their different social profiles as one. Beyond this, inbox allows you to perform functions such as snooze, send later and analytics on how people respond to messages. You can also assign conversations to team members to solve specific customer problems. These features increase the effectiveness of communication.

Process payment
Imagine you’re chatting with a customer who wants to buy a red bag costing ₦10,000 ($25). The current sales flow is that upon agreeing, you’ll ask for customer details and bank account information. When the customer pays, the person might need to send proof of payment. It’s a long process filled with avoidable steps. With Simpu, when you set up your account, you get a dedicated bank account. With this bank account, you can request payment using a unique link, once payment happens everyone is informed. This feature accepts payments in over 50 countries because of SImpu’s API integration with existing payment companies such as Stripe, Paystack, Flutterwave.

Soon, users of Simpu would be able to access credit directly from Simpu based on their transaction history.

List
Consider this feature as deeper and more efficient database management. With Simpu, List connects to other tools to allow for seamless flow of information. It’s flexible to use for different companies and different units. It helps you make more intelligent decisions. For example, you can segment contacts, based on the actions they’ve done: based on how often they’ve opened your messages or based on how much they’ve bought from you.

Simpu provides a suite of tools and services that meet people at their level of need. If you’re an Instagram seller who doesn’t do much you can decide to use only the inbox feature. If you’re a bigger company, you can take it a notch higher by using smart automation and data analytics tools that let you automatically send a customer birthday message or a notification of loan expiry. The ultimate goal of Simpu is to shorten the distance between customers and sellers.

So, the technology basically streamlines conversation for business owners right? Very Nice!