“If I did not have PaySimple, I would be spending 3 hours a day doing billing stuff. Today, I spend maybe 5 minutes a week.”
-Kevin LaManna, Owner
Duple Meter, LLC
Starting a Business and a Creative Outlet
Four years ago, Kevin LaManna founded Duple Meter, a software company that develops business management solutions. When asked why he started a business, Kevin replied simply, “I could not imagine myself not doing it.”
Previously, Kevin worked in the corporate world and found that he was bursting with great ideas, but had nowhere to express them. “I really couldn’t see [them] come to fruition because of the bureaucracy or corporate environment,” he explained. As many entrepreneurs can relate, being able to, as Kevin states, “see ideas through to execution” is a huge piece of having a happy, fulfilling work-life.
Evolving a Growing Business
Duple Meter originally began as a software for music teachers (hence the name’s musical reference) to manage the business aspects of running a music studio or classroom. After seeing an interest from other non-profits, they introduced a customized software called SocialRaise, geared toward the non-profit sector. And, most recently, Duple Meter launched GroupHelix, a platform for small to-medium sized businesses to manage lead generation, contact development, and content marketing. With the flexibility to decide his company’s path, Kevin is keen to learning the market demands and using them to inform the company’s software offerings.
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A Billing Platform that Works, Please
After only a few months of being in business, Kevin knew Duple Meter would need some form of electronic payment acceptance and, ideally, a platform that could collect automatically on a recurring basis.
“I looked at tons of different platforms,” he recalled. The first the company signed up with, a well-known name, was extremely difficult to manage and Kevin found customers were reluctant to use.
Then, he moved on to a different system. After doing all the integration work, he discovered that it also was not what he expected. “The entire user experience was subpar,” he remarked.
After researching yet another solution and again being disappointed, he started to get discouraged. “There’s really not a lot of good solutions out there,” he said. Finally, after doing an online search, Kevin found PaySimple. From the user interface to the customer experience, it was just what he was looking for. “It really saved me a ton of time,” he recalled.
Duple Meter currently utilizes PaySimple’s web payment forms for the upfront payment after a customer signs up. Then, customers are set up on recurring billing schedules for monthly dues. “If I didn’t have that recurring payment functionality,” Kevin shared, “getting payments every month would be very difficult and we would have a much higher turnover rate.”
The Difference Makers
After becoming an inadvertent expert on available billing solutions, Kevin shared on three key areas that make PaySimple stand out for his business.
Ease of Use
“I like how easy it is for my customers to make a payment. It’s very simple and straightforward. To me, that’s huge. We have a very high retention rate, over 99%, and I think part of that is because our billing process is so solid.”
Being in the software business himself, Kevin also remarked on PaySimple’s technology practices:
“Your release schedule is really aggressive. I’m surprised how you’re able to put new features in at the rate that you do.”
Customer Service
“One of the biggest things is your customer service really is stellar. I send customers your way because I know other small businesses are looking for this kind of a service.”
Security
“I like being hands-off with the financial and payment information. I’m scared to death of compromising financial information. With you, it’s one thing I don’t have to worry about. It’s very, very comforting.”
Future Growth
With continued success and increased adoption of its software offerings, Duple Meter plans more expansion and technology development. Soon, the company will grow to 25 employees and it’s upcoming release will include additional plugins to social media platforms.
Thank you, Kevin, for sharing your story.
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