Maddyness spoke to Nick Sutton, COO, about what differentiates Qmee from other online outlets promising quick and easy cash and how the customer feedback it gathers has shaped the decisions of even the biggest brands.
[Maddyness] Tell us what Qmee does and how it came about in your own words. Did you have expertise and experience in the field you chose?
[Nick] Qmee is an app that engages and rewards users for online activities including completing surveys online. It was developed from the concept that individuals should be rewarded for their online attention and opinions. The first activity that Qmee introduced to users was rewarding users for their online search activity. Both founders had experience of founding technology and software businesses, but no experience or expertise in market research or advertising.
Qmee was founded by Jonathan Knight and Nick Sutton (myself). We met as board members of an ESG software company and shared a commuter train journey where we discussed various ideas and concepts. Jonathan has a master’s in Computer Science and had built the first prototype for Qmee, and I had founded two successful companies from scratch, so we decided that good ideas need to be formed into businesses; as such, Qmee was born!
How is Qmee different from other ‘earn money for your opinion’ outlets?
Qmee has an absolute priority on its users’ experience to ensure that they get the best online experience and they are rewarded instantly in cash for their opinions as opposed to points or having to build a minimum balance before getting their rewards. Qmee has a proprietary machine learning model which shows the right survey to the right user at the right time, which results in a market-leading success rate for users. The combination of a good user experience, instant cash rewards and market leading user success rates make Qmee different from other ‘opinion’ sites.
Is this a way of giving consumers more control over how their data is used and how they are advertised to?
Qmee users have total control over their own data, and their data is used to make sure they are shown the best survey opportunities and offers. We respect our users’ time and don’t want to waste it.
What kind of sums can people expect to make via Qmee?
Qmee is not meant to be an income source but a regular user can expect to make a few extra dollars every week for their opinions. Some more active users make considerably more.
Do their opinions have tangible influence on brand decisions? Do you have any examples?
Qmee users have a reputation for giving high quality responses (we are ranked very highly in the Lucid Quality Score Table), which means that brands actively seek their opinions and yes, their opinions have an impact. Recently, Nike ran a really good visually appealing interactive survey asking users for their opinions on colour schemes for trainers they were launching. Qmee users were very active on this survey and their opinions formed the decisions.
What have been the biggest professional challenges during lockdown? (and have there been unexpected rays of sunshine?)
The biggest challenges in lockdown have been onboarding new team members virtually and missing the in-person interaction with colleagues and partners. There have been big rays of sunshine as Qmee has broken all of its records as the move to digital/online has accelerated and businesses and brands seek more answers in these strange times.
Have you experienced any changes in user patterns and purchasing habits since COVID-19?
As in the previous answer everybody is searching for peoples opinions on how they are changing their behaviour because of COVID-19, including working habits, shopping habits, travel plans etc.
As a leader, have you successfully managed your (and your team’s) mental resilience through lockdown?
It has been a challenging time for some team members who are missing the collaboration and social interaction with others. We have continually reached out and asked how they are and how they want to work going forward. Some team members have flourished by not having the daily grind of a commute.
And finally, a more personal question. What’s your daily routine at the moment - and what are the rules you’re living by to get you through COVID-19?
At the start of lockdown 1.0 I acquired a mobile home which I turned into an office! I leave the house and walk 50 metres to my office and try to keep home and work separate. I realise that not everybody has this flexibility/luxury so I consider myself fortunate. Also it's important for me not to put any dates around when life will return to some pre-COVID normality as this will inevitably lead to disappointment, so I have adjusted to this new routine for as long as I have to.
