Startups can win loyal customers without going viral online

Startups do not need a viral moment to find customers. At TechCrunch Disrupt, two founders and a venture investor said phone calls, live events and careful work with online creators can all succeed. They also said the real test is whether customers keep coming back.

Engine relied on events and calls

Elia Wallen is founder and CEO of Engine, a travel startup that manages lodging and travel bookings for midsize businesses. Engine reached $150 million in bookings before taking any outside funding. It had no visible social media strategy. Wallen said the team did events and "smiled and dialed," meaning they made sales calls.

He said many people think the phone is outdated, but "the phone still works." Companies that skip it, he argued, miss a large offline client base. Early on, Engine also hired a magician named David to perform for prospects at events and draw them to its booth.

Gamma matched creators to users

Gamma sells AI-powered presentation software. CEO Grant Lee said it grew through an ambassador program called "Gambassador," which used influencers, people with large online followings who promote products. Gamma started before this was a common move for smaller companies. It eventually reached a multi-billion dollar valuation.

Lee warned that handing influencers a platform is not enough. If a product serves different groups, he said, each group needs creators who speak to it, such as consultants or marketers who build decks for a chief marketing officer. Creators must also explain the product's value well. Otherwise, he said, the spending "is just going to fall flat."

How to tell who will stay

Crystal Huang, a general partner at Google Ventures, said customer usage data holds clues. Early usage and retention numbers can show whether people are becoming loyal. She suggested looking for these signs:

• Use that keeps recurring
• Use that is increasing
• Customers who refer their friends
• Super fans who promote the company or even want to work there

What it means for small business

The panel did not say social media is useless. Lee said how well it works depends largely on the type of business, and that other ways of reaching customers can be just as effective, if not more. For a small business, a phone call or a live event may win customers as well as a post.

The panel gave no figures on how much of Engine's growth came from calls versus events. It also did not say how Gamma measured the results of its creator program.