About Us
In a Nutshell
- We care about local businesses. They are a fundamental and essential part of the economy and culture.
- We believe customers and owners benefit from having a direct and private dialogue before they air out their differences in public review sites such as yelp or tripadvisor.
- We built a tool to help business owners do exactly that.
What is OwnerListens?
OwnerListens is a mobile application that empowers business owners to collect and respond to customer feedback in real-time. Customers use the OwnerListens app to send compliments, complaints, and suggestions for local businesses directly to their owner. Owners and managers can then immediately respond via text or email.
For customers, using OwnerListens is a great alternative to posting public reviews online. OwnerListens provides customers with an anonymous yet direct communication channel with owners of local businesses. While online review sites can be a good way for frustrated customers to release steam, they really don’t help customers get problems solved. With OwnerListens, the owner can actually respond to the customer directly and potentially rectify a less than perfect experience. Additionally the OwnerListens app makes it safe and easy for customers to submit feedback directly from their mobile devices without having to divulge any personal information.
For owners/managers, OwnerListens provides the opportunity to immediately address problems as well as privately collect candid feedback in real-time. Owners are typically delighted to take care of complaints and make customers happy before customers leave and hit public review channels online. Moreover, when customers go home and review the business online, they will be more likely to praise the owner’s quick response to their problem. Effectively, OwnerListens provides business owners with an opportunity to turn a negative review into positive one. Whether on site or on the go, owners can receiving and respond to feedback via text and email with OwnerListens, anytime and anywhere.
OwnerListens is a revolutionary feedback tool for both customers and business owners. By enabling direct, private, and anonymous communication in real-time, OwnerListens brings customers and owners together to improve local businesses and increase customer satisfaction.
How it all Started
When our cofounder Oren started Oren’s Hummus Shop, a restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, he wanted feedback from customers so that he could learn from mistakes and address any problems in real-time. However for many reasons, Oren quickly realized how challenging this would be. He could not be in store at all hours to talk to customers and, even when he was on site, many customers were too shy to communicate; or worse, they would express satisfaction to his face only to go home and post a negative review online. This felt incredibly unfair and frustrating to Oren, so he decided to do something about it.
Oren partnered with his friend Adi to build a tool that would enable customers to easily and immediately contact him and his managers directly, without having to register or divulge personal information. The solution was OwnerListens and the results were incredible. Not only was Oren able to address customer complaints effectively, he also received tremendously useful feedback about his menu, staff, and ambiance. This resulted in changes to the business that ultimately improved his customer satisfaction, significantly. OwnerListens out-performed original expectations by helping Oren identify helpful changes and key problems which he, otherwise, wouldn’t have known about. Oren's Hummus now enjoys a four star rating on Yelp, four and half stars on Tripadvisor, and four and half stars on UrbanSpoon.
Oren wanted all local businesses to have the opportunity to improve via honest customer feedback, address complaints directly, and prevent negative online reviews. In September 2011, he and Adi founded OwnerListens Inc. to bring this new tool to everyone.
If you're a business owner, you too can use OwnerListens. You can stop being frustrated by online reviews, stop wondering what's happening at your business when you're not there, and stop being passive about customer service. You owe it to yourself, your staff, and your customers to address issues head on, improve your business, and thrive.
Team
-
Oren Dobronsky
Oren spent his entire career building technology companies such as Hotbar, SmartShopper and Infolinks. In 2011, Oren followed his passion for food and opened, Oren’s Hummus Shop, a restaurant in downtown Palo Alto.
In an effort to encourage feedback and open dialogue, Oren built the OwnerListens app to allow customers to reach him directly. When great feedback started flowing in and after he was able to intercept bad reviews by correcting problems immediately, Oren realized his quest for feedback could be enjoyed by all local businesses. In 2011, he partnered with Adi and founded OwnerListens.
Oren is also an avid tango fan and has been dancing for over a decade. He credits the hobby with introducing him to his wife, Nancy.
-
Adi Bittan
Adi Bittan first realized how difficult it was to start a small business almost 10 years ago when she was the legal advisor to the national commission on business licensing in Israel. The myriad of requirements and regulations for small businesses were hard to understand even for those who wrote them. That experience gave Adi a new appreciation of the small business owner and also inspired her to start her own business some day.
After leaving the legal world, Adi earned an MBA from Stanford in 2008. When her long time friend Oren opened Oren’s Hummus Shop in Palo Alto, Oren told Adi about his need for a direct feedback tool to communicate directly with his customers; she immediately connected with his vision and together, they founded OwnerListens in 2011.
In her spare time, Adi is a recreational carpenter. She likes to build useful things out of reclaimed wood.
-
Michael Passey
Michael graduated from Stanford University in 2007 with a BA in International Relations and a BA in Film and Media Studies. After gaining diverse work experience in both film and payment technology industries, Michael formed his own independent consultancy focusing on marketing and strategy for small businesses. Michael quickly discovered the varied challenges faced by businesses in the restaurant, wine, and retail industries.
When Adi approached Michael in 2011 with the idea of OwnerListens, Michael knew this was the solution that those businesses had been waiting for, and he joined the team as Head of Marketing.
Michael, a former Stanford Varsity Team Member, still enjoys competitive swimming and recently competed in the 2012 Fina Master’s World Championships in Italy.
-
Niv Caner
Niv has been writing software for more than a decade and holds a Communications System Engineering degree from Ben Gurion University. His passion is writing application aimed at non-technical people - communicating with users and understanding how to make things easier for them. Prior to OwnerListens, Niv was a senior developer at NY based SharedBook, provider of customized and personalized digital books.
When Niv heard about OwnerListens, a slick communication platform for all business owners and consumers, he immediately knew it was the perfect fit and joined as CTO.
Niv lives with his wife and 3 wonderful kids, and plays the Didgeridoo, a wind instrument developed by indigenous Australians.
Contact Us
