Don't Hate Matterport3408
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StevenHattan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| So I'm out at a job yesterday and to pass the time by I read the posts on the forum. Yesterday some members were bad-mouthing Matterport almost on the verge of THREATENING them. I was surprised at the posts. "Matterport better start listening." "Once there is a competitor I'm outta here." Blah blah blah. Really guys? Really?? Everyone wants to complain, complain, complain. To me it sounds like a bunch of [redacted] babies that aren't' getting their way...or haven't figured out how to make money at this. BABIES! Waaa Waaa Waaaa You want this, you want that and if they don't give it to you (NOW!) then here come the tears, whining and threats. My guess is the people who are complaining and threatening to leave are the ones that are not making money at this...but it's just my guess. Matterport appears to be a struggling business. JUST LIKE YOU, when they started this business they probably had projected much higher sales and income. You bought the camera, LOVED the technology, thought this would be 'easy money' and then it didn't happen. I certainly did...no lie. I figured I'd be making six figures by now. Although I make enough to pay the bills, I'm certainly not there...AND...I had to go back to the drawing board multiple times. Do you honestly think the MatterHeads are getting together strategizing and planning how they can [redacted] you? If so, you're an absolute idiot. Do they want you to be unhappy? Do they want to give such poor customer service you threaten to leave? Of course not. Have they made mistakes? Could they have done things better? Will they make more mistakes as things progress? Of course. Matterport could do all the things that have been suggested on this forum and you are STILL going to bitch about things because you're not personally making any money. Metroplex360 has come up with some REALLY COOL stuff. I personally like the square footage thing. It sure makes things easier but IT'S NOT GOING TO PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKET. Sure, Matterport could offer virtual staging but IT'S NOT GOING TO PUT MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET. Matterport has the absolute BEST product when it comes to 3D virtual environments. It's amazing. If you can't make money from this then what do you think all these 'extras' are going to do for you? Yesterday [Friday, 9 December 2016] Metroplex360 jumped the gun and created a post about Matterport 'stealing' leads. By the end of the day AFTER conversing with Matterport, he changed direction and did damage control. What changed? He simply listened to the 'enemy' and changed course. Every one of you that is soooooo quick to complain and threaten are doing so based on a PORTION of the entire picture. Have you considered things from Matterport's point of view? Have you walked in their shoes? Do you understand what is happening in their day to day activities? Do you know the challenges they face? Do you [redacted] know ANYTHING except from your myopic world, looking in from the outside? Matterport needs MONEY. They make money by selling cameras. You KNOW this and you should have known this when you bought the camera. Did you think they'd STOP selling cameras because YOU bought one? Do you think they'll move forward and grow their business from the ten scans you did this year at $20 per scan? Grow UP!! Ugh. Both you and Matterport are not making the money you thought you'd make yet you want MORE MORE MORE. Where is that money going to come from? Your $20 hosting fee? Matterport has investors they need to keep happy. The pressure as to be overwhelming, I'm guessing. They HAVE to keep pushing camera sales. THEY HAVE TO. You KNOW this. If I was in charge of the sales and a Realtor calls my corporate office asking about having a 3D model created for a listing and my salesman referred them to an MSP without trying to sell that person a camera... I'D FIRE THEM RIGHT NOW ON THE SPOT!!! No questions, no second chances. You're out of here! You think as the owner I would want my sales people to make $20 for HOSTING when I can make $1000 (or whatever) on a sale? Only when I've exhausted all strategies (ALL strategies) would I then allow my sales people to refer a MSP. If you wouldn't do the exact same thing then you're absolutely a HORRIBLE business person and you should go to JAIL for screwing your investors!. It's just STUPID to think they would rather refer you a lead than try to sell a camera. [redacted]. This business is a process and it takes time. If you look at the 2016 time line, there are WAY MORE tools today than there was a year ago. This business is improving every single day. At this time next year there will be even MORE tools for you. It may not be what YOU want but there will certainly be more tools and opportunity...by the company who you threaten and bitch about every day. I'll leave with this. The grass ALWAYS greener on the other side. So, when you decide to jump ship from the Matterport side to the 'Other' side, Matterport just became the greener side....again! |
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 3rd PartyService Myrtle Beach, SC |
ArtisticConcepts private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Perspective can change many things. | ||
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uniqueceo private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Their Business Model is no longer sustainable with advances in Technology and Hardware significantly reducing costs and opening new doors to new competition thats ready to innovate and recreate the market. | ||
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StevenHattan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @uniqueceo We'll agree to disagree. :-) | ||
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LookingGlass private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Awesome post StevenHattan. Loved it, loved it and loved it. Sure this business is like any other, you have to grow it and it takes time. My partner and I knew that it would take at least 2 years for us to make this work and thing are going great. we are 7 months away from that mark and we are excited about 2017. In 2015 we did 72 scans and we should finish 2016 with about 230 and we are predicting 350-400 scans for 2017. It is a grind, growth is growth just keep at it. Work with want you got not what you don't have. Matterport is an unbelievable product that you just have to believe in 100%. Trust me, there is a back story to every successful business and it is hard work, dedication and passion. |
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Integratedman private msg quote post Address this user | |
Steve..Ty for the pep talk!.. ..great post and good reading..right now I am planting seeds that will harvest..unfortunately I bought my camera Aug 2016 and the market here in Southern Ontario could not be any hotter..both new and re sale..so both builders and realtors and coasting and cashing cheques...but the market will soften and when it does i am confident we have the right equipment to generate good revenue..all I ever hear is how spectacular the system is..I have created a few pioneers here and the rest will come... |
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StevenHattan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| A hot market is not an excuse not to make money in this business. If it's HOT then let the Realtors know this is a LISTING tool to beat their competition...to GET the listing, not to SELL properties. Every single listing they do not get because they are not offering this service is money out of their pocket. This service should be immune to how 'hot' the market it. BTW, statistically speaking, I'll be the average listing time in your market is STILL over two months. Just saying. :-) |
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Dean private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Hello Dan, I'm sorry for the delay in responding to your welcoming email. I've been quite busy researching my options among other things. My home base is in New York although I'm currently in California. I recognize the significant asset of the "We get around" forum and its great support system. I have an entrepreneurial background in residential and commercial real estate sales and acquisitions as well as establishing an innovative commercial brokerage firm, which represents businesses for the sales, acquisition and divestiture of client properties. Additionally, I have some photography and tech abilities which will be helpful in the 3D VR industry. I've consistently read about many disheartened Matterport members and how they've become much more out spoken about the actions or lack of actions of Matterport. For example: https://www.wegetaroundnetwork.com/topic/3402/matterport-are-going-to-regret-not-listening https://www.wegetaroundnetwork.com/topic/3401/matterport-is-directly-sniping-my-clients StevenHattan has his opinion about Matterport which may be true to some extent however it does not give them a free pass regarding other serious concerns. There may be an integrity issue among other problems with Matterport. My research has lead me to Matterport as being the current software leader as this complicates my decision making. I feel it would be an important step for Matterport to indicate in their new contracts with its service partners how they will not attempt to contact, sell or market to the clients of Matterport Service Partners or gather any information related to a Service Partners clients in any way what so ever. I find this behavior completely unacceptable indicating an extreme lack of integrity. I was about to purchase Matterport until I read these latest posts. I learned of the solid support system in this forum. It's appears to be a lifeline for service partners as well for individuals considering purchasing Matterport. Would I be able to get some feedback from you as well as from members? Some have explained or insinuated how they never would have joined knowing what they know today? The feedback will help me and other individuals with our decision making. I expected to purchase Matterport by December 16. Thank you Dan and members for your time. All the Best, Dean |
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 WGAN ForumFounder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Dean I replied to your post here. Dan |
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WGAN Forum Founder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Integratedman Quote: Originally Posted by @StevenHattan Like @StevenHattan says. I say it like this ... "We help you win more and bigger listings more often." Notice that our pitch has nothing to do with: ✓ selling homes faster ✓ dollhouse, MatterTags, Floor Plans, viewing experience, etc. ✓ the technology we use If we are talking to a real estate broker, we add "and help you recruit more tech savvy agents." Best, Dan |
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Frisco, Texas |
Metroplex360 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by StevenHattan Thank you, @StevenHattan. As the author of many 'REALLY COOL' things, I feel the same way. My stuff is bonus features. It's not essential to being an MSP and it's not where the money is being made. Quote: Originally Posted by SteveHattan This is true. I reacted too fast and it created a lot of negativity. I don't believe for a minute that they are stealing leads. I do believe that they may do things that are a conflict of interest to certain individual MSPs -- but that's unavoidable in business and the intention is not to do wrong. Quote: Originally Posted by SteveHattan They do need money. They employ about 150 people from what I have been told. Those people have families and need to be paid to do the tasks they've been employed to do. Quote: Originally Posted by SteveHattan Absolutely. 2016 has been major and Showcase has come so far. I appreciate so much of what's being done because not only do I experience it, but as a super-fan of the platform, I cannot resist constantly trying to explore it and poke around. It's fascinating and their team is doing a world-class job on carefully developing the platform. -- Amazing post, thank you. |
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jfantin private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @StevenHattan your point of view is valid, as well as others opinions. I would only add that, as a customer, it is my right to ask for more from the company that is selling me products and services. It is also my fiduciary obligation to fight for more profitability for my business partners that have trusted in my advice and invested their money with me. If that company is stealing customers, or as has been suggested in the forum, is working towards the ubberization of this service, then I consider it my right to complain because they are ruining the market. Am I making money from Matterport? Of course! Has it been a good investment? Yes, absolutely! I mean, by investing just a few thousand dollars and paying a guy a few bucks per day you can earn a very good return on your investment. I believe you are missing the point here. We are thinking in the future of this business. Not in its present. Will I go to another company if a new value proposition emerges? Of course I will. Why not? As I explained in another thread, I am not a fan of the brand. I am just someone who invested in certain technology because it is disruptive and I like disruptive value propositions. I am in the business of making money. I am not a photographer. Matterport is a very good product and I intend to use it to get a very good ROI. |
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alx3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Just because @metroplex360 is the most positive person in the world does not mean it is good business or excusable for matterport to cannibalize its existing customer base. Of course they need to make money and to do that they need to make good business decisions that are sometimes out of our best interests as MSPs. With that said, we as MSPs also need to make good business decisions and when Matterport makes moves that are hurtful to us it is appropriate to respond in a way that disincentives them from doing that. If you just stand there and take it every time MP makes a move that takes money out of your hands then of course they are going to keep squeezing you. Could it be worse? Of course, 10x. What is stopping them from raising the price from $19 to $49, or hosting to $5/model/month or offering nation wide .03/sqft scans? The answer is and has to be us. Push back is a necessary part of the process when they start stepping on our toes. |
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RenderingSpace private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Must be the off season in Real Estate because it seems everyone is just sitting around with no jobs lined up. Everyone needs to stop blaming Matterport for their problems and start looking for ways to expand your business. |
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StevenHattan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @RenderingSpace love it | ||
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 PremiumMember North Palm Beach, FL |
hometakes private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @StevenHattan Kodak became the behemoth because they realized early on that the big LONG TERM money wasnt in the manufacturing of the Kodak Cameras (The Brownie), it was the film. Just like buying a inkjet printer. The money comes with what is nesessary to get the results. Its the Ink for the printed piece of paper, the film for the photographs and in Matterports case, their technolodgy engine that builds the 3D Tour (The online Software + Hosting). However, Matterports advantage over the others is that they dont actually have to physically make ink cartridges or film for the big profit center. The beauty of software is that once it is developed, it costs very little to run. The profit margins can be potentially enormouse over film and ink cartridges because of this (just ask bill gates). If Matterport focused more on using the "already built-in sales force of us MSP's" to sell more tours and did away with their camera sales force,I believe you would have a lot less friction between the MSP's and Matterport. "Hi Steve, we have 5 Real Estate offices expecting your call to set up demonstrations at their offices, Good luck!" Thank you, The Matterport Team. This sales force (MSP's) is already built-in and a better one at that. Why? Simple, because you actially get to show the product in person to the agents and not trying to sell a camera over the phone in the hopes that the agents do 10 or 20 tours a year with their cameras. I mean just how many calls do you think Matterport sales agents have to make to sell a camera? I bet you anything that its in the hundreds. Meanwhile, to get appointments for us to go in an do a presentation is relitavly easy and that this would produce more tours being uploaded to there servers because their time is better spent doing this. Did you ever hear of Nikon or Canon getting a sales force specifically to contact agents to sell them pro cameras? Can I hear you saying right now thats diffent, a Pro cameras require pro operators. Well not today they dont. I can teach someone in five minutes what they need to do to take a pro looking photo because of the advent of HDR Photography. Set the camera to bracketed mode, pick the best angel for the shot, vertical lines are straight and push the button. Easy upload to an HDR editor and youve got yourself a pretty good pro looking photo. Now granted, maybe not as good as an angel of a pro that knows right where the sweet spot is, but then photography is art and art is subjective. So why dont they? Because theres already a team in place doing it, and that is us. We are the built in sales network. I beleive Matterport business model is ill focused on the sale of cameras and not where the real money is and thats in the processing and hosting. Just my 2 cents. PS. And I am making money with my camera. |
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StevenHattan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Thanks for the feedback. You can't have hosting income if no one orders a camera. Not enough cameras were purchased AND my guess is the people who DO own a camera are not getting enough orders. My guess is Matterport thought this would be, "Once it catches on this technology will be standard for all listings". Far from it. MSP's can't even give these away for FREE according to the forums. Had this happened, then they could have made decent income from hosting. Not there yet and there are still bills to pay. Nice post, though. |
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Frisco, Texas |
Metroplex360 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by alx3D I am going to quote you when I update my website. Why use @metroplex360 for Matterport "because @metroplex360 is the most positive person in the world" -- ALX3D, Matterport Expert Being positive = more productive than being negative. I like @ALX3D because he is ALSO very positive and love working with him. (For anyone reading this -- Alex and I have a tiny overlap in our coverage areas and Alex has passed on a few jobs to me -- one of which was the biggest project I'd received at the time -- he's a great guy to work with).Quote: Originally Posted by alx3D Totally agree. When I posted my proverbial 'Ninety Five Thesises' to the o-board concerning how offended I was at their big old copyright banner that the bottom of our tours -- I viewed that as something I was willing to be apologetically demanding about because there are times when Matterport need to know the community's feelings. I believe that the copyright bar was intrusive and impacted tours that we had ALREADY sold and changed our content. I passionately believe that Matterport need to consider the VALUE of tours if they truly will start to enlist MSPs directly to scan for them. We need to be paid a good rate in order to be engaged, excited, fanatical and reliable. |
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Frisco, Texas |
Metroplex360 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by hometakes Thanks hometakes for the great idea. We've listened to your responses and are now increasing processing fees to $25/model. Quote: Originally Posted by hometakes Matterport have employment costs, R&D costs, and have borrowed money from investors. The $19/processing fee cannot possibly cover that unless they can scale up. Quote: Originally Posted by hometakes There would be a lot of friction between me and Matterport if they filed for bankruptcy. Quote: Originally Posted by hometakes I believe that YOU are an excellent sales person. I actually think that you are a better sales person than I am. If I were running Matterport, I would not expect all MSPS to be excellent sales people who are capable of throwing on the team jersey and properly representing them. It's a bad analogy, but I wish that Kirby Vaccuums would fire their sales force and start selling to karehouse clubs. I love my Kirby vacuum. It's the freaking Matterport of vacuum cleaners. Their sales people are the scum of the earth. They are desperate, manipulative and sad. I'm sure there's an @hometakes out there who is selling Kirby vacuums and making the world a better place. But as a consumer, I might prefer to deal with Costco than a door-to-door. So if Matterport has a pro sales team selling tours... there are companies who are unwilling to work with hungry salesmen who would be willing to work with a major company. The fact that Matterport seem to want to engage MSPs to fulfill the jobs has a lot of potential to increase our business. -- Now, if Matterport were planning on doing this to say ... Keller Williams Real Estate -- to sell directly to Realtors -- a market that we ALL seem to work with -- then I think every one of us would get our our pitchforks. |
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Frisco, Texas |
Metroplex360 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by StevenHattan I agree 100%. I think that one of the main reasons people are on this forum is they are struggling. That's why there's so much negativity and finger pointing. Matterport are trying to find a win-win. It might not be the win-win we hope for -- but I fully believe that they are --trying-- to find a win-win. |
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jfantin private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Guys, I believe that you are confusing negativity with objective critic. - Is Matterport attempting to sell directly to corporate customers? YES - Is Matterport attempting to sell cameras to our own clients? YES - Is a good business practice to sell cameras to people and later on to market the same service directly trusting that those camera owners will have to accept MPs offer because the company is targeting directly to all the good prospects? NO - Is Matterport focusing in growing the business by introducing their technology in places like booking.com and such? NO - Are there other ways to make Matterport bigger and healty? YES - Is Matterport opening up their business model so third party contributors can improve the Matterport ecosystem? NO - Is Matterport executing a good business strategy focusing in what should be their real business? NO This is not negativity. It is called objetivity. No one has said that MP technology is bad, on the contrary. |
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 WGAN BasicMember New Brighton, PA |
frstbubble private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I firmly believe that we have yet even to start seeing the expansion of the Immersive Virtual Tour business yet. @pcollart pointed out in his article comparing platforms. Only 35% of listings use professional photographers, and only 5-10% of those homes use virtual tours. So maybe we need to find a way to convince home buyers to demand virtual tours... I think I have seen a few advertising videos on this from @GeorgeK and from of course @DanSmigrod. I am comfortable in my business. Yes, we are just starting but we knew going in we would have to build it. We made a business offering a one stop shop and picked the best products and services we could find to offer our clients. We have our goals and have time to achieve them. I still believe Matterport is the best Immersive Virtual Tour product out there and will use it to win jobs. But on that not it is just one offering of our company not the whole ball of wax. Just like our aerial video is not our business but part of the whole package and an added value service. When we started, we thought yea we can do aerial photos and video and sell it. But as we were waiting for our paperwork to get through all the red tape and talking with the Real Estate Agents we found that what we needed to offer was the one stop shop. So when it was time to start our marketing that is what we offered. Agents in this area got photos from one person, video from another, and virtual tours (video slideshows) from a third source. Not to mention the fourth source of which was illegal drone shots. We hit the sweet spot with combining it all in one place with service from one provider. Yes, we are not happy about Matterport mining customers contacts, but Matterport does have to sell cameras to sell hosting. And most will find it is a MUCH bigger job doing scans then they are led to believe. And that will work to our advantage. |
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3rd Party Service Myrtle Beach, SC |
ArtisticConcepts private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @frstbibble "Ditto" all the way! | ||
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Frisco, Texas |
Metroplex360 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| After having some long conversations with Matterport after my last rant about Matterport sniping my own client, I do not believe that Matterport mine customer contacts or snipe customers. If someone signs up for a referral on Matterport.com, they will receive offers to buy a camera. The sales team only respond when interest is shown and many times, the client who hired an msp also signed up to receive information from Matterport. The important thing to ask yourself is... Why do I offer a service with equipment that my client could buy? Simple. They don't want to invest the money, time and effort. I wish Matterport would stop offering a deal on their cameras  . The worst thing would be if they offered leasing/rental plans or try before you buy |
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jfantin private msg quote post Address this user | |
| As long as Matterport keeps searching for their definitive value proposition, we should expect a lot of trial and error, including actions that could eventually hurt us in our role of MSPs. Leasing is the next step for Matterport and it is within its logic. From a financial point of view is a full sale, the associated financial institution will take the financial side, and MP will start collecting hosting fees from day one. Rental is another thing and I don´t think makes a lot of sense. The company would have to bear the financial burden and the obsolescense risk, which they control but are also forced to create in order to keep staying ahead of the competition. |
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WGAN Forum Founder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @frstbubble Matterport needs to: 1. focus on creating demand by homeowners 2. resulting in homeowners asking agents for 3D Tours 3. resulting in either camera sales or Pros getting engaged Here's our attempt at helping create demand ... Standard Members of the We Get Around Network get three "handwritten" marketing videos customized with their contact info and logo. More about these "handwritten" marketing videos by @3MOD. Happy holidays, Dan |
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