Right Mobile Phone - An Interview With Someone You May Not Know - Neil McHugh

I used to do the odd bit in the Mobile phone market with some brand domains (others were doing it so I thought it was ok) but I could never keep up with the pace of the market. But having known Neil from previous Barbados trips and nice trip to see Real Madrid V Barcelona with the lads I thought I'd like to see how his & James Zielinski et al's mobile phone comparison site is going.


1) So, what's the premise behind Rightmobilephone.com - what does it serve to do for consumers?

The concept of Rightmobilephone.com is to simply save consumers time and money. The market has long been saturated and confusing. There is a long term financial commitment, ranging from 6 to 24 months so it is important that consumers do shop around for the best value package based on their individual budget and usage.

Shopping around is a bit of a nightmare as I am sure we have all experienced?

It means research, browsing all the individual networks, retailer websites, locating exclusive offers, tariffs, how many free texts, minutes, cross network calls, etc.

Our comparison platform aims to simplify the whole process by offering quick and easy access to compare over 300,000 mobile phone deals from all of the UK’s major networks and online retailers. The user can then filter these results to suit their own criteria such as monthly budget, preferred network, number of free minutes and texts, free gifts, cash back and so on. In total over a dozen search methods for users to identify a mobile phone deal that works for them.

In addition to the mobile phone contract and pay as you go comparison element we also offer visitors independent, impartial feedback on the mobile handsets via our mobile phone reviews. These are provided by our users who have posted comments, experiences and ratings for their own individual handset. The additional pre-purchase information helps consumers towards making an informed decision on the right mobile phone for their needs.

In summary Rightmobilephone.com is an independent comparison website offering help and advice when buying a mobile phone.


2) How many of you work on the site - who's in the team?

Currently a small but highly motivated team which is expanding, complimented by a number of contracted partners. (I) Neil McHugh (Sales & Marketing), James Zielinski (Development), Rachel McCormack (Creative), Jay Andolini (Content) and Steven Briginshaw (Accounts).


3) What makes Right Mobile Phone different from its competitors?

Our vision was to always build a brand that we could expand on in other areas, I think initially on visiting the site it makes a positive impact visually, smooth, bright, bold colours, with clear indicators on products and areas. We tried from the outset to make everything as clear and transparent to consumers as possible in the results.

From the beginning efforts have been made ensure speed is not an issue for our users when searching the site. You really can search our whole database in seconds. User experience has always been important to us throughout. We are always looking to improve the platform and encourage feedback from users.

There are thousands of unique handset reviews from our users and key handset information. Video content was recently introduced for mobile phone models and we have some further enhancements planned in the near future.

Generally I think we have a solid evolving platform which is wrapped in a versatile, friendly brand, providing users a valuable service. We are not sure it ever will be 100% complete, there is always another step, idea or suggestion but improvements and new elements are always exciting.


4) I've had a fair bit of success in the mobile phone market in the past, but found it difficult to keep up with all the new models, merchant offers, commission rates, reversal rates etc, so I stopped doing mobile phone stuff a couple of years ago - how do you keep up with everything?

Absolutely! That’s what makes it confusing to the consumer!

I have worked in a number of sectors online and mobile phones have to be most intensive in terms of product data, new models, tariffs, offers etc. It’s a very difficult task to manage, to the effect we will be recruiting more internally and externally this year. To date we have managed by developing some in house tools that assist us in day to day tasks. We have to focus on the core areas of the business which are the platform, the products and the customers. Managing everything else… is just simply long hours.

5) When we were in Barbados last year you spent a fair amount of time working through customer reviews. How much time do you spend on the site and can you ever switch off?

I did? ;) Its difficult to measure, there has never been nothing to do and I don’t think that will ever change. There is always an improvement, opportunity or something being neglected somewhere. We are all working very hard and often long hours, it is important to switch off, it’s difficult at times but it is vital and does provide an injection of productivity and new ideas on your return.


6) How do you handle negative comments? Do you tone them down a bit?

We do have to make some judgments, however to offer a true user opinion we try not to, if negative comments are backed up with a well structured review that has substance from a users perspective then fine. Obviously we have to consider possible defamatory comments that raise concern or simply the language used and edit where necessary. We provide users review guidelines and I’m pleased to say the majority follow them by providing comments on the handsets key strengths and weaknesses alongside the ratings.

This is also the same for positive comments, simply saying “this phone is fantastic” or the negative “this mobile is awful” is simply not enough detail to provide any real value to our users pre-purchase research.


7) I see you've built in a degree of SEO into the site. What resources have you used to build up your knowledge and how successful has it been?

There isn’t one resource that stands out to be honest, James and I have worked online for a number of years and I guess during that time collectively we have grasped some understanding of the do’s and don’ts. We read various industry blogs, watch what our competitors are doing and scour the net, we also take valuable feedback from others including our users. All that I guess combined with our experience of previous success and failures.

SEO seems so theoretical and mystical at times, we focus on relevancy and unique content amongst the other usual methods. We have had some success and failures, but learn lots from both, it’s never wasted effort or time. We are making steady progress, that’s all I say incase Google are reading. ;)


8) What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start to build a mobile phone affiliate site?

Don’t, and look out for further announcements from us in 2009 ;)

That and the competition is incredibly tough now. If you do then best to focus on a niche topic but even that now is extremely competitive. There are certainly easier sectors.


9) I take it the site is built from data feeds from merchants? What are your views of the quality of these feeds?

Yes our core data is drawn from data feeds, but not all of it. Although it adds to our workload we decided we needed control on a few elements. This ensures the site is not as reliant on partner data and allows us to be unique rather than displaying the same data everyone else is.

The feed quality is mixed. Some partners have managed to get it nailed without too many issues. Others can often fail or amend without notification which can be frustrating. Where possible we try to be pro-active to this by having systems in place to indicate any problems.
It really shouldn’t be as hard as it is sometimes, communication, reliability and consistency is key for us when working with our partners.


10) I'm always intrigued with affiliate's relationships with merchants and networks. Are there any that have really been "sold into" the site and work closely with you to increase your and their sales?

The networks and merchants have been really supportive and see value in what we are looking to achieve, the feedback has been really positive. We have a track record with most of them having worked on other projects. We are working closely and hope to build on that this year by drilling down into more detail, highlighting more USPs and value from our merchants, understanding more about the customer journey, conversions and analyzing areas that are working and others where we, the merchant and network can improve.


11) Are there any marketing tools, widgets or the like that you see would help drive more sales from your site but aren't currently available from merchants or networks?

More video content from merchants would be useful and more vision in terms of upcoming handsets, new tariffs and notifications of stock issues. However we have a pro-active view on this, we also need to assist the merchants and networks and enable them to work more efficiently with us by exchanging ideas, providing opportunities, ensuring we all add value.


12) The voucher code debate has been running wild lately. From my point of view it's been mainly focused on the FMCG rather than the mobile phone one. Am I wrong about this? Do you feel that there has been any leakage of your sales to voucher code sites?

I’d agree with you, I guess there has been some level of leakage but due to the nature of our main product (contractual) and the lack of any voucher codes I feel the impact has been limited, we sometimes see a voucher code for pay as you go handsets but not often.


13) Without giving too much away, what are your successful marketing channels? SEO, PPC, Social Media, Google Base, email marketing?

We are active in all of the areas, I think you have to be these days, you have to explore, sometimes by trial and error what works and what doesn’t. Whilst PPC is important we didn’t want to create a business that was reliant upon it and have balanced our efforts accordingly. SEO is another area of focus along with Social media and our Blog. Email marketing is something we haven’t done too much of to date and is in the pipeline along with (see question 8) and other activities throughout 2009.


14) I read somewhere that about 45% of the world's population has mobile phones. In fact I've got 3! Where do you see the market going this year?

Well in the current economic climate mobile networks and retailers have to offer more value which is good news for consumers. Mobile networks will diversify even more and package more products such as residential broadband, mobile broadband, laptops, consoles, residential telephone lines, perhaps even venture into television on mobiles and in the home, so more packages and value to retain and attract business.

Another channel that could open up would be to receive advertising on your mobile phone in return for a more affordable tariff. I also think recycling of mobile handsets will become more popular this year.

In terms of mobile phones and the affiliate channel, we are already seeing signs that mobile networks/retailers have installed a stricter approach to credit/mobile phone applications, resulting in higher decline rates. I would expect this to continue until later in the year, the mobile phone has become a necessity for many and demand will always be there, we just have continue to do what we do well better.

I would expect to see more video content used across the affiliate channel as well as an improvement in product data and as above more value for us to market. Finally, I doubt it will happen this year but with future technology in place I’d like to see the revenue share model arrive in the mobile phone sector. There is certainly an argument for it in terms of the true value of each contractual customer that an affiliate delivers to a network versus the current commission structures.


15) And the most important question. I'm hopefully going to have my stag do in Barbados next year (by hook or by crook) are you coming?

Absolutely, looking forward to it, as I said in Question 5, I think it is vital to switch off on occasions ;)



// Thanks Neil - some very insigtfull comments!

If anyone has a great website, something that sets itself apart from the competition and would like to be interviewed, then let me know.