The story behind Ghosts

Here's what we noticed.

Every business in the world seems to want your feedback.

Got a moment? Tell us how we did.
We'd love to hear about your experience.
Would you recommend us to a friend?
How likely are you to buy from us again?

You've probably answered a few of these lately.

And there's a good reason businesses ask. That information is incredibly valuable. It helps them understand what they're doing well, where they're falling short and what they could do better.

But here's what we noticed.

It's a pretty one-sided transaction.

Businesses get valuable information. You get an automated thank you, perhaps a discount code if you're lucky, and another email in your inbox.

Your time, your experience and your considered opinion have real value. Yet the people providing that value rarely get much in return.

We thought there might be a better way.

There's another side to the story.

Businesses have a pretty good reason to want answers, too.

They invest heavily in developing products, building services, marketing their offerings and finding new customers. Their sales teams spend hours responding to enquiries, preparing quotes, answering questions and trying to win opportunities.

And then, sometimes, nothing.

An enquiry goes quiet. A quote never gets a response. A prospective customer chooses someone else. Or a buyer simply disappears.

It's not always a lack of effort. Often, businesses genuinely don't know what happened.

They don't know what caught someone's attention in the first place, what they were looking for, who else they considered, what mattered most or what ultimately tipped the decision.

And sometimes, they don't even know they were being considered.

The picture businesses see is incomplete.

Businesses have more ways than ever to measure customer behaviour.

Website visits, cookies, tracked analytics, advertising reports, CRM records and sales notes all offer a glimpse into what people are doing.

But they're only glimpses.

A smattering of website activity. An incomplete record of a conversation. A note that says “went with a competitor”. Perhaps the occasional snippet of feedback from someone who decided to go elsewhere.

Most of this information is collected after the fact. And much of it assumes the business had an opportunity to be part of the conversation in the first place.

But what about the people who researched quietly, compared their options and made up their minds without ever speaking to the businesses they considered?

What about the moments that really mattered? The things they discovered, the concerns they had, the alternatives they considered and the reasons they ultimately chose one option over another?

That's the part of the story businesses are missing.

And we think it's one of the most valuable parts.

What if we could bring both sides together?

That's why we created Ghosts.

We believe people should have a better way to share their buying experiences, and businesses should have a better way to understand them.

Not another two-click survey. Not another generic review. And not another request for feedback that disappears into a database.

We bring buyers and businesses together through thoughtful, guided conversations that get to the heart of how decisions are made.

Buyers can share their experiences honestly and anonymously, without having to worry about awkward conversations or revealing who they are.

Businesses get to hear from people who have actually researched, considered and purchased something, including those who might never have spoken to them directly.

And importantly, these aren't just opinions from people passing by. A buyer can add a receipt, a quote or a booking, and we check it ourselves, so businesses can tell which stories come from a purchase we've seen.

Better conversations. Better decisions.

We want to get beyond the obvious answers.

Sometimes the reason someone buys something is straightforward. Price, availability, location or a particular feature.

But often, it's more complicated than that.

It might be something a salesperson said. Something they read online. A recommendation from a friend. A small detail that gave them confidence, or a concern that they couldn't quite put their finger on.

Sometimes it's rational. Sometimes it's instinctive. Often it's a combination of both.

Our guided conversations help buyers articulate the things that mattered, bringing together what businesses need to understand with what only the buyer really knows.

The result is something much more useful than a thumbs-up, a star rating or a vague note in a CRM.

It's an opportunity for businesses to understand what actually influenced a decision, identify things they might never have considered and make changes that give them a better chance of being chosen next time.

And a fairer deal for the people sharing.

We also think there's something fundamentally wrong with expecting people to continually give away their time and valuable information for nothing.

If businesses are prepared to pay for insights that help them make better decisions and grow, the people providing those insights should share in that value.

When a business pays to hear your story, you get a share.

Not for clicking a few boxes. Not for giving a business the answer it wants to hear.

But for sharing a genuine experience, taking part in a considered conversation and helping businesses understand something they couldn't otherwise see.

We think that's a much fairer arrangement.

There's always more to the story.

Every purchase has a story. Every decision has its reasons. And every business has something to learn from the people who chose them, and the people who didn't.

We think those stories are worth hearing.

And we think the people telling them deserve something in return.

That's Ghosts.

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