Case studies/Qliq Connect
Qliq Connect starts from a conviction: in Neuchâtel, finding a trustworthy tradesperson is still an obstacle course for private customers, and gaining visibility is still hard for local craftspeople. The idea: a platform that bridges the two, rooted in the canton.
At the start, there was nothing. No brand, no website, no traffic, and neither side of the marketplace.
An empty marketplace is a vicious circle. Without craftspeople, there is no value for customers. Without customers, there is no reason for a craftsperson to sign up. And in Neuchâtel, a craftsperson does not lack work: they have always lived on word of mouth. For them to pay a subscription, they had to be offered something more than visibility.
The real challenge was not building a website. It was getting the engine started.
I started from an idea and a blank page. Contrast built everything with me: the identity, the website, the campaigns and a CRM that handles enquiries day to day. In nine months, Qliq went from zero to a real platform, more than 50 subscribed craftspeople and campaigns that return nine times their cost. Today I run everything on my own, and I know exactly what every franc I invest brings in.
Enzo Rupil
Founder, Qliq Connect
Get the platform started: recruit the first craftspeople and build critical mass on the supply side. Make this recruitment profitable, a condition of survival for a marketplace at launch. Then generate demand from private customers and get the matching running.
Build the identity and the website from scratch. A website that can be managed independently (craftspeople, blog articles and partners), without relying on a developer. A CRM and a dashboard to qualify and handle enquiries day to day.
Four links to get the marketplace started: the brand, a self-managed website, profitable recruitment, and the system that keeps demand flowing day to day.
Everything started from the idea, with no existing brand or material. Positioning: the bridge of trust between private customers and Neuchâtel craftspeople, 100% local. Then brand guidelines and a complete visual identity. The basis for everything else.
Wireframes and user journeys designed for two audiences with opposite needs: a customer who describes their need in three clicks, and a craftsperson who wants qualified enquiries, not noise. The central challenge: make it all manageable without a developer. The founder manages the craftspeople's profiles, the categories, the pages and the content himself, without ever touching the code.
Targeted campaigns to recruit craftspeople in the canton and convert them into subscribers. Managed on the real cost of a signed subscriber, not on the volume of clicks. Profitable acquisition from launch, where most marketplaces burn cash for years.
An automated CRM and a dashboard to manage the flow: customers' projects come in, are qualified and routed to the right craftspeople. Quotes within 24 hours. The tool that keeps the marketplace running day to day, and that absorbs time-consuming tasks instead of leaving them to the founder.
The project is not finished, and that is the whole point.
Today we run Qliq's day-to-day marketing: awareness among private customers in the canton, visibility of the platform, and continuous growth on both sides of the market.
Enzo runs his platform. We run his demand.
What changed between the initial idea and the platform up and running.
An idea on paper, no online presence
A living platform: complete identity and website
0 craftspeople at the start, no visibility
+50 craftspeople subscribed in 9 months of engagement
Recruitment to be built from scratch
Recruitment managed on its return, profitable from launch
Reliance on a developer for the slightest update
Day-to-day management done independently: website, content, enquiries
No tool to handle demand
CRM and dashboard: qualified enquiries, quotes within 24 h
A project delivered, then nothing more
Ongoing support on acquisition
Nine months of engagement, from identity to a marketplace that runs.
Craftspeople subscribed in 9 months of engagement
Fifty paying subscribed craftspeople, critical mass on the supply side, built from scratch.
Of engagement, from identity to CRM
Positioning, visual identity, a manageable website, recruitment campaigns and CRM, built and then put into service over the course of the engagement.
Services involved
Qliq Connect was born in Neuchâtel, where Contrast is based: a marketing agency in Neuchâtel that knows the craftspeople and private customers the platform brings together.
A no-obligation conversation to map out your project and chart the shortest route to profitable acquisition.
