EB: What are DIFM services?
SL: DIFM services knock another tricky item off the to-do list – taking the time, resource and technical know-how needed to perform a task, out of the equation. DIFM pairs a personal touch with the technical capability needed to resolve business problems – like building a website, for example. The human touch provides the customer service, while the technology drives the automation and efficiency to complete the task.
Sebastian Lewis, CEO and founder of Mettrr.
EB: What kinds of businesses would benefit from DFIM?
SL: For sole traders and small businesses, time, resource and technical know-how can often contribute to Do It Yourself (DIY) projects becoming ‘don’t do it at all’ projects. For them, tasks like building a website are just another item on the to-do list that often fail to reach the finish line. In fact, it’s rare for DIY websites to be finished at all – with the completion rate for DIY sites at only 5 per cent.
EB: What technologies are involved in DIFM services?
SL: At Mettrr, we use a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to build websites. Based on data fed into our system, the AI plucks out sector and service specific content including images, copy and themes – automatically building the website around these conditions.
Meanwhile, the machine learning logs these themes, colour schemes and any changes customers request – storing this information to make the content or theme selection smarter and more personalised for future customers.
EB: Is DFIM just another iteration of managed services of BPO? How is it different?
SL: The phrase ‘do it for me’ (DIFM) is very personal. The use of ‘me’ in the phrase demonstrates that this is typically for one business owner or at most, a very small business. Therefore it’s not an iteration of business process outsourcing because that has always been focused on larger corporates who have call centres and the kind of large-scale managed services that rarely penetrate a small business. DIFM provides scalable services that empower sole traders and small businesses to outsource their daily tasks.
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EB: Is DIFM the next evolution of SaaS? Instead of as-a-service, it’s with-a-service – do you expect big vendors to jump on this trend?
SL: DIFM at scale has a huge technical implementation requirement. To provide a service for a small business that knows they do not want to do it themselves, cannot do it themselves or cannot afford to outsource it – you need to be able to provide a quality service in the traditional sense, without all of the overhead and therefore high cost, to the customer.
Sebastian delved into the topic of DFIM services as part of CBR’s Tech Express series.
This has been the single biggest barrier to entry for any service provider attempting DIFM. Big vendors are paid good fees and can lend the overhead to customers to provide the managed service. As DIFM is a completely new way of thinking for them, it’s unlikely that they will change their core business model any time soon.
EB: How is DFIM disrupting standard business practice?
SL: DIFM cuts out unnecessary process. It lets small businesses continue with their priority tasks, with the confidence that if they want to be involved – they can call on dedicated human personnel for queries. Otherwise, they know that the technology behind their project will do the hard work for them and they are not required to manage – or even understand – it. In the last six months, 400 traders including carpenters and architects, have used DIFM services from Mettrr to build a website and boost their online presence.
