As the number of subscribers has increased Roe said the questions coming into the customer service department have gotten more routine, with most customers asking simple questions about technical problems or billing issues. Back when he first started working in 20 there were about 9000 customers on the site on a busy night now, he said, it's not uncommon to have 40,000 people on at once.
"If anyone has any problem, they get an answer right away, and that's very popular," said Crutchley.īefore coming on board as the full time customer service trainer Roe worked in the department part time for a couple years on the night shift. The department receives thousands of emails each week, but they respond to each e-mail on an average of five to 10 minutes after the customer sends it. The customer service department is staffed live 24 hours a day, and all calls to the help line are answered by a human being rather than a voicemail system. The other is the company's focus on customer service. One is that the company has intentionally kept the site simple, easy to use, and fast, rather than adding complicated features. And then especially when you're dealing with sexual terms and gay innuendo, how do you say cock and ball torture in Portuguese?" said Henricks.īeyond marketing Crutchley attributed the company's success to two other factors. "It's not only translating but it's making sure you're using the right tone, making sure the brand is conveyed in the language. Manhunt users can view the site in five languages, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French or German, and the company recently hired a new translator to ensure that the website and all of the company's promotional materials appeal to native speakers of each of those languages. Henricks said one of the biggest challenges in connecting with gay customers outside the U.S. The company will also be running a contest giving people the chance to ride with those same 80 sexy men. S?o Paulo Pride bills itself as the world's largest Pride event, and Manhunt will be sending a float covered with 80 sexy men through the parade.
That same month Manhunt will be doing massive promotional events at S?o Paulo Pride in Brazil, the company's third largest market (behind the U.S. This summer Manhunt will launch a 40-city tour of gay bars to promote its seventh anniversary, kicking off in Boston in May. We do everything from Google to online banners to flyers, from guerilla tactics to spending significant amounts of money on Google and everything in between."Īnd the effort to keep the Manhunt brand in the gay consciousness is a never-ending campaign. "The owners have been very generous to me in terms of giving me the budget and the freedom needed to get the word out there. "I like to use the word consistent, relentless marketing," said Henricks. Manhunt currently operates in more than 100 countries, and there are 1.3 million subscribers worldwide. If there was money to be made facilitating gay hook-ups among penguins, it's likely Manhunt would be branching out to Antarctica, the one continent on the globe without a single Manhunt pin. and the rest of Western Europe are covered in pins, and there are a smattering of pins in Australia, Asia, and Africa. It resembles nothing so much as a James Bond villain's secret plan for global conquest. Mounted on the wall behind the head of the table is a map of the world with pins sticking in every country where gay men are cruising each other on Manhunt. Nowhere is that more evident than in the conference room of Manhunt's offices. We kind of do strive for that," said Henricks.
The vibe it gives off is decidedly more "neat" than "meat." There are no naked men prowling the foyer, no video screens showing porn films, no oozing lube dispensers. Walk through the front door of the offices of Online Buddies, Inc., Manhunt's corporate moniker, and you'll find a large open reception area decked out in stylish wooden furniture and tasteful accents. In the last few years it has gone international, helping men hook up in Mexico, South America, the U.K., Western Europe and Australia, among other far-flung locales.īut while Manhunt has made its name selling sex, you'd never know it visiting the company's corporate headquarters on the outskirts of Kendall Square in Cambridge. Since its launch seven years ago the company has extended its steamy, sweaty grasp from Boston across the country to become one of the largest gay websites in the United States. For most gay men the name conjures images of late night hookups and pages upon pages of profiles of hot (and not so hot) naked men.