You may soon be able to soothe the pain by signing up with Seva Search, says company co-founder Manpreet Singh.

Singh, his brother, Gurpreet Singh, and a childhood friend, Amandeep Bakshi, the company’s head of products, recently launched the Potomac, Md.-based search-engine company.

 

Seva Call, the company’s search engine, allows consumers to connect with local businesses through the telephone.

“For a consumer, our product saves time,” Singh, the company’s chief operating officer, told India-West.

 

“Let’s say that a consumer is locked out of their home. That consumer may call a dozen locksmiths before finding the right person who can help right away.”

 

“With our product, the consumer enters the dates and times that are convenient with a phone number and a description of the service needed. Then, the businesses call the consumer through our system, protecting the consumer’s privacy.”

Customers’ personal data (names, phone numbers, etc.) remain out of the businesses’ records until consumers give them to the service providers.

 

Businesses gain, too, the Indian American entrepreneur added. “We offer a pay for performance product that increases their return on investment. Our pay-per-conversation model is a better return on investment, because consumers are more likely to use a business after speaking with them on the phone.”

 

“Since businesses listen to the consumer’s request first, they can pre-screen requests and choose the customers. Using our service, businesses can quickly fill gaps in their schedule.” Seva Search, the Seva Search COO said, also “uses online ratings and reviews, social reputation and interaction, call analytics and other forms of consumer and business feedback to ensure that the consumer speaks to the best business for his problem.”

 

The IBOPE Zogby research firm, Singh pointed out, estimates U.S. workers lose $38 billion in productivity while waiting for service providers. “Through providing an interactive platform for business to connect with consumers, our product aims to reduce wasted productivity while providing a better experience for all users,” he said.

 

Seva Search last year received $1.3 million in “A” round funding from individual investors. “We are planning to launch (nationally) early this year,” the Indian American entrepreneur said. “Start-ups like ours generally do another round of funding, but we do not have one in the works.”

 

Born in Silver Spring, Md., and a longtime resident of the Washington, D.C. area, Singh has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

While in high school, he co-founded a social networking Web site, Desi Vibes, with brother Gurpreet, who is Seva Search’s CEO. 

 

“We were among the top Desi sites in the country,” he told India-West. “After the bubble burst, I left to work in financial services. I joined a local investment management firm and helped it grow from $20 million to $2 billion under management.”

 

Singh said that even while learning about marketing and investment management, he was lured by the tech world. “I researched investment opportunities in technology companies. With a network of supports, I have now returned to the tech start-up world.”

 

Singh said the idea for Seva Search came after his brother’s experiences managing tech consulting business Geeks-on-site.

 

“He tried out different means of advertising and spent $1 million marketing his business over the past seven years.”

“The problems with traditional advertising are the upfront fees, countless contracts, expensive fees and the inability to track return on investment. Some companies provide the pay-per-click or pay-per-call model, but who is clicking? We want to build a product with flexible pricing that lets businesses make decisions on how much they want to spend on acquiring consumers.”

 

Of businesses that have a relationship with Seva Search, one in four have been recorded answering incoming phone calls. Of those that do not have such a relationship, only one in eight typically answer such calls. 

 

“We believe that Seva Call is the perfect example of the fusion between technology and people,” Singh asserted.