SmartMatchApp Matchmaker CRM Adds Security, Automations, and Networking

The Short Version: For matchmakers interested in working smart, SmartMatchApp has served behind the scenes since 2014 as a platform infrastructure provider. It keeps getting smarter and more capable over the years. The app recently introduced SOC 2 Type II compliance to demonstrate its commitment to strong security and data protection, automation features to help matchmakers increase operational efficiency, and a networking capability for professional development and collaboration. As it incorporates machine learning to improve suggestions, SmartMatchApp promises clients additional flexibility and usability.

When we say relationships and connections are about chemistry, we’re not using the word like chemists do. Matchmaking is a person-to-person activity; we rely more on art than science when we look for someone to love.

That’s true across countries, cultures, and classes, as it has been since the dawn of history.

But modern matchmaking companies, dating agencies, and relationship coaches need software to make their businesses work. They need ways to manage and provide services to their clients. Like all businesspeople, they gravitate toward innovative providers to perform necessary tasks more efficiently, enhance operations, and grow their competitiveness.

That’s why matchmakers serving more than 100,000 global users turn to SmartMatchApp to power their businesses. Behind the scenes, SmartMatchApp creates the space where relationship chemistry happens.

Users likely don’t realize it, but when they feel comfortable and satisfied with a dating service, it may be due to SmartMatchApp’s ability to create a customer experience that doesn’t call attention to itself. The best scenario for matchmakers is for users to focus on the relationships and connections they seek, not the software they use. SmartMatchApp delivers that.

CEO Tim Mourtazov said that’s because the SmartMatchApp team refuses to rest on its laurels. It is as loyal to the dating industry as the industry is to it.

“We have had amazing support from the matchmaking community since our start in 2014,” Mourtazov said. “They tell us what they want and are missing in terms of technology and features, and we deliver.”

Arthur Lavrinovich, Sales, agreed, adding that SmartMatchApp increasingly finds uses in other industries, including financial institutions, trade associations, and others where matching people to needs is critical.

“We match investors with startups, teachers with students, and even orphaned children with mentors,” Lavrinovich said. “It makes us proud to serve people and industries this way.”

SmartMatchApp’s expansion into other business verticals provides evidence of the robustness of its platform, but it hasn’t diverted the team from its primary mission of serving matchmakers.

“What you see in the SmartMatch App is the product of matchmakers’ ideas,” Lavrinovich said. “Executing their vision is our success story.”

One thing the team heard loud and clear in 2022-23 was the need for the highest level of data security to ensure that personal relationships remain personal. To that end, the team worked for more than a year and a half to become SOC 2 Type II compliant.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) developed SOC 2 as a voluntary compliance standard for service organizations managing customer data. AICPA based the standard on five trust services criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.

SOC 2 Type I evaluates whether an organization’s system design complies with the trust principles. Type II goes further to detail operational efficiency. SOC 2 compliance indicates that an organization considers information security paramount to ensure sensitive personal information remains private.

“This is a biggie,” Lavrinovich said. “SOC 2 Type II is the highest standard of them all, and now we are officially compliant.”

That’s on top of other security commitments SmartMatchApp has long prioritized. For example, SmartMatchApp complies with the General Data Protection Rule, ensuring operability within EU countries. It participates in the Data Privacy Framework Program to protect personal data transfers to the US from the EU, UK, and Switzerland. It also complies with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

Matchmakers can count on SmartMatchApp to maintain an ongoing commitment to data security.

“It was a lot of work the team went through,” Lavrinovich said. “We got it in order, and they gave us the green light.”

But innovation is a watchword at SmartMatchApp. The team has kept customers coming back with a slew of improvements to the look and feel of the platform in 2023.

Many leverage recent technological developments in automation and machine learning. Taken as a whole, SmartMatchApp provides a feature set of unprecedented comprehensiveness to businesses of all sizes, ranging from one-person operations to some of the industry’s largest matchmakers.

For example, the system can now send automated introductions. Previously, matchmakers needed to manually select introductions, compose emails, and manually send. Although these tasks may not have required much time individually, the time necessary to process multiple per day quickly adds up.

“In this day and age, we work smart, not hard,” Lavrinovich said.

The team also introduced an internal set of project management tools, replacing a series of third-party integrations with platforms such as Jira and Trello. The process included developing visually based kanban functionality, commenting and tagging people, lists, and folders, and participating in multiple boards.

“Our customers wanted it and asked for it,” Mourtazov said. “We’re becoming an all-in-one platform.”

SOC 2 was significant for another 2023 innovation, machine learning, to improve matchmaking suggestions and platform functionality for SmartMatchApp. The team surveyed its customer base to establish the need and made it optional to address customer sensitivities around introducing ChatGPT-like inauthenticities.

SmartMatchApp will host machine-learning capabilities on in-house servers, never share data, and protect it through SOC 2. The benefit is efficiency gains at all stages of customer interactions that can improve the bottom line.

Member portal capabilities help customers offer a one-stop shop for information management, including profiles, app downloads, and directory browsing. The portal includes smart successions for a seamless experience and availability matching to encourage users to connect.

“The portal also offers an events engine where matchmakers can create communities around topics of interest,” Lavrinovich said. “Now we’re talking about multilayer matchmaking, like an onion with layers.”

One thing hasn’t changed: SmartMatchApp’s commitment to fair, transparent pricing. Month-to-month subscription plans don’t require long-term contracts. Add-ons are available on demand, and white-label opportunities help matchmakers promote their brands.

SmartMatchApp achieved another significant industry partnership in 2023 by forming a relationship with the Matchmakers Alliance, the leading trade association for matchmakers to collaborate and share best practices.

SmartMatchApp participates in monthly alliance conference calls, attends events, and provides a free CRM for member management. It reinforces the app’s commitment to industry professional development, which it offers through its established network of more than 1,000 matchmakers.

Matchmakers use the network to share ideas, collaborate, and exchange database information. The searchable network works similarly to a social network such as LinkedIn. Users may send requests to connect, post public announcements, and send and accept referrals. It’s ideal for building professional relationships with colleagues worldwide.

The team plans additional network enhancements in the coming months.

“It’s like happiness, something you can chase but never catch,” Lavrinovich said. “We keep striving to perfect the system.”

Another commitment is to perfect the user interface. The goal is to make using SmartMatchApp as seamless as possible. True to form, the initiative will not focus solely on cosmetic design and layout changes but will also aim to restructure the entire user experience. The team plans to simplify menus and provide wizard-like guides to help users click through options.

It’s an extension of a success strategy that has seen SmartMatchApp emerge as a dating industry platform leader with a strong push into other industry verticals. Customers in North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond use the app to promote relationship chemistry and bring people together for many different purposes.

“We could not have imagined how many matchmaking use cases there are,” Mourtazov said.

Lavrinovich concurred. “We have a sense of achievement that our work matters,” he said.