The lack of time and flexibility to go to therapy and counseling prevents many people from seeking help. While professionals can still hold online sessions through services such as Clubhouse and Zoom, many people still find it hard to be present at a specific time, and also to maintain their privacy or anonymity. 

LifeQuest built an app that solved a real-world problem: making it easy and safe for mental health providers to connect with patients digitally. However, customer retention and time-in-app had been the main challenges. Eventually, they used CometChat's SDK to create the exact product fit that users wanted, helping them increase user retention nearly elevenfold.

As a test, they launched a "Vent Out" group chat in LifeQuest's platform that quickly became a popular space where users could jump in, vent their feelings - positive or negative. Professional therapists and trained counselors then help them cope with their problems over one-on-one conversations.

After a short period, the results were remarkable. LifeQuest experienced a spike in user activity, engagement, and retention. 

In this case study, we'll show you how building an in-app chat solution helped LifeQuest succeed and how you can do the same with your app.

LifeQuest: How It All Started

LifeQuest, in their own words, is “a community for improving relationships.” It's an app that works as a social network and connects consumers with experts in various fields such as parenting, career, and relationships, to name a few. 

LifeQuest came through the StartupLanes incubator in February 2021. Its founders had a vision of helping people build and improve relationships by creating a safe space where they could meet experts or share their experiences with other users.

The largest group interested in LifeQuest’s services is Gen Z, who were looking to improve their life skills areas such as entrepreneurship, relationships, parenting, and more.

The spike in user engagement and retention LifeQuest experienced after building an in-app chat solution created a pivot in its business model. They have continued to grow ever since.

Breaking Into Untapped Potential

LifeQuest’s founders started to think about their idea during the pandemic in 2020, as they saw a demand for relationship counseling. While many providers offered their services through Zoom and Clubhouse, their challenges mainly revolved around anonymity and privacy, as well as time constraints as users had to be present at a specific time.

They decided to build a solution that would best meet consumers’ needs. However, for that, they needed to build an in-app chat solution that was reliable, cost-effective, customizable, and easy to integrate. By reaching out to CometChat’s team, they were able to make an in-app chat solution that fulfilled all these requirements, allowing them to scale.

Why Did LifeQuest Choose CometChat?

LifeQuest decided to reach out to CometChat’s team for a few reasons.

1. First, they were already a live app, so they couldn’t afford long development cycles.

2. Second, their partner, First Economy - a digital marketing agency in Mumbai, India - recommended it, and their developers approved the suggestion.

3. Third, they needed a reliable, stable, and cost-effective solution that could be customized as needed. CometChat’s SDK filled all their requirements. One of the biggest reasons they chose CometChat’s SDK is that it's an already built and established product used by many companies that have tried and tested their API. 

“We seriously considered building chat in-house because of the customizations that we needed. But that would have taken more than six months, plus there is a substantial cost associated with it. Then there will be ongoing costs to maintain and update," said said Rohan Shah, CEO and co-founder of LifeQuest.

With CometChat, LifeQuest's development team could focus on their core product while its chat integration was managed automatically. They also found a true partner, one willing to go the extra mile to ensure success and consider feature requests for the product roadmap.

Another selling point was the fact that CometChat didn’t have any upfront cost for them. It only needed them to integrate APIs on the frontend and backend, which was a good cost-saving opportunity.

How CometChat Helped

After deciding to make an in-app chat solution, LifeQuest moved on to the implementation process. 

LifeQuest felt so confident about our product that they skipped the PoC stage and directly integrated our SDK into their live app. On the implementation process, Shah explains:

"We didn’t have a lot of time since we wanted to go to market ASAP. So we didn’t even try building a prototype or Proof of Concept. We felt confident enough to integrate directly with our platform. First we integrated with our web app and then with the mobile app."

The "Vent Out" group chat they made via CometChat's SDK helped them increase user retention from 3% to 20%.

“Once it was built, we started getting users and they loved the format of the chat group. We grew from almost nothing to 5,000 active members. It was firing!” said Shah.

Furthermore, the average engagement rate substantially increased. From spending around 1-2 minutes in the app, LifeQuest reached an average sessions time of around 15 minutes.

The "Vent Out" group chat made through CometChat's SDK helped LifeQuest find something users need and love, and it proved to be the exact product fit they wanted.

Final Words

Building an in-app chat solution improves customer engagement and app stickiness, which is essential for the success of every app. Building an in-app chat allows companies to avoid third-party providers that can potentially increase the risks of data breaches. However, to build an efficient in-app chat solution, finding a trusted partner with years of experience is essential.

CometChat has successfully helped many companies build a customized in-app chat solution and scale their business effortlessly. If you’re interested in finding out how you can implement a chat for your app or website, reach out to our sales and development team to get a conversation started.

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