{Ask the Techxperts} @PijonBox Turns Standard College Care Packages into Love in a Box

This series is dedicated to learning from event experts on various topics. We cover event technology, meeting design, and much, more more! Today, we are pleased to interview ADAM SAYNUK, ROB CAUCCI and JEREMY PEASE, all Co-Founders at PijonBox.

First of all, please tell our readers about Pijon Box – what is the company all about?
Pijon sends college students the things they love and need from the people who love them most. We started by redefining the college care package around unique healthy food and snacks, great personal care items, useful essentials, and fun gifts. Students enjoy their new discoveries every month and resupply easily at the Online Campus Store at PijonBox.com. Parents can ensure their college students are taken care of by sending them PijonBucks online to help them get the things they love from Pijon.

What were the 3 keys to getting the company off the ground – where did you invest your time?
Parents, family and friends aren’t sending care packages with Pijon. They are sending love. They’re keeping a connection while apart, and Pijon helps them stay connected.

Pijon makes it effortless, trustworthy, and fun.

Effortless

We put in a lot of time developing our site, process, and content for that first interaction with our members. Then we learned how our customers were using it, and quickly revised it to better serve their needs. This process continues today—the site will never be done. Effortless also means that we make the service “just work.” Once a member is signed up, we ensure they send or get a package consistently every month of their service (with a trusted 3PL partner), we time it to adjust with school schedules (planning and awareness), we try to think ahead about what is happening in the school year and define our curation and delivery accordingly.

Trustworthy

We decided early on that we will always be honest with our community… even if the news is bad. We want our members to feel comfortable trusting us and communicating with us. As a helper during the tough early college years, we need to embody the kind of trust a parent would expect from someone communicating with their child. Accordingly, our members hold Pijon to a very high standard, and our customer service is rated over 98% positive, far above the industry standard for online consumer companies. Trust is borne from consistency and honesty.

Fun

For a care package to deliver love from a family, the recipient needs to feel joy when they receive their PijonBox. Their feelings of anticipation, excitement, and delight are a wonderful way to feel connected to their people back home. We work very hard to pack unique items and gifts, and always provide new discovery experiences for our members. The brand’s voice is fun and approachable, and supports all our promises.

How do you use events to expand the reach of your brand?
Pijon uses events in three ways: Introducing Pijon to people who are not members, meeting great companies who make things we would love to send to our members, and meeting school housing and administrators who can help us develop the relationships we need to keep meeting new members in the college market. We participate and attend events where we can get the most efficient exposure for our needs and the highest quality interactions.

What is the coolest use of technology you’ve ever done for your brand or events?
We are pretty excited about PijonBucks which is the absolute easiest, no hassle way for parents to store and send value in their kid’s Pijon account, which enables students to buy more of the things they love and need each month at a better value than what they’d find on Amazon or in a CVS. Additionally, PijonBucks provide mom and dad with financial transparency, so they know their money went to things their kid actually needs (instead of beer!). You won’t find that in PayPal or anything like it.

There’s a lot more awesomeness to come with PijonBucks, so this is just the start. Stay tuned 🙂

In total, though, it’s hard to pick just one cool thing. The fact that we are helping families stay connected every month and are trusted in that position—and able to deliver on it—is always amazing to us. We appreciate our members’ trust so much, and really take it to heart.

Finally, what is your favorite app?

The upcoming PijonApp, of course 🙂

Liz King Caruso

Liz King Caruso is an Event Strategist, Consultant and Speaker. As CEO of Liz King Events and techsytalk, she has helped countless thought leaders grow their audience and sell their products through in-person, virtual & hybrid events. Liz is a big-picture person – passionate about tying events into an overall sales and marketing strategy and being efficient at every point of the process. Technology is her niche and she’s obsessed with helping organizations of every size leverage technology to produce more engaging and seamless event experiences. In addition to her client work, Liz connects & educates her industry colleagues through platforms she has built – techsytalk GLOBAL, the techsytalk community & IGNITE Consulting program. Liz has been featured as Eventex’s 50 Most Innovative Virtual Meeting Planners, Successful Meetings list of 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry, Top 5 Women in Event Tech, amongst other awards.