Classic City Consulting

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive vice president of a project management training company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

We hired them initially to maintain our existing website, but later contracted them to build us a new WordPress site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We rely heavily on our websites, and the new site supports a new line of our business. They worked with us and with our marketing company to plan out the project and to split up responsibilities. They gave us updates on their progress, problems, and scheduling throughout the project. Though they weren’t involved in the marketing side, they did give us feedback on navigation, look, feel, and other design elements.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with a project manager and the company head, but the total team includes about four people. We communicated at least weekly with our project manager, though my team members may have communicated directly with other individuals.

How did you come to work with Classic City Consulting?

We’ve known the head of their company for several years, and one of our technical code designers worked with him in the past. That designer introduced us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere between $1,000–$5,000 each month we’ve worked with them, depending on the workload.

What is the status of this engagement?

They’ve worked with us since early in 2018. The project started with maintenance of our existing website, and developed into our new website sometime over six months ago. The launch of the new site was in January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The quality of their work is great, and we enjoy working with them. It’s too early to talk about the results of the new site, but Classic City’s skills and integrity stood out. Everything they did built up a level of trust that is necessary for this kind of project.

How did Classic City Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re a project management training company, so I’m critical on this point. I do like the software they use, Jira, which helps us prioritize product backlog and monitor where each element is in the development process. Their communication is very good, though there were a few instances when the schedule fell behind.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge and integrity are great. The company head looks over our invoices occasionally, and had made adjustments in our favor. They earned our trust through their initiative and through an understanding of our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve spoken with them about a few things they could improve, but don’t have any pain points to include in this review.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’m very likely to recommend them, but don’t have any specific advice for potential clients. They’re a reliable, trustworthy company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the business development director for a software development company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

Over the years, we’ve relied on Classic City Consulting to support us on our PHP and WordPress projects. For one of our projects, a client wanted to build a new WordPress site, so we subcontracted Classic City Consulting to help us complete the work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We initially developed the solution design for the site, which is a high-level blueprint that details how the template will look. After completing the documentation, we worked with Classic City Consulting and our client to make sure that we had all the correct requirements. They helped provide an estimate of the effort needed to execute the work, which we passed to the client for approval.

From there, Classic City Consulting worked closely with our architect and project management team to ensure that we completed the tasks on time and within budget. They’ve supported us throughout the implementation phase and are now assisting with user acceptance testing (UAT) and bug fixes in addition to providing ongoing support.

What is the team composition?  

For this project, we’ve worked with their founder and a special projects manager.

How did you come to work with Classic City Consulting? 

Their owner was originally an employee of ours, so we already had a good idea of his capabilities. At our company, we like to ensure that our team members develop and become stronger, so it’s great that he’s continued to help us out with our projects even after starting his own business.

How much have you invested with them? 

I’ve been with my company for almost three years and have worked with Classic City Consulting on 5–6 projects. Typically, each project ranges between $100,000–$250,000, but I know they’ve supported us on smaller assignments, too, including PHP and video work.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We’ve been working with them since 2004.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’ve been a great help on all of our PHP and WordPress initiatives. With their efforts, we’ve been able to successfully deliver on time and on budget, which translates to functional sites for our clients and their businesses.

How did Classic City Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re typically very responsive to our needs and excel at setting expectations. Our project management team coordinates with them regularly, holding daily stand-ups through Jira. We also communicate using Slack and email. If they encounter any challenges during development, they let us know promptly so that we can resolve them together as best we can.

When they’ve joined us for client discussions, they’ve been clear, concise, and professional. I appreciate that they’re able to adapt to the client’s preferences. If a client wants to use a particular project management tool, Classic City Consulting is more than happy to accommodate them.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They’re flexible and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the best results for our clients.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, I can’t think of anything that they would need to improve per se. It would be helpful if they could let us know about delays or challenges sooner rather than later, but the same goes for everyone, including us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
Have an understanding of what you're trying to accomplish, whether it’s a thought, a roadmap, or an idea of the requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of an IT consulting company called Jaxified, providing software development services to small- and medium-sized businesses and government agencies. We specialize in customer-facing platforms as well as internal-facing software such as intranets and inventory management systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

We needed resources to supplement our internal team for contracts that required WordPress or PHP development. As a result, we would often subcontract work to Classic City Consulting or bring them in as a partner to meet a client’s deadline and ensure project success.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We typically assign them projects that involve WordPress or PHP development. In general, a client will approach us to complete a project before a certain deadline. We take that timeframe and divide it into sprints, which Classic City uses to establish milestones and internal timelines. From this point onward, we act as the liaison between the client and their team as they implement any enhancements or changes. We review their work and deliver it to the client.

Recently, one of our clients had an issue with her online-course platform. While the WordPress platform sold the courses, the ASP.NET backend actually served the courses. In order to correctly charge customers and facilitate credit card payments, the two systems needed to communicate with each other through several API connections.

At the time, the client faced problems after some plug-in updates disrupted the way the products were set up on the WordPress instance. As a consequence, the pricing no longer accurately reflected the products.

After we briefed them on the issues, Classic City addressed the issues caused by the updates, which involved modifying the API to accurately process more data, enhancing the UI for mobile users, and correcting the product page display and functions. They also ensured that the client didn’t double bill customers and that customers could access courses that they purchased.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people.

How did you come to work with Classic City Consulting?

I worked with their owner years ago at another company before he started Classic City. As a result, I understood his work ethic and knew how he interacted with his clients. Once he founded Classic City, he reached out to his contacts, including us, to let them know about the services that his team provided. Eventually, when we started to receive projects involving WordPress or PHP, we contacted them because we already had a sense of their values and trusted their talents.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000–$40,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work began in 2012 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

From our first engagement, our success rate significantly increased because we could take on more work in areas beyond our specializations. We also became more attractive to customers who wanted a single company to handle their entire project.

In particular, we’ve admired their timeliness and quick turnarounds. They’ve never missed deadlines and take the initiative to inform us of any complications. With the aforementioned project, Classic City ensured that the UI displayed consistently across all devices within a short period of time.

In another instance, we worked with a government agency with an exceedingly complex system. The organization used an outdated WordPress instance that needed to communicate between four different systems, which caused numerous issues. While we dealt with the backend systems, Classic City fully updated the WordPress instance, making sure to update all the plug-ins built by the agency’s internal team within strict deadlines.

It was crucial for us to complete the project on time; without their support, we would have been too overwhelmed with the backend tasks to simultaneously tackle the WordPress updates. No doubt about it, they saved our contract.

How did Classic City Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

One of their strongest attributes is their ability to communicate expectations and requirements between various stakeholders. They adhere to an organized schedule and update us a few times a week, so we never feel out of the loop. We never have assumptions about the project’s progress because they always provide status updates. For smaller projects, we communicate daily through Slack and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their personality and enjoy interacting with them. They’re just good, genuine people who really love what they do. Well-spoken and approachable, they know how to talk to people in layman’s terms without making them feel ignorant.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Even if customers lack advanced technical knowledge, they shouldn’t hesitate to talk to Classic City. Their team excels at translating the customer’s needs into a technical product while ensuring that the customer understands the process and knows what to expect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the founder of Wish Dish, which shared emotional stories to help people realize they weren’t alone.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Classic City Consulting?

They were responsible for the website development of our rebrand, managing the day-to-day technical aspects to ensure our site was up and running without problems.

What were your goals for this project?

I needed the web design rebrand project completed quickly and to a high standard.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I selected this vendor through a referral from a friend who was happy with their services.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They worked on both front- and backend development, while building custom features for users. They also provided day-to-day site management services and implemented a functional design for the site.

What was the team composition?

The team had two main members. One person handled all the design, development, and technical vision. The other handled all the other pieces operationally, from marketing to business development. Under them, they had a team of full-time people doing the work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

They were instrumental in turning around our rebrand project in a timely, cost-effective, and beautiful manner. I enjoyed working with the team as they're truly dedicated to serving client needs.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a sustainable business model in place when working with them and was solely focused on content. If I had thought about the model first, I’m sure they could have facilitated whatever development needs that were important.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was extremely good. They were very organized and detail oriented. They led with fluid operations and I couldn't have been more impressed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their passion. You want to work with people who appreciate your vision and excited to work with you, rather than focusing on just taking your money. Their team demonstrates this really well.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

They did a great job overall. Given that they’re an agency, I was impressed with how they worked so fluidly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the general manager and part owner of the Fritz Farm in Georgia. It’s an event venue, and we host weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, or any type of celebration.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

Our existing website was about 5 years old and it was time for a new one. We wanted to build a new website with a more modern look and feel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to display the parties and events that we host on the farm in a way that is easily navigable for the consumer. It’s an image-driven site because people book weddings or events based on what they see.

The first phase was having the team visit the farm. It is hard to get the feel of the farm just by looking at pictures so they looked around and we gave them the history of the farm.

We then needed to determine the look and the feel of the website. We gave them our ideas of how we wanted it to be. They gave us some examples and we were able to tell them what we liked and didn’t like. From there, we had weekly interactions and updates from them with emails and occasional calls. They would tell us what they needed from us, which we provided. Following this, we had a pre-rollout where we let them know what we wanted to change. We then had an installment with the final tweaks, and it was rolled out.

What is the team dynamic?

My main point of contact was with Jessica [COO, Classic City Consulting] and Chris [Founder and CEO, Classic City Consulting]. We also worked with a team member in Portland. My first call would be to Chris or Jessica. Jessica would email or call me to get ideas and run things by me.

How did you come to work with Classic City Consulting?

I have known Chris for a long time. He did some work for us on a different project many years ago. He was originally introduced to me by a friend of mine who had recommended him. When it was time for us to revamp our website, I just picked up the phone and called Chris. He’s the only person I would let build our website and I knew I wanted him to do it.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent between $7,000–$8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them last fall and the website rolled out in January of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We love the fact that we are one of the top Google searches for farm, barn, and South Georgia weddings. Their knowledge about how to make those things happen was critical. 

It has been absolutely wonderful that we can sell tickets directly from our website for any of our events, whereas before, we had to have a different setup in order to sell tickets. I wanted it all in one particular place so that visitors to the site could see what we have going on and buy their ticket directly from there.

The consumer finds it easy, and we have had many compliments from our guests who fell in love with our place from the website. It has really showcased the farm to potential clients in the way we wanted it to. They nailed the design and layout, and really got it all perfect.

How did Classic City Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They over-performed and are fantastic. We spoke at least once a week and occasionally 2–3 times a week depending on what the deadline was. We communicated through phone calls and a lot by email, which was wonderful and saves us all time on the phone.

They are very kind and informative. They always kept us in the loop and told us what they need. They gave us clear deadlines so that we were not the reason something was slowed down. All of them were a joy to work with and are very intelligent. When we would give them ideas, they made it happen for us. It was a very easy and straightforward process and they always met their deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are great communicators, they give a plan and stick to it, and there are very few delays unless they are delays on our side. From a project management perspective, they provided us with a clear-cut idea of what we could expect from the beginning, the cost, features, and cost of add-ons. They met every single one of those project deadlines and layouts, and we came in at the budget which they told us we would come in at. From a business and design side, they are perfect.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not at all. Chris has done a great job putting his team together and growing his company.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend them. Whether it is a small or large web presence you need, they are the people for the job. Have them come and take a look at your project and tell them what you are looking to accomplish. Get to know them on a personal level, and they will become lifelong friends.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the ministry director of In Grace Ministries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

Our ministry was looking for a technical resource.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chris [Founder & CEO, Classic City Consulting] and his team have been foundationally instrumental in setting us up. They address anything IT related for us, including emails and loading things onto our computers. When a computer isn’t working, they try to fix the problem over the phone. If that isn’t possible, they will come on-site and resolve the issue.

They’ve also helped us with our social media. They are foundational and mission critical in the functionality of us being able to do our jobs and reach people. Chris and his team, specifically Jessica [COO, Classic City Consulting] have been incredibly helpful in assisting us with posting. Jessica also helped train another one of my colleagues in posting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

They have had a dual role with us as we have grown. Not only do they provide troubleshooting, but they’re also very generous in sharing information and tutoring us through processes. If it’s something simple that we can do from our end, such as posting on social media, they are happy to share their knowledge and give us the tools we need so we aren’t completely dependant on them. They want to see us grow, which is something we really appreciate about them.

They also helped us with the rebranding the Ministry went through last year. Jessica, Chris, and Jonathan [Web Developer & Designer, Classic City Consulting] were all very proactive with their assistance. The rebrand of the website was a massive job because it has a main page and also 6–7 offshoots. They provided foundational IT support as well as instructions while maintaining a creative presence.

Finding someone in the IT industry who excels and also have the strong creative ability to help their client is rare. If we come to them with an idea of what we are looking for, Jessica and Chris use their creative presence and works with on the design. They also helped us decide fonts, picture placements, and which buttons to use for different aspects of the Ministry. Additionally, they helped with placement of other specific things in order to communicate with our partners and audience.

One functionality of our ministry is working with at-risk women, and we want them to be able to go to our website and see something that is compelling. Chris and Jessica have been very influential in that. They’ve helped us compose a meaningful and compelling website.

What is the team dynamic?

I work a lot with Chris, and he is our main contact. Jessica has also been our go-to regarding social media, creative designs, and casting a vision. Chris also had another team member work with me, and they’ve actually come out to my office. That team member has been instrumental in getting our phones and laptops to do what they are supposed to.

Every member of their team listens and tries to produce a product that meets our needs.

How did you come to work with Classic City Consulting?

When I came on board about 4 years ago, Classic City was already in place. The founder of our ministry had actually found them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $1,700–$2,000 per month over the last 4 years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2013, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Anytime I’ve approached them with an issue, Chris has never said no. Even if he’s attending an all-day conference, he gets back to me and tells me he’ll call me back and have someone take care of the issue. He is so resourceful, very client driven, and always manages to figure out a way, even if it’s out of their sphere. In many ways, they really are a one-stop shop.

We have a yearly golf tournament for which Chris and his team have programmed the page for our yearly golf tournament that we use to communicate with our golfers and sponsors. We have to capture their names, email addresses, handicaps, along with other information, so there are a lot of functionalities that need to run smoothly. Chris and his team really made the whole process, including payments, seamless and clear in order to please the customer. Everyone is happy with the end result, and it’s definitely been a win-win.

In 2016, Chris was very generous, and at no charge to us was the event photographer. He took his time out to come to our dinner where we have speakers and musicians, and also came back to the golf course very early the next morning to photograph the entire event. Instead of charging us, he did it as a donation to the ministry, which was a big deal.

How did Classic City Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed above and beyond completely. They’re available any time we call them, and Chris is really a loyal person. We email each other several times a week, but if I need something urgently, I can text him and he’ll rearrange what he’s doing in order to call me back. The team is extremely responsive, as well as client driven, and we really couldn’t ask for a better group of people to meet our needs. We know when something goes awry that we can call them, and they will take care of it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing is the relationship Chris forms. It’s hard to find people who have both the technical aptitude and the relational ability to communicate with others. Chris has both of these qualities, which is why Classic City continues to grow.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think anything needs improvement. Anytime we had a problem, or if we didn’t love what they’d come up with, they changed it right away.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of Classic City Consulting?

I advise someone who plans on working with Classic City to communicate. The client will be satisfied with them as long as they communicate what they need. Chris and his team will go above and beyond to provide customer satisfaction. They are so relational in nature, and never see their clients as a number. They really value their clients and want to invest in them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of inserv360. We're an IT services company mainly focused on the government sector. We do have some private clients, and we have a full range of services from data center construction to storage virtualization and phone systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

They were assisting in rebuilding one of our government client’s websites. It was quite an antiquated site. We were looking for something fresh, something that would allow the agency to be represented in a modern way with an ease of navigation. We have a lot of novice users for this site, and the information can be rather complicated to get to: a lot of forms, a lot of case hearings, that kind of thing. We were looking for ease of navigation and modern, friendly presentation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chris and his company have done all the sites for us, including ours. As far as this particular site, I brought Chris in as a subcontractor, not under my company, but directly with the agency. We do that so that everything is very clear to the client and it doesn't look like we're unnecessarily marking things up or taking advantage of the government purse. That's very important to me.

We introduced Chris, the customer defined the project, what they were looking for, and it was very open-ended. They were really leaning on Chris to provide the layout. Chris gave them a couple of option, one of which they liked, and Chris really ran with it. I was more of an observer because my previous engagement with Chris allowed me to trust his judgment and let him handle the project from start to finish. It was really very easy for us.

It was the standard project life cycle with wireframes, meeting with the clients, approvals, and really narrowing it down to what the client liked as far as the color schemes and the layout. They had two other sites, so we're trying to match the color schemes and have similar layouts; as you transition from one site to the next, it wasn't a total break. Chris did that very well. As a matter of fact, he's actually working on another project for them right now. They're very happy with us, and it's a bigger remodel of another site.

One of the main things that the customer wanted was a search box on the main page that would actually reach through the site and pull up anything related to the term that was entered. They didn't have that before. With all the PDFs, downloadable forms, and cases that are posted and commissioned, hearings that are posted, it was very difficult to locate data. We would get calls consistently from public officials and news media, trying to find things. It was a very difficult task to narrow down your search and actually land on what you were searching for.

They did successfully implement that. That sounds like a small thing, but it really wasn't. The customer has been so pleased with that. It has cut down on the number of phone calls. The public, which this particular agency is very public-facing, has been very positive. The website is built on WordPress.

What is the team dynamic?

Jessica worked on it, and Chris had one or two backend developers, so a total of four people throughout the project. I'm not aware of any turnovers Chris has had. Chris is the main point of contact. In the beginning, the client would talk to them every other week as they developed the concepts, but then going forward, I think they had at least weekly calls.

How did you come to work with Classic City Consulting?

Chris and I used to work at the same company together. I've known him since he was in college. We both left that company and started our own companies.I knew Chris' work, and it was just a no-brainer to start feeding him work. He doesn't get into the realm of what we do very much, as much as we have the opportunity to send him work because we aren't full service.

His work ethic and communication is very important to us. People I work with have to communicate. Even if it's bad, you have to let me know and the customer needs to know. You have to be on time and on budget, and Chris is very good about that. We had no reason to look anywhere else.

How much have you invested with them?

The project he is currently working on, he's got about $25,000 left on the project unbilled. It was probably a $40,000 project.

What is the status of this engagement?

April or May is when we got the go, and we had to wait because the fiscal year starts over on July 1st; it was retaining the money and holding it for the next fiscal year. Once the budget was approved, we got the final go. I would say the real work started in July. They're still working on the project. He did the first rebuild a couple of years ago, and he's doing another facelift on it at their request because there have been some changes. The first facelift completed in October 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The search box that I mentioned earlier was part of the first launch, and that has been very successful; the way he and his team have organized the site and centralized all the forms was great. The old site had multiple copies of the same form all over the place, and he has really narrowed that down into a single library which has helped a lot. Aesthetically, the website is much better and there was a decrease in phone calls of people complaining.

How did Classic City Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

I didn't have to intervene at any time, and I'm in the office physically with the client once a week. Believe me, they would let me know if they were unsatisfied with anything. For me not to have any complaints by the director or ask where Chris is on anything, that says volumes. I've got so much other stuff to do; I don't need to babysit anybody.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From a business owner's perspective, I have seen Chris grow from one guy with an idea to a staff of people that are consistently producing a quality product. And for a guy to start a business in the website space like he has and be successful, and being able to add staff like he has added them in just a couple of years is pretty impressive without having to take out any loans or be in debt.

Are there any areas they could improve?

None.

Advice for potential customers?

Listen to Chris. A lot of people don't have the technology. They have a wish list of how they think things should work or want things to work. A particular client sometimes feels like they have some technical knowledge the way things should be done, and Chris is very good about listening to that and persuading them to do it the right way.

If you have an idea, share it, but listen to what he is telling you. The performance of the site, how the site functions, and the display of the information will all come together. He's very good at taking your ideas and putting them into something physical that works well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Monster Labz is an independent firm that does app and website development and design. We meet with everyone from small, independent, family-owned businesses up to Fortune 500 companies doing ad hoc development and ports. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

We do not do a lot of advanced WordPress development, and Classic City was 100% stable to perform the work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first project I did with them was a WordPress template. We weren’t hosting the site; we were pulling it from a current vendor that we wanted to do work for. Classic City updated the look and feel of the templates using advanced custom fields. It was a very smooth process. They were able to take our mockups and designs and develop a concept. Usually, there’s a little tweaking when it comes CFS [Compact File Set] when we work with other vendors, but with Classic City, it’s really simple. We hand them a mockup and it’s almost pixel perfect when we get it back unless there’s a reason; a grid we’re using or some subject matter within a plugin might cause an issue.

What is the team dynamic?

When we started, I just worked with Chris [Owner]. Then, I worked with developers over the phone and through Slack. His team has been growing. I see more and more developers coming on board. We have developers that switch in and out throughout our projects depending on what is needed at the time.

How did you come to work with Classic City Consulting?

I have a lot of freelancers and consultants that I work with in the industry for .NET and Node.js and other projects, so I reached out to them to find out who does PHP. One of those people looked up WordPress in my area and happened to know Chris. It was nice to be recommended by someone who knew him and his company. Atlanta is a tightknit community of developers, so it’s nice to be able to get references.

I found them online and realized a couple of people I knew in the industry had worked with them before. I heard good reviews about Chris and their company from people I knew. I emailed Chris and he responded within 10 minutes. I had a physical conversation with him that afternoon. His responsiveness is what sold me. He was eager, and his price was perfect.

I tested them out first with a small WordPress project updating a template. They had a fast turnaround, and their work was clean. We expanded the relationship to doing more work together. I do a few projects a year with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent between $40,000 and $50,000 with them so far. The initial project was under $10,000. I don’t do any large WordPress projects; they’ve all been small. There are some clients who like to use a template and I’ll still give those jobs to Chris. If we have custom work, I send it his way and he gets it done with us doing the design. In 6 out of 10 projects, we lead the design.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them 2 years ago, and the relationship is ongoing. We’re about to start another project with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I was working with a big logistics company in Atlanta that had a very old WordPress site, and we were going to do a full redesign. They wanted a very quick turnaround. We were one of the last companies called because the other two failed to hit the mark. We did a quick design session with the client and walked out with the solution. We did mockups and wireframes, and it was approved a week later. We gave it to Chris and told him he had 3 weeks, and he had it done 2.5 weeks later. There were some things that needed to be fixed, and he had those done overnight.

How did Classic City Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They are always on time, which is one reason I keep using them. I get Slack messages and emails throughout the projects that keep me updated. Chris calls me or sends a message on Slack the second there’s an issue. I get calls mostly from Jessie about the project. There are standups on Slack every morning. She lists out what the daily tasks are for the standups and any pain points. They are very transparent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality of work is impressive. Their price point is good. I always get what I’m expecting. When I turn around a design, it’s pretty much pixel perfect.

They’re professional, and they are able to accomplish what I need every time I send something to them. They’re budget-friendly, and they’re great people to work with. I’ve recommended them to friends. I’d love to see the company grow. They're on point and really good about letting you know what’s going on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. He’s never failed me. I don’t send him anything we can’t accomplish. I wouldn’t use him if we couldn’t accomplish what I needed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a project manager for a publishing and digital media company called A4 Inc. We provide print material and electronic assets to trade associations and nonprofits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Classic City Consulting?

One of our clients needed some web development work done to solve some issues with online transactions. Such work was beyond our scope, so we needed outside help. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I reached out to Chris [Lafay, Owner, Classic City] about the project, and we talked about the basics, and then I set up a time to meet with the client. Chris came with me to answer some of the questions that were more in his wheelhouse. 

There were four primary development and design projects. They (1) automated our client's online membership renewal process; (2) set up a portal (in the context of a brand new site) to manage continuing education (CE) courses, collect payments for those courses, and issue the appropriate credits; (3) created discrete levels of access for organizational members, nonmembers, and site administrators; and (4) built a searchable database that members could use to hire workers trained by the organization. 

Afterward, Chris came to the traning session with the client. About 1.5 months after delivery, the client was having difficulties getting used to the new systems, and Chris went back to them at no charge to make sure everything was right. 

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with Chris and one other person who split the workload. 

How did you come to work with Classic City?

Back in 2014, we had to build an internal site that was a little too complex for our capabilities. We’d been through three or more developers already. I found Chris online, and we talked about what we needed, and he did it at a great price and with timely delivery. It was a pleasure communicating with him, and that’s what really sold me.

Since then, we've reached out to Chris whenever we have a need.

A web developer is like a mechanic; you go through a bunch until you land on one that you like.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $5,500 for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from October 2016 to February 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our client is thrilled with the website. It was a huge upgrade for them, and it’s made life much easier for them logistically. I’ve spoken to the director, who's sung Chris' praises. It’s improved their business in every way they expected it to.

How did Classic City perform from a project management standpoint?

I couldn’t ask for anything better. Everything was efficient and clear, and communication was excellent, which had been my main concern with previous contractors. I was the liason between Chris and the client, and whenever I contacted Chris to convey information, he was always immediately responsive. 

Sometimes I would message Chris and he would delegate the work. Alternatively, I would contact them in a group chat and they would partition the work themselves. I talked to the team on Slack, and occasionally on the phone, probably about twice a week. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were communicative throughout the entire project, and things were completed on, if not ahead of, schedule. That was nice because it gave us time to do some QA before we went forward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing that aggravated me, nothing I wanted to change, and nothing I wish they’d done differently.

Advice for potential customers?

Give them a call.