Enliven

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is an electrical contracting company, and I am the IT director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Enliven?

We had an outdated access database that was used to manage all of our work, so we wanted to move to a more up-to-date solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team helped us to create a new database, as well as to set up a SQL server backend so that it was web-enabled and allowed our users to access it through any internet connection. The product itself is used to develop a schedule for our workers and produce labels so that everything can be labeled and tracked for paperwork that we need to complete. We primarily worked in .NET to complete the project.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four members of their team in total, including Ian (Founder) and Jeff (Project Manager), who handled the majority of the scoping work, as well as another individual handling the programming and one focused on integrating it with our active directory.

How did you come to work with Enliven?

They were recommended to us by someone that we work with who had used them before and vouched for their skill and fairness as a partner.

What is the status of this engagement?

Overall, the project ran from around June 2019–April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The most significant thing we’ve seen so far is tremendous positive feedback from the users taking advantage of the platform every day. They find it much easier to use for all of the tasks that they require on a day-to-day basis. It also makes us much more confident in our ability to get data back out to our customers every time.

How did Enliven perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team did an excellent job of communication and managing the deliverables throughout our work with them. We stayed on task with no problems, and they provided weekly updates so that we always knew about the progress we were making towards our larger goals.

They were also very accommodating to any changes we needed to make during the project, whether they found things that we didn’t know about or we reorganized our schedule due to large work projects that came up for us that we knew would require certain functionalities sooner rather than later.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were really impressed by their ability to dig in and fundamentally understand our business processes so that they knew exactly how to make the things we do easier from a technological perspective. All of the examples that they showed us form the beginning demonstrated a fundamental basis in a desire to make our lives easier, which we really appreciated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly think they took a really challenging project and did an excellent job, so I wouldn’t have any negative comments to make about it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just let them do what they need to do. We occasionally tried to do things differently and change the process in specific ways, but things always worked out the best when we let them get as deep into our business as they needed to and then make the specific determinations themselves.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Enliven?

We wanted to improve the efficiency of our tenant-screening application on both the back– and frontends.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our tenant application is one of our more thorough processes and, for the first several years of our business, we had to piece the necessary information together from multiple sources. When we brought in Enliven, we presented our existing workflow to them and asked them to come up with solutions on two sides: one for tenants applying through our home screen, and one for landlords who are referring our application to others. Enliven built us an app that worked seamlessly from mobile devices or web browsers and allowed us to forward that applicant information in real time. In order to accomplish this, they created a custom solution that integrates multiple services, such as Equifax, and aggregates all the required applicant information.

What is the team composition?

We had two main points of contact, but I’m sure there were additional people involved.

How did you come to work with Enliven?

We initially found them via an online search. We held discussions with multiple developers and Enliven gave us a very detailed scope before we’d even hired them. They spent a lot of time preparing and clearly understood what our needs and goals were, which gave us the confidence to hire them. We also appreciated how they structured the cost of the service because there wasn’t a high predevelopment fee.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost is about $110,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and the project is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We only implemented the change about a month ago but we’ve seen a significant decrease in turnaround time for our tenant applications—it’s down to 24 to 48 hours as opposed to three to five business days. It’s improved our efficiency and professionalism. We’re also getting a lot of positive feedback from both our tenants and landlord clients about how the software’s functioning.

In terms of the development, I appreciate that they considered the visual appeal of the software, which I hadn’t expected. They not only ensured that things functioned well on the backend, but they also made sure it looked professional and matched our brand.

How did Enliven perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp to manage our project, and they frequently communicate with us. They’re easy to get in touch with when we need something. I’m impressed by how well they handle difficult tasks and work until they find solutions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered a high-quality product at a reasonable cost.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not at this point, no.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear as possible regarding project goals and desired outcomes. It’s important for them to understand the scope and the kind of work they’re getting into.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an HVAC manufacturer for air conditioners and furnaces. I work at the corporate office and my team is responsible for promoting and marketing our HVAC products. I am the senior director of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Enliven?

They specifically build websites for us. We also like to use them when we have a very tough project and we can't quite figure out how to solve it. They have a strength of asking really challenging questions. They are also very strong in user interface and the user experience. In this particular project, we were trying to relaunch one of our brand websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We knew we needed a new user experience and interface. Our old site had a lot of pages and was very complicated. One of Enliven’s strengths is understanding the user experience of how they’re going to get information. They do that in the most simplistic way possible.

We were also going through a URL change. So we needed to handle that with white gloves and make sure we didn’t lose too much of our SEO authority. Enliven made sure the SEO components to that site were executed correctly.

Finally, we license this particular brand and therefore we had to work within specific guidelines. There's a little bit of interpretation of brand guidelines when creating the site, but you don't have total creative freedom. Enliven did a really nice job of working within the boundaries of the brand guidelines set forth. They still provided something that was aesthetically pleasing. It was a very beautiful website.

The website was created through WordPress with an added technology feature called MaxMind to maximize the user experience.

What is the team composition?

We were in contact with only one person that most likely had a team behind them. They weren’t a project manager, they were a UI expert themself. We also received weekly reports from them.

How did you come to work with Enliven?

We knew of the owner for 10–15 years from their previous job, who was an expert in DotNetNuke. Once they transitioned over to their own company, we continued using them for their expertise. We really liked the way their company approached and tackled problems.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $50,000–$100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from October 2016– August 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our customer base was very pleased about the new site. It's aesthetically pleasing and it's easy to use. They did a nice job staying on top of website trends. They don't ever feel dated from the user interface aspect.

How did Enliven perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly meetings where we would review the wireframe via agile software. It was a combination of design and wireframe functionality. We could really see and understand how the user experience would map for the new website before they went and built the pages. It was very much iterative.

In those weekly meetings we would talk about the next set of pages, they would show them to us, ask us questions, we'd talk through them, and then the next week we were seeing the deliverables of the previous week's pages.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They ask really good questions. They make us think about our project. They don't just take whatever we say and go build it. They really put thought into what a user would be looking for on a website and ask us really challenging questions. They really push us to the next level of getting out the best website we can.

They really step into understanding the experience of the user and what they need. They fully own that and it shows in their work. They’re very thoughtful and it’s a joy to work on a project with them.